logical drive and extended partition

[stef]

Win XP HE

Hi,

Just bought an external firewire hard drive.

I need to reformat and partition it properly and I have never done it
before....

Question 1) If I create an extended partition, after my primary, MUST I
ALSO create a logical drive in the extended partition for it to work at all?

OR,

an extended partition does NOT need a logical drive and no sense in
creating one in the extended partition if I will not create several
other logical drives in it.

(I suspect I do need to create a logical drive in the extended partition
for it to work at all but not sure.....)

Question 2): Completely separately from question 1) I am led to believe
that while there is nothing wrong with extended partitions, they do not
perform as well or as fast, etc., as primaries, i.e. SOME performance is
lost. True or false?

If true, then should stick to making 2 primaries in new external hard
disk if no real need for several logical drives in extended partition.

 

[JS]

1) Yes you must create and then format one or more logical drives in an
Extended partition.
2) Not aware of any performance loss associated with extended partitions.

Note: your external drive does not need a primary partition if you do not
plan to install another copy of Windows.

JS

 

[stef]

JS,
Tx for the reply.
Understood.
I was told (by none other than manufacturer of ext drive) that external
drives did indeed need primary partition as ALL drives need at least a
primary partition but i take it that is also incorrect?

They also are the ones saying talking about "some" loss in extended as
opposed to primaries.

 

[stef]

JS, sorry, forgot to ask:
on your Note: below, i cd install a 2nd copy of windows for recovery
purposes but my understanding is that this would only be usable if
disconnected ext hard drive and installed it as internal, etc.

I mean even by altering the boot table, etc., i cdn't boot from the
external disk in that copy of windows could i? or even Linux for that
matter...?

 

[JS]

I have never tried installing Windows or Linux on an external drive so I
can't answer that.
But read this as it may help: http://tinyurl.com/fr7us

JS

 

[stef]

Tx JS, that link is helpful.

i will say tho, that it is incredible how much conflicting information
different people will give on the same subject (i am referring to other
people in different newsgroups--not here--and my ext hd manufacturer....)

tx again 4 ur replies.

 

[JS]

Your welcome.

JS

Tx JS, that link is helpful.

i will say tho, that it is incredible how much conflicting information
different people will give on the same subject (i am referring to other
people in different newsgroups--not here--and my ext hd manufacturer....)

tx again 4 ur replies.

 

[Jonny]

Win XP HE

Hi,

Just bought an external firewire hard drive.

I need to reformat and partition it properly and I have never done it
before....

Question 1) If I create an extended partition, after my primary, MUST I
ALSO create a logical drive in the extended partition for it to work at
all?

OR,

an extended partition does NOT need a logical drive and no sense in
creating one in the extended partition if I will not create several other
logical drives in it.

(I suspect I do need to create a logical drive in the extended partition
for it to work at all but not sure.....)

Question 2): Completely separately from question 1) I am led to believe
that while there is nothing wrong with extended partitions, they do not
perform as well or as fast, etc., as primaries, i.e. SOME performance is
lost. True or false?

If true, then should stick to making 2 primaries in new external hard disk
if no real need for several logical drives in extended partition.

An extended partition is a "container" for logical partitions, that's its
only purpose. In order to use the hard disk area with an extended partition
for file storage, you have to create one or more logical partitions.
Typically, such an arrangement is used for personal data storage, not an
operating system.

Whether to use primary, or an extended partition is strictly a personal
choice for your own data. There is no performance loss either way. If you
want more than 4 partitions, you have go with an extended partition with
more than 4 partitions within that extended partition.

External drives are meant for file storage, not a standalone operating
system.

 

[John]

JS,
Tx for the reply.
Understood.
I was told (by none other than manufacturer of ext drive) that external
drives did indeed need primary partition as ALL drives need at least a
primary partition but i take it that is also incorrect?

They also are the ones saying talking about "some" loss in extended as
opposed to primaries.

An extended partition is considered a primary, the logical drives within
are not. That may seem contrary but there it is ...
You will need at least one logical partition within the extended
partition to make any use of it.

John

 

[John]

An extended partition is a "container" for logical partitions, that's its
only purpose. In order to use the hard disk area with an extended partition
for file storage, you have to create one or more logical partitions.
Typically, such an arrangement is used for personal data storage, not an
operating system.

Whether to use primary, or an extended partition is strictly a personal
choice for your own data. There is no performance loss either way. If you
want more than 4 partitions, you have go with an extended partition with
more than 4 partitions within that extended partition.

External drives are meant for file storage, not a standalone operating
system.

That is a little misleading and MS centric. You can have up to four
primary partitions on an X86 drive, one (and only one) of which can be
an extended partition containing logical partitions. The 'logical drive'
thing is an MS convention and not at all accurate.

By the way its true that MS OS's must bootstrap from a primary (system
partition) but the bulk of the OS can be located elsewhere (boot
partition) even a logical partition if you wish. The mix-up in 'system'
& 'boot' partition naming is an MS convention, not mine or what has been
an accepted naming convention since before MS existed.

John

 

[Jonny]

That is a little misleading and MS centric. You can have up to four
primary partitions on an X86 drive, one (and only one) of which can be an
extended partition containing logical partitions. The 'logical drive'
thing is an MS convention and not at all accurate.

By the way its true that MS OS's must bootstrap from a primary (system
partition) but the bulk of the OS can be located elsewhere (boot
partition) even a logical partition if you wish. The mix-up in 'system' &
'boot' partition naming is an MS convention, not mine or what has been an
accepted naming convention since before MS existed.

John

I understand your less than specific words, and their meaning. However, I
believe this is XP, a MS product we're conversing about here. If this is
not the case, please specify.

 

[Steven Wabik]

i put windows on a external hard drive before with another version of
windows on the main disk. the version of windows on the external hard drive
will be accessable at startup through the boot.ini file. it will ask you
witch version of windows you would like to run at bootup. you could boot
windows from that hard drive as long as it is properly entered into the
boot.ini file or boot table or whatever you want to call it. if you put
windows on a external hard drive i just suggest that you make sure it does
not loose power. that will cause lots of issues. if the drive looses power
while the OS is installing it might give you the option of rolling back to
how the settings were before you tried to install the new OS.