Partitioning Question

[rodan]

I've noticed some of you put your OS on the first partition, and, the applications on the second, and, data on the third......,IF the system crashes, and, you reinstall the OS on the first partition, will the applications still need to be reinstalled? Assuming the OS is Windows 95/98, or ME.

 

[minendo]

<< I've noticed some of you put your OS on the first partition, and, the applications on the second, and, data on the third......,IF the system crashes, and, you reinstall the OS on the first partition, will the applications still need to be reinstalled? Assuming the OS is Windows 95/98, or ME. >>


For the most part, yes you will have to reinstall the programs. This is true because most programs either write to the registry or install .dll files into the windows system itself. When you lose windows, you also lose all those .dll files. If you try open a program it will most likely say something along the lines of: "Missing *.dll"

 

[Nothinman]

Depends heavily on the app in question. Most of the apps I use don't need reinstalled and are pretty well self-contained (mainly things like Mozilla, PuTTy, quake3).

 

[mee987]

I generally put my OS and apps on one drive and put games and media on the other... a lot of apps have problems when you try to use them without reinstalling, but VERY few games have a problem with it

 

[rodan]

Thank you, that helps me to understand. Explains why some apps and games worked on someone's computer I saw recently. She reinstalled her OS on drive C, and, she was still able to access her games and some apps she had installed on drive D. It amazed me, I thought it wouldn't work. Proved me wrong.

 

[hoihtah]

generally speaking...
i don't see any benefit of separating OS and apps in two different partition... for the reasons stated earlier.

if you have two different physical drive... programs like photoshop and video/audio editing softwares can take advantage of using two drives speed up things...
but that's about it.

as for data, it would be a good idea to store them in another partition... in case you need to reinstall your os or reformat your partition.

 

[AKA]

There is more of a benefit in having applications on a seperate partition then not.

First of all alot of applications will still work, some applications such as ICQ, Password programs etc will keep your current configuration in its own folder. Dont have to go re-adding all your buddies again.. assuming you can remember them.

And you can look at your applications partition and see what it was you forgot to reinstall since the format.