Please advise on logical partitions on 1Tb drive

[imported_DangerMouse]

Hi.
Just got a new rig with 1Tb Samsung HD.
Initially set it up with 2 partitions: 100gb for OS and base progs and 830gb for the rest (games,movies,pics etc).
Question is if i should keep this 830gb partition or divide it into more?
Please advise

 

[Elixer]

The only one who can answer that is you.
The main reason for splitting up the HD into partitions is so it is easier to backup, or organize.

 

[imported_DangerMouse]

I mean are there advantages/disadvantages performance wise with multiple logical drives?

 

[MyLeftNut]

No

 

[imported_DangerMouse]

Thanks

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: DangerMouse
I mean are there advantages/disadvantages performance wise with multiple logical drives?

I was under the impression that the beginning of the drive was faster than the end, therefore, if you put your OS on a partition on the beginning, you can get slightly better performance.

 

[13Gigatons]

I still like Partitions myself. Easier to install multiple OSes and keep stuff organized. Plus restoring smaller partitions is faster.

This is what I would do:

C: Operating System
D: Operating System
G: Documents
M: Media
N: New
R: Backups

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Partitions are not for organization, folders are.

I woudln't have more than 2 partitions otherwise stuff gets full at different rates.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
I woudln't have more than 2 partitions otherwise stuff gets full at different rates.

Yeah. Although I'm generally not a big fan of partitions on a single hard drive, I can see a reason for doing it for very large boot drives (i.e. Terabyte). In that case, I might make one partition for the OS/Programs, and another partition for everything else.

The main thing in partitioning is to make sure the OS partition is PLENTY BIG. You can always use extra space on the OS partition for storing data.

It's easy to move data around. It's generally NOT easy to expand OS partitions when you find that they have become too small.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
I woudln't have more than 2 partitions otherwise stuff gets full at different rates.

Yeah. Although I'm generally not a big fan of partitions on a single hard drive, I can see a reason for doing it for very large boot drives (i.e. Terabyte). In that case, I might make one partition for the OS/Programs, and another partition for everything else.

The main thing in partitioning is to make sure the OS partition is PLENTY BIG. You can always use extra space on the OS partition for storing data.

It's easy to move data around. It's generally NOT easy to expand OS partitions when you find that they have become too small.

The point is to make them big enough to start with, 60, 80, 100 gigs is plenty for most people. I have a 40 gig vista partition that is only using 22 gigs.

Tip: Leave space between the operating partitions. Even 10 or 20gigs can be used if one of the operating system partitions get to filled. It can be used by C drive or used by the D drive.

 

[Nothinman]

The point is to make them big enough to start with, 60, 80, 100 gigs is plenty for most people. I have a 40 gig vista partition that is only using 22 gigs.

Which is usually harder to do than it seems.

Tip: Leave space between the operating partitions. Even 10 or 20gigs can be used if one of the operating system partitions get to filled. It can be used by C drive or used by the D drive.

And because deciding how much space to use up front is difficult you suggest wasting space by leaving it unpartitioned between partitions? How is any of that better than just using directories for organization?

 

[GundamF91]

I'm in similar dilemma moved up from a WD 500GB to now WD Caviar Black 1TB. So now I have both drives. Here's what I'm doing.

I'm using 1TB for Vista64 in a partition for 100GB. Then rest of 830GB into 2 other partitions, 400GB for my games, and 430GB for the rest, such as video/mp3. The reason I want separate one for game is because I want fast performance for games since that's where I/O really counts. I wouldn't even sense a .5sec delay in starting a video or Word, but it really shows in games. Also as you install/uninstall games, you will mess up the drive, and need to defrag the partition more often.

Then there's 500GB that I haven't figured out what to do yet. My initial thoughts are to split that evenly into 2, 1st one as a backup drive, so I can backup my OS partition on it. Then 2nd partition I will use for new data that I need to sort out later.

I remember when all I had was a 540MB drive, and things were much simpler then.