How should I partition my hard drive?

[PCperson3]

Hello,
Currently I have a 128gb Samsung SSD for Windows 7,some programs, and some games. I also have a 1TB hard drive which is made of 3 partitions. Everything is working fine but i get confused a lot around my files and I don't know where is where Right now I have 30gb of free space (combing all the partitions), some files I have multiple copies of, some with different names... Does partitioning affect the speed of the hard drive? Is there a way to combine all the partitions without formatting them because I have a lot of stuff on them and I don't know want to loose it

Thanks

 

[Elixer]

Yeah, you can have partitions that are faster than other partitions, it just depends on where the partition is.

Yes, you can combine partitions if you want, without data loss, there are lots of free programs that will do that.

 

[Thunder 57]

30GB of free space is a bit on the low side, you generally want to keep a decent (10%) chunk of your HDD free. 10% is a bit of an old rule, you don't need that much with these larger drives, but 50-60GB free would be a good bit better IMO. You might want to look into software that identifies copies of files. They are out there for free and work rather well. You may also want to look into the built in tool to find ways to free up space, or use CCleaner.

I don't know of any built in way to merge partitions. There may be software to do that. Otherwise, you could move everything you need from a partition to temporary storage. Then, delete the empty partition (diskmgmt.msc). You can then pick another partition and expand it into the newly freed space and copy your files to the new, larger, partition.

 

[mikeymikec]

Modern versions of Windows allow one to delete a partition in disk manager then extend another partition to use up the now available space (as long as the two partitions are next to each other).

I have an SSD + HDD setup, both just have one visible partition each. In the past when I've had a single drive system then I've gone for a limited size Windows partition (probably 100GB these days) then a data partition that encompasses the rest of the disk. I don't see the point in anything more elaborate than that with the availability of vast amounts of removable storage to make data backup a lot easier than it used to be.

With an SSD + HDD setup I'd have Windows, programs and my user profile on C drive, then I'd redirect any enormous non-performance-needed folders redirected to the HDD (e.g. Pictures / Music folder).

It sounds to me that the OP just needs to come up with a filing system that works for them.

Me personally - on my HDD I have a folder structure that I stick all my installer-type files (including drivers, OS patches if need be, etc). I have another folder structure that contains various collections of files such as digital camera photos, music, etc. I have another folder structure that I consider to be a temporary dumping ground.

 

[aiyame]

i agree with what Thunder 57 and mikeymikec said and prefer how mikeymikec organize his storages. since combine partitions is troublesome and has limitation with system built in function, we can make use of 3rd party program like partition assistant which claims to merge partitions without data loss.

 

[VirtualLarry]

spam thread

 

[PCperson3]

Really :/

 

[bononos]

Just use well known tools from reputable companies like Macrorit's Partition expert, Minitool's partition wizard. They can merge partitions. Just make sure not to install any bundled adware.

 

[mv2devnull]

I have a lot of stuff on them and I don't know want to loose it

It should be quite obvious that you must -- whether you do anything for the partitions or not -- make and maintain a good backup.

 

[aiyame]

 

[XSoldier77X]

Hello,
Currently I have a 128gb Samsung SSD for Windows 7,some programs, and some games. I also have a 1TB hard drive which is made of 3 partitions. Everything is working fine but i get confused a lot around my files and I don't know where is where Right now I have 30gb of free space (combing all the partitions), some files I have multiple copies of, some with different names... Does partitioning affect the speed of the hard drive? Is there a way to combine all the partitions without formatting them because I have a lot of stuff on them and I don't know want to loose it

Thanks

1. 128 is a size that's rather low.
2. for windows, use SSD. there are debates on whether a regular HDD with 720 rpm is almost as effective.
3. reserve at least 50 gigs for the windows partition. because a couple of months down the road, your windows drive
4. no, partitioning doesn't affect the speed of drive. it does affect the storage though, like i can't install a game larger than 50 gigs if i've made partitions of 45 gigs. that's why it's better to reserve something extra for windows and divide the remainder as less as possible. like say, a hundred gigs drive for windows on a 500gb drive, and then divide the remaining 400 into two, 200 each. you can also make an excel sheet of where you've kept the data just so everything's accessible

 

[mikeymikec]

128gb is fine for a modern version of Windows + some apps + a small amount of user data. I'm fine with that size drive if the user has say <40GB personal data and isn't adding loads on a regular basis.

I wouldn't go for anything lower than 128GB though, in my experience on Vista with 80GB partitions it left little room after a few years of Windows use. I've seen one modern scenario where 128GB of storage inadvertently became problematic, on Win7 whereby the regular maintenance jobs can run into a situation where they fill the Windows TEMP folder up (one customer had something like 50GB of data in that folder), and fingers crossed I've found the solution for it (time will tell).