Reformatting; seeking partition advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Trozzo
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike Trozzo

Hi,

I'm doing a long-overdue cleanup/format/reinstall of everything on my wife's
computer running XP Pro. It originally had ME OEM. Anyway, my question is as
follows:

I want to make 3 partitions on a 40GB HD - C for Windows, D for program
installations, and E for storing data. I know that you need at leas 1.5GB
free on a 2GB HD for the XP install, but how large should I realistically
make my C partition, taking into account files that will be added as
software is installed (and temp files)? My wife uses it primarily for her
web design company, so there will be a large number of files for that, and
of course Office and the bookkeeping program (along with the rest of the
usual stuff).

Please give feedback and suggestions on this possible scheme:
C: Win XP partition 4GB
D: Programs 21GB
E: User data 15GB

Thanks,
Mike Trozzo
 
C=10gb (You'll soon choke on 4gb)
D=10gb
E=20gb

Mike Trozzo said:
Hi,

I'm doing a long-overdue cleanup/format/reinstall of everything on my wife's
computer running XP Pro. It originally had ME OEM. Anyway, my question is as
follows:

I want to make 3 partitions on a 40GB HD - C for Windows, D for program
installations, and E for storing data. I know that you need at leas 1.5GB
free on a 2GB HD for the XP install, but how large should I realistically
make my C partition, taking into account files that will be added as
software is installed (and temp files)? My wife uses it primarily for her
web design company, so there will be a large number of files for that, and
of course Office and the bookkeeping program (along with the rest of the
usual stuff).

Please give feedback and suggestions on this possible scheme:
C: Win XP partition 4GB
D: Programs 21GB
E: User data 15GB

Thanks,
Mike Trozzo
Click to expand...
 
Dave,
Thanks for taking the time. I didn't realize that other stuff would take up
THAT much room! What other things would go in there besides files from
installed programs (dlls, etc) and temp files?
 
On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 09:57:20 -0500, "Dave Douglas"
C=10gb (You'll soon choke on 4gb)
D=10gb
E=20gb
Click to expand...

I'd prefer FAT32 to NTFS, and these sizes (and partition order):

C: FAT32 7.99G (ensures CPU-friendly 4k clusters)
D: FAT16 2G (large clusters, easier data recoverability)
E: FAT32 The rest

In fact, I usually have an F: of 2G FAT16 at the end.

C: would be used for OS code, core apps, swap, temp, and would be the
fastest volume that sees the most traffic.

D: would be purely for small user data and maybe a few apps that are
frequently used, but not doomed to die with Windows (as Office is)
should you need to wipe and rebuild the C: volume.

E: would be where almost everything else goes; large data such as
pictures and music, downloads, games, seldom-used apps etc.

F: would be for cold storage and auto-backups.

The above scheme means:
- most disk access in the first 8G to 10G of the HD; fast!
- faster maintenance of C:, which is always "in use" etc.
- D:\Data is safe from things that go wrong on C:
- E: starts close to the "front" of HD, so still fast
- F: is distant, slow, likely to survive (great for "cold" stuff)

But you'll need TweakUI for XP to bash some sense into XP, which will
otherwise mix unsolicited incoming malware email and IM attachments,
downloads, music, pictures and data in one unholy lump in C: -
actually, worse; one unholy lump for each user account!

Speaking of disk clutter, curb those stupid huge default web caches
too, as those are duplicated in each user account. Finally, ask MS
(or anyone else) how you can pre-set these paths and settings so that
newly-created accounts don't start with the same clueless duhfaults.


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Click to expand...
"We have captured lightning and used
it to teach sand how to think."
 
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