steve said:
Has anyone ever used a data partition with XP. I have been
told that you can set XP up to to store data on a separate
partition and have a different partition for XP Operating
system. Anyone know what i mean or where to find the setup
for this.
Storing your data on a different partition from your OS affords a measure of
safety. If the OS crashes so horribly that it requires a reformat and
reinstall, it doesn't take your data with it if your data wasn't in the OS
partition. Like Pollyanna, some people don't think that will ever happen to
them. Backing up your data elsewhere is also a good idea, though in a crash
you might still lose any data recently changed (since the last time you
backed up) if it's in the OS partition.
Ultimately, you need to consider how important your data is, how good your
backup strategy is, whether you can afford to lose today's data and revert
to your last backup, and what your risk is of suffering a catastrophic OS
failure -- then weigh all that against the trouble setting up a separate
partition and figuring out all the various tricks to getting your data moved
there.
Quite likely, your system does not have any unallocated disk space with
which XP can create a separate partition, so you'll need to invest in a
third-party partition resizer (such as PartitionMagic) to shrink your
existing partition and make some room for another partition. Once you've
managed to create a second partition, the next task is finding all your data
and getting it moved to the new partition. Most people start with moving
"My Documents", then perhaps "Favorites". Moving where your email is stored
can be much trickier. What about pictures? Music? Documents for third-party
applications? Figuring out how to move your data will depend on what
applications that data belongs to, so there's no single advice that will
cover everything.
I never store my data in the same partition as the OS, but some people do.
If you're serious about separating it, first get your second partition
created, then post a new question here about how to find and move your data.
