Deciding how to Partition My HD...?!?

[crazylegs]

Hey guys, just thinking ahead to when my replacement HD arrives how i should best partition and then subsequently use my drive space...?

I have/ had a 200gig Maxtor 10+ 8mb buffer - seemed quick enough when it was working - and had to RMA but a replacement should arrive any day now !!!

Firstly, i assume the best way to partition is during at the start of the XP install...?!?

Secondly, i was thinka bout splitting it 40 / 160 .... the OS an apps on the 40 with my music, games, torrents etc on the 160!!!

Will this setup lead to any performance issues or is it the best way to go???

Thanks all

 

[Matthias99]

The only reason (IMO) to partition your drive is to ease reinstallation (since you can then image your boot partition and then restore to that if your OS gets screwed up, or you can reinstall Windows on that partition without losing your data). The performance differences between various partitioning schemes are minor at best.

 

[GreyMittens]

I wouldn't even bother with a partition scheme now days. What I would suggest is a good backup plan (if you have valuable data) so when your maxtor craters you at least have all your stuff

Edit: lol - Just read your sig, I see one already did and it's RMA

 

[piasabird]

Depends on how much room you want for games, music files, pictures, etc.

When you think about it, if your hard drive gives up, what is the point? You will not be able to back up from the extra space on a lame hard drive.

My take on this is to use a large enough of a partition to store programs but a small enough of a partition so if you run Scandisk that it wont take 3 days to finish. I think for me 40 gigs is about the right size. I had one partition of 10 gigs and I started running out of space.

 

[dunkster]

What do you want to recover:
- Windows partition?
- Critical Data?
- Everything?
- How much do you want to spend?

If quick Windows recovery is your goal, just set up a 10Gb Windows partition, and restrict it to Windows and most-critical apps such as security apps. Backup weekly to DVD media (mine is about 4Gb). That'll give you an inexpensive method to recover Windows in 15 minutes with just about any backup/restore program. You needn't save any apps, since the Windows registry and all settings are also restored from the backup.

Critical data backup can also be accomplished inexpensively by periodic burn to DVD media.

If you want to safeguard everything, backup the entire drive to another separate drive. A bit more expensive, but a comprehensive solution.

Don't forget discipline. Weekly means every week.

Hope this helps!

 

[xbassman]

My take on this is to use a large enough of a partition to store programs but a small enough of a partition so if you run Scandisk that it wont take 3 days to finish. I think for me 40 gigs is about the right size. I had one partition of 10 gigs and I started running out of space.

I thought this as well untill I started using Diskeeper Pro.

Diskeeper suggested that I enlarge the MFT. After doing that a scan and defrag dramatically reduced in the length of time it took to complete.

I still make a 20GB windows partition though.

 

[crazylegs]

Thanks for your input guys....

Yes my reason for asking is that the Original HD needed an RMA after about 4 weeks

However, this time i was lucky because although the HD:
- was physically nakered, i heard several 'Clunks'
- would not boot windows
- would not repair windows

I could access ALL the data if i plugged it in as a secondary HD... SO, this time i was lucky and managed to back up data before i RMA it - by the way my dad uses the PC for work...so he had some kinda important stuff - my data was pics, music, movies etc!!!!

Basically, this has made me more aware of the necessity to backup!!!