HD partitioning etc.

[X14]

I'm going to go buy a new Maxtor D740X HD today. I'm planning to load a dual boot Win98/WinXP system on there. Since this drive will be large enough and I'll have lots of space, I figured why not put Win98 on there since I have enough games the do not work to my satisfaction in WinXP.

Having not used Win98 for what seems like eons, are there any partition size limitations and need to consider when formating the drive?

I'm figuring I'll partition the C: drive at about 3GB which I'll load Win98 (O/S only) on. I'll partition D: drive at about 20GB for games to used in Win98.

E: drive will be partitioned at about 5GB for WinXP (O/S only). F: drive at about 15GB for programs and the remaining space of about 17GB for storing downloads such as MP3s and other stuff.

Does this sound like a plan? Also, are there any problems with having different file sytems on the same drive? Obviously the Win98 partitions will be formatted using FAT32 but should I also you FAT32 for the XP partitions or would it be ok to use NTFS for the XP partitions. I realize that XP will be able to see the FAT32 partitions but Win98 will not be able to see the NTFS partitions if I decide to use NTFS.

 

[brianp34]

sounds like a good plan. you won't have problems with 2 file systems on the same drive.

brian

 

[CQuinn]

You won't hit on any partition/boot size limitations by keeping your Win98 (C drive at 3Gig.

I would probably put the XP partition closer to the front of the drive (alongside the C: partition) to
take better advantage of the access speed and transfer rates you get from that section of the
drive platters.

There is no problems running with different file systems, I run with a mix of FAT32 and NTFS on three
different drives.

 

[brianp34]

<< I would probably put the XP partition closer to the front of the drive (alongside the C: partition) to >>



very good point.

brian

 

[X14]

Thanks for the responses.

I wasn't aware that the drives go sequentially from outer to inner so should I make the WinXP partition that I will be loading the WinXP O/S on the D: drive?

I just figured it would be easier for me to remember if I made the FAT32 partitions for Win98 C and D, and the NTFS partitions to follow.

Thanks again.