Pros and cons of partitioning?

[Goopster]

I have a Dell 4550 with 60GB of hard drive with windows XP and i have already setup a couple of users on it and it has a few applications that it came with from Dell. I wanna know what are the advantages of Partitioning hard drive and how to do it?

 

[stultus]

Partitioning is best done before a system is installed on it. There are programs (PartitionMagic) that will change the partitions on the fly, but I've had rather limited luck with them (i.e., the drive gets corrupted and all data is lost). So I'd recommend you don't mess with it at all this late in the game.

 

[civad]

originally posted by: stultus
Partitioning is best done before a system is installed on it. There are programs (PartitionMagic) that will change the partitions on the fly, but I've had rather limited luck with them (i.e., the drive gets corrupted and all data is lost). So I'd recommend you don't mess with it at all this late in the game.

I thought you could create image files of the existing system and use them as backup. I remember (unless I am mistaken) Adaptec's easy cd creator bundle has that utility. (It needs 3 or so cds)

I havent used Partition Magic recently so I cannot tell about it.

Goopster, I think you might also have received the system restore disks with your machine. You can burn all the important data on CDs, and try partitioning the drive using PM. In case something goes wrong, you can always use the system restore disks. And your data already was backed up.

Coming to advantages of partitioning:
a. You can keep the OS and application files on one partition and the important data on other. That way in case you have to reinstall/ upgrade the OS, your data might not be affected.
b. You can install GNU/Linux on the free space.
c. In case something happens to the OS (e.g. parts of the drive get curropted) you have less chances of losing your data.

 

[stultus]

Originally posted by: civad

I thought you could create image files of the existing system and use them as backup. I remember (unless I am mistaken) Adaptec's easy cd creator bundle has that utility. (It needs 3 or so cds)

This sounds like a good option, assuming it does the backup above the system level (i.e., through DOS). I don't have much faith in fancy-schmancy "do it within windows" sort of programs. PM is one of those such programs; you just click and drag to select the size of your new partition, and it churns right then and there. Like I said, I've not had the best results with that, but YMMV.

 

[Trashman]

Maybe consider gettin an external drive, better so if you have usb2.0 or firewire ports ......or just get another internal hard drive, for extra storage and backing up needs...don't mess with partitions now, hate to see ya fubar current install, not trying to say that will, i'm sure many people have used that program with success. With the cost of hard drives now, the money spent towards a program such as partitionmagic could have gone towards a 2nd hard drive or even a cdrw would be great if you don't have one.

 

[Dan]

There are two schools of thought when it comes to partitioning. (And I bet Andy has an FAQ on it.)

At a minimum, I like to have my OS on a separate partition from everything else. That practice has saved my bacon more than a few times over the years.

I presently have two drives, partitioned and labeled as follows:

HDD #1: 100GB
C: 18GB - WinXP
D: 29GB - Programs
E: 38GB - Multimedia
100MB - Linux Boot
10GB - Linux OS
2GB Linux Swap

HDD #2: 80GB
F: 76.3GB - Storage

FYI, I've used Partition Magic for years (versions 2 through 8, in fact) and never had a problem. (Knock on wood!!)

 

[geckojohn]

I dunno about that....

I like having just a single partition. It's much easier to maintain when you have a busy lifestyle. I'd recommend at the most two partitions. One for your OS and the other for your data.

 

[VBboy]

I partition as a small C: and a large D:.

I keep all Windows and Program Files (installed) on C so that when I need to run a virus check or Scandisk, it goes very quickly because it's just a 20 GB partition. Try doing virus check and scandisk on a 120 GB drive!

 

[Jeff7181]

I have an 80 GB drive...

C: Windows and other applications 20 GB
D: Swap 2 GB
E: MS Flight Sim 2002 4 GB
F: All other games 20 GB
G: Multimedia/data 29 GB

Windows and other apps get their own cause they don't change a whole lot, so they don't get fragmented... so I keep them separate from things that do get fragmented a lot.

Swap gets it's own partition so it doesn't get fragmented.

Flight is on it's own partition cause it tends to fragment everything you put near it.

Other games don't do that as bad, but I still like to give them their own partition so they don't get fragmented

Multimedia is obvious... many large files... new files being created all the time, creates a lot of fragmentation.

 

[Goopster]

I am not looking to spend any money on any partitioning software. I don't have any of my own data on the hard drive as of yet all i have is a stuff that came from dell and some of it i don't even care about like word perfect etc..

First i wanted to partition my hard drive just as a learning exercise, now that i come to think of it my computer is used by a couple of users and it tends to get messy with everyone's applications on it.
I think it would be a good idea for me to partition hard drive and allocate space for different kind of data.
like some of you are doing.
All i need to do is delete a couple of users i have setup and my computer will be in the same state as i got it from dell.
At this point my question to you guys is that. Is it possible to partition my hard drive at this stage without getting a outside software. Do you see any problem doing this.
Will partitioning slow down your computer?
Is it hard to install applications on a partitioned hard drive?
Will you guys help me do it ?

 

[mboy]

I used to do the whole partition thing on my personal rigs, just got to be to much of a PITA!
I just upgraded my 60gb 2mb cache maxtor 133 to an 80gb 8mb cache with a fresh install. Bought a combo usb2/firewire enclosure to thro the old drive in and now I can store all my "stuff" on their for redundancy in case any of my 3 rigs go down and need a new OS install!

 

[Spyro]

Is it possible to partition my hard drive at this stage without getting a outside software. Do you see any problem doing this.

Nope, its not possible to partition your hard drive right now without any additional software, because what you would be doing is simply editing (i.e. resizing) an already existing partition. If you want to though you could always repartition your disk using fdisk, reboot, and reinstall Windows.

Will partitioning slow down your computer?

Nope.

Is it hard to install applications on a partitioned hard drive?

Only if you run out of space .

Will you guys help me do it ?

O.K.

Hmmmmmm.........................

 

[Goopster]

Thanks for your help. I probably would hold on to partitioning for a while.