drive partitions

[Corsairpro]

I am going to be building a computer for my aunt and due to her lack of money i could only get her SDRAM for her 1600+ XP. So I'm looking for ways to maximize her performance. Anyway, my question is:

Is there any benefit to making a separate partition for the OS (say 2GB) and leaving the rest for whatever files/programs she wants to put on the computer. I plan on installing XP Home.

Thanks,
David

 

[DonaldC]

I prefer to keep my OS separate so when it needs reinstalling I don't lose any of my other data.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: DonaldC
I prefer to keep my OS separate so when it needs reinstalling I don't lose any of my other data.

Agree! Partitions are always controversial - but I like to keep my data files separate from the OS - also I like to put the Swap file/page file in its own partition to keep it from constantly fragging everything around it. Also, with large drives, partitions make for easier and faster maintenance.

 

[woodie1]

Another voted for Separate. One for OS, one for swap-file, one for the remainder.

 

[speed01]

Depending on the size of the drive, seperate partitions are a good thing. If all you can spare is 2 Gig I would say not to bother as apps have a strange habit of putting things in "C" even though they are installed to "D" (registry entries and such) which tend to fill up space rather quickly. If the space is available then I would definitely go with multiple partitions, makes recovering data a lot easier.

 

[MisterMe]

If it's for your aunt - she prolly won't notice the difference ANY way you do it. Will she be running benchmark scores to find out if her system is maxed? I didn't think so. Best thing would be to keep it as simple possible...don't sweat the extremly low % the wierd partitioning might realize you. A 1600 will be plenty quick for checking email, writing a few letters and chatting with friends...

 

[Trashman]

MisterMe...you never know, she may have all benchmark utilities on hand waiting to bench this baby.
I agree with you though...keep it simple, too many partitions may confuse her.

 

[bmacd]

but remember....if she downloads, it's going to default her to downloading to drive C (boot drive), and i'm sure it'll fill up quickly if she does download anything. I'm not sure how big your HD is, but make it bigger than two...something like four gig would work..

-=bmacd=-

 

[MisterMe]

...or even if she simply wants to install her latest gretting card program. I can see it going something like this...

Here's your new spankin system I built for you, and oh BTW, Auntie Millie, when you install software you need to change from the default C: drive to the D: drive - Umm what's a default? Umm why do I have to do that? Umm what's a C: drive?

Unless she's a nerd too, she won't notice the couple percentage points she won't have, even with OBP and the SDram...1600 is plenty of horsepower. Don't sweat it and make it easy on her...she won't get scared of it and she won't always be bugging you for help...

 

[DannyBoy]

She cant be a computer buff or shed be building the machine herself

 

[psianime]

Depends on the size of the hard drive she is going to get.

If possible, I would reserve 5GB for her OS and everything on a seperate partition. My Windows XP likes to kill itself at random times...

-psianime

 

[oniq]

Remember to take into account the actual size of XP, then add all the IE cache/temporary internet files, the virtual memory... You'd have to make sure she'd know how to save files, and install programs on the other partition. I don't think there is actually any performance related issues, although I guess it could get fragmented more if you have it with your other programs.