K
Ken Springer
On 9/8/11 8:44 AM, BillW50 wrote:
I think the keyword in the phrase is "needlessly". If you have a 1 TB
drive, there's no good purpose in having 15 partitions, IMO. LOL
The backups statement is correct, an external drive is best, I've got a
1TB on this Mac with Time Machine automatically backing up most of my
Mac. What I've gleaned over the years is, ideally 2 external HD's for
backup is even better. Basically, you are attempting to protect your
backup system from physical failure of a hard drive. With 2 backup
drives, if one backup HD goes south, you still have a useable set of
data on the other.
If you have more than one computer with large drives, you could network
them and use other computer hard drives as your back up locations. For
most people, that option doesn't make any practical sense to me.
It all depends on what your storage needs are, read on below.
Boy, I wish I had known about that! I have and use the free version.
Back in the days when HD's were expensive and small, storage space was
at a premium, you did whatever you could to maximize that space.
It's the older OS's that will limit you. And even current OS's have
limits, most people will never bump up against that, IMO.
The biggest advantage, IMO, in having a minimum of 2 partitions is in
the fight against viruses, OS corruption (for whatever reason), and data
safety/integrity.
Viruses and such generally attack the OS and program files, usually they
leave your data alone. When you are infected, or something else goes
haywire with the OS and software, when you have one partition the first
step is to sort out your data and get it somewhere else. (But, can you
really be sure your data is also not corrupted in some way?) But, if
you've been saving your data to another partition, or even an external
drive, that step is already done! How much time have you just saved?
And since you've separated the OS and programs from the data, now you
only have to repair the boot partition (usually C:/) by whatever method
you choose.
Everyone's storage needs are unique, you have to figure those needs and
how you want to access your files/projects when partitioning your drive.
To keep it simple, if your normal use creates smaller files, i.e. few
photos and videos, you don't need a large partition for that. Create a
small partition and format it to a smaller sector size. If you have
lots of videos and photos, create a large partition and a larger sector
size. This lets you maximize the amount of storage space on the hard
drive. And maybe you won't have to go buy a new drive.
It's similar to moving, you can rent a large van and just put your boxes
in helter skelter, or you carefully pack those boxes into the back of
the van, and end up renting a smaller van saving you money.
I have a dual boot 'puter here. But I always follow MS's advice, I
never ever attempt to put 2 OS's on the same partition, you're just
asking for trouble.
My dual boot machine is XP Pro and Vista Ultimate. I wanted occasional
access to Vista, but not on a regular basis. And buying a second
computer just to have occasional access was, for me, just plain dumb and
dumber! LOL Ergo, I set up a dual boot computer.
An option to dual booting is virtual machine software, although that
also has it's caveats.
<snip>
--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 6.0.2
Thunderbird 6.0.2
LibreOffice 3.3.3
I think the keyword in the phrase is "needlessly". If you have a 1 TB
drive, there's no good purpose in having 15 partitions, IMO. LOL
The backups statement is correct, an external drive is best, I've got a
1TB on this Mac with Time Machine automatically backing up most of my
Mac. What I've gleaned over the years is, ideally 2 external HD's for
backup is even better. Basically, you are attempting to protect your
backup system from physical failure of a hard drive. With 2 backup
drives, if one backup HD goes south, you still have a useable set of
data on the other.
If you have more than one computer with large drives, you could network
them and use other computer hard drives as your back up locations. For
most people, that option doesn't make any practical sense to me.
It all depends on what your storage needs are, read on below.
Boy, I wish I had known about that! I have and use the free version.
Back in the days when HD's were expensive and small, storage space was
at a premium, you did whatever you could to maximize that space.
It's the older OS's that will limit you. And even current OS's have
limits, most people will never bump up against that, IMO.
The biggest advantage, IMO, in having a minimum of 2 partitions is in
the fight against viruses, OS corruption (for whatever reason), and data
safety/integrity.
Viruses and such generally attack the OS and program files, usually they
leave your data alone. When you are infected, or something else goes
haywire with the OS and software, when you have one partition the first
step is to sort out your data and get it somewhere else. (But, can you
really be sure your data is also not corrupted in some way?) But, if
you've been saving your data to another partition, or even an external
drive, that step is already done! How much time have you just saved?
And since you've separated the OS and programs from the data, now you
only have to repair the boot partition (usually C:/) by whatever method
you choose.
Everyone's storage needs are unique, you have to figure those needs and
how you want to access your files/projects when partitioning your drive.
To keep it simple, if your normal use creates smaller files, i.e. few
photos and videos, you don't need a large partition for that. Create a
small partition and format it to a smaller sector size. If you have
lots of videos and photos, create a large partition and a larger sector
size. This lets you maximize the amount of storage space on the hard
drive. And maybe you won't have to go buy a new drive.
It's similar to moving, you can rent a large van and just put your boxes
in helter skelter, or you carefully pack those boxes into the back of
the van, and end up renting a smaller van saving you money.
I have a dual boot 'puter here. But I always follow MS's advice, I
never ever attempt to put 2 OS's on the same partition, you're just
asking for trouble.
My dual boot machine is XP Pro and Vista Ultimate. I wanted occasional
access to Vista, but not on a regular basis. And buying a second
computer just to have occasional access was, for me, just plain dumb and
dumber! LOL Ergo, I set up a dual boot computer.
An option to dual booting is virtual machine software, although that
also has it's caveats.
<snip>
--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 6.0.2
Thunderbird 6.0.2
LibreOffice 3.3.3