I'm going to build a new system soon and I'm just curious about what advantages there are in creating a seperate partition for the OS. Also how much space should I set aside for an XP or Vista install?
Do you create a seperate partition for your OS?
- Thread starter Arkitech
- Start date
I put my music and items to be backedup on a seperate partition so it is easier to backup and you can just reformat and not have to backup every single time.
i am running a 500gb hard drive that i chopped 100gb off for the OS and the rest for files i download and movies i backup and so forth. plus i keep all my drivers up to date that way when i do clean install i do not need to search for drivers.
It is better to seperate os from data in case of reinstalling os. For XP it is enough over 20-30 Gb (but if you'll store here the programs too than it should be more space) and for Vista more (sorry, but I dunno exactly how much, i think over 60-80gb).
I always use a seperate partition for the OS and another one for data.
For example, on my current rig, I have a 15gb C: partition for Windows and have my core apps (Office, Nero etc etc) installed in Program Files on C:
My data, (games, music, movies, downloads, and even my documents) are stored on my D: partition.
Once the OS is how I want it, I image the C: drive and either store it on D: or a backup dvd.
The beauty of this is that I can reimage or even reinstall on my C: drive at any time and not wipe out my data files on the D: partition.
I've done this for a good few years now and would never store all my files on one partition with the OS.
In that senario if things go really wrong, you've got no choice but to wipe everything and start over.
For example, on my current rig, I have a 15gb C: partition for Windows and have my core apps (Office, Nero etc etc) installed in Program Files on C:
My data, (games, music, movies, downloads, and even my documents) are stored on my D: partition.
Once the OS is how I want it, I image the C: drive and either store it on D: or a backup dvd.
The beauty of this is that I can reimage or even reinstall on my C: drive at any time and not wipe out my data files on the D: partition.
I've done this for a good few years now and would never store all my files on one partition with the OS.
In that senario if things go really wrong, you've got no choice but to wipe everything and start over.
For XP I would use about 15-20 GB, while for Vista it would be at least 30GB but preferably 40GB. Remember, you also have to have room for your swap file (if it's not on another physical drive) and the hibernate file if needed (which is equal to your RAM). System Restore points and the Recycle Bin also use variable amounts of disc space depending on how you set them up, but they can take up no space if you disable them. Plus, you pretty much have to keep around 15-20% always available for easier defragmenting.
VirtualLarry
No Lifer
- Aug 25, 2001
- 56,571
- 10,207
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Definately seperate out various OSes from data into seperate partitions. I have three installed OSes, Win98se, W2K SP4, and XP SP2, all in their own partitions, and then I have the rest of the drive set up for data files/downloads/etc.
I use Ghost 2003 to image each of the OS partitions into a set of files that I burn to DVD on a regular basis, so if anything gets really royally screwed up, I can restore. The other data files I don't always backup, but a certain subset gets backed up onto a removable HD.
I use Ghost 2003 to image each of the OS partitions into a set of files that I burn to DVD on a regular basis, so if anything gets really royally screwed up, I can restore. The other data files I don't always backup, but a certain subset gets backed up onto a removable HD.
tigersty1e
Golden Member
- Dec 13, 2004
- 1,963
- 0
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Wouldn't this cause problems with programs that are already installed because of registry problems?
Sometimes a program wirtes something to the registry, but if you do a clean install only on the OS partition, that registry file is gone, right?
Sometimes a program wirtes something to the registry, but if you do a clean install only on the OS partition, that registry file is gone, right?
That wouldn't matter as the registry and OS would both be new on the clean install. The data partition would be for storage only.
I use a 60 GB partition for Vista and my programs and then keep my data on the second partition in case I need to reformat/reinstall. I have a second drive I use for testing Linux distros with my important data mirrored to my /home folder.
I tried to move the page file to the first sector of my second drive and Vista ran like ass. After I moved the page file back, my problems were corrected so I recommend against moving the page file to a second drive. I read a suggestion I might try. Create a page file at 2048 on each drive and let Vista choose which one to use when it needs to. I found this suggestion on tweakhound's web site so I might try that the next time I decide to repartition my second drive.
I tried to move the page file to the first sector of my second drive and Vista ran like ass. After I moved the page file back, my problems were corrected so I recommend against moving the page file to a second drive. I read a suggestion I might try. Create a page file at 2048 on each drive and let Vista choose which one to use when it needs to. I found this suggestion on tweakhound's web site so I might try that the next time I decide to repartition my second drive.
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 7
- 76
I use a seperate drive, but you could use partitions.
Mainly because I do a full install, all patches, all applications I normaly use, current drivers, and then do a ghost backup of the drive.
That way in the future I can restore the system to a clean functioning one in under 30 minutes.
I can't put data and OS on seperate partitions.
Several of the applications I use generate hardware keys that must be on the root drive and will fail to run if they detect any changes have been made in the os.
Mainly because I do a full install, all patches, all applications I normaly use, current drivers, and then do a ghost backup of the drive.
That way in the future I can restore the system to a clean functioning one in under 30 minutes.
I can't put data and OS on seperate partitions.
Several of the applications I use generate hardware keys that must be on the root drive and will fail to run if they detect any changes have been made in the os.
The prefered method is to use two drives, one for the OS and the secondary for the Data. The OS drive should be the faster drive as this is where your swap file resides. Doing this will decrease your individual disk I/O requests and bandwidth by seperating them on two different channels. using two partitions on a single drive works for data recovery, but has no significant throughput advantage. Additionally, you can perform a full Ghost image of your OS drive and store it on the Secondary drive. Recovery is complete and fast.
That may be preferred by you since your OS is on a drive which is only 74GB!
There are others who have the OS on a 320GB, or even larger, drive.
No, it does not. I don't think anyone said it did.
Unless your OS drive is a 500GB drive. Then, imaging and restoring the entire drive will be impractical and slow!
Imaging and restoring the image will be much easier if you are only imaging the OS (smaller image).
When restoring the OS partition, you do not have to backup data (separate partition).
If you only have the OS and not the programs, have 8GB for XP and 30GB for Vista and 40GB for Vista 64.
If you have the OS and programs on the same partition, the size depends on the programs you plan to install.
I assume your including not only the Windows Folder, but the Program Files directory, maybe the user directories. Because Windows and the programs it runs always store the full path to a particular destination that you can't just move stuff around. And if you can't move stuff around then what's the point in spreading data accross several partitions. When you reinistall the OS, you can simply choose as seperate install location.
I do keep things like audio/video on servers though. But that's so they can be accessed from whatever computer I'm using.
The point in keeping the programs partition separate from the OS partition could be to keep the image size small. It also could be to allow a multi-boot system to use the same programs folder from all operating systems to simplify the maintenance of the programs.
There are many programs that work just fine after a restore of a separate OS partition. Most games fall into that category. As long as you know where the saved games are for each game and plan for that!
i have a question.
If i already have a 500mb hdd, and on it there is a o/s, can i partition it now?
I have done so with a new hdd and not sure if i cant mess it up..
thanks!
/bow
If i already have a 500mb hdd, and on it there is a o/s, can i partition it now?
I have done so with a new hdd and not sure if i cant mess it up..
thanks!
/bow
You can use the LiveCD of GParted (free) to boot to and resize or create partitions.
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
It is very easy to make a mistake and screw up your data when manipulating partitions. So, you must backup your data before doing so.
Then, boot to LiveCD and resize the current partition to a smaller size.
Then, boot to Windows and create a second partition using Disk Manager (XP or Vista) in the empty space.
I've used different partitions for OS and data since DOS 5.0. My standard setup used to be 4 GB OS, rest data (including games). I've changed that now to 4 GB Win XP and rest Vista x64 on my 36 GB Raptor and the data on two RAID 1 arrays on a dedicated file server.
Originally posted by: jonmcc33
It only backs up the actual data. How can you back up blank data?
I never suggested that the imaging tool would backup the empty space, did I?
If you use a 500GB drive with only 40GB of used space on it, imaging it will not be a big problem.
But, what is the point of using a 500GB drive if you are only going to use 40GB of it?
If I pay for a 500GB drive, I expect to be able to use at least 300GB of space on it. I would then store more than just the OS on it. So, I may have pictures on it, or movies or whatever.
Then having all of that on the same partition will make imaging impractical.
I did not spell this all out in my post. Perhaps, I should have.
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