Vista Hard Drive Partition Size?

[ArubaBob]

Hello, I am building a new computer. I am going to make the leap to Vista Ultimate 64. Currently using Windows 2000 and hate to buy XP for a short time, but can't wait for SP-1. I am buying a Seagate Baracuda St3320620AS 320GB drive. Considered a second one in RAID 1, but will probably do regular backup to an existing 250GB in an external case using the eSATA port.

My question is what would be the recommended partition size for the Vista? I am thinking about 20GB but don't have a clue if this is enough. Any recommendations?

The rest of my new system to replace a 4 year old one (don't replace or tweak that often): ASUS P5K Deluxe/Wi-Fi, 2GB DDR2 - 1066 Crucial BL2KIY2864AA1065 (planning to run 13633FSB, DDR2-1066), Graphics card still undecided on. Putting this into a Antec Sonata II case with Antec SmartPower 2.0 PSU (may replace this). Buying a 20" or 22" widescreen LCD display to run at 1680 x 1050. I do AutoCad and office work at home. Lots of music, photo editing and am planning on getting into video. Only occasional gamming -- don't get the time.

I am very open to any recommendations for the hard drive or the rest of the system.

 

[Slugbait]

My Vista partition is 22G...I have 4G free, but I need to do regular cleanup. Yes, my apps are installed to a different partition.

I would recommend 30G as a minimum.

 

[Trashman]

I'd say no partition, why bother, I just don't see the need anymore, I have a 320GB HD as well as a 250GB backup drive. No partitions at all.
But if you feel as if you must, i'd agree with Slugbait, 30GB minimum.. I'd go a bit bigger to be safe, 50-60GB should be good enough....better off with too much, than not enough.

 

[Boyo]

Originally posted by: Trashman
I'd say no partition, why bother, I just don't see the need anymore, I have a 320GB HD as well as a 250GB backup drive. No partitions at all.
But if you feel as if you must, i'd agree with Slugbait, 30GB minimum.. I'd go a bit bigger to be safe, 50-60GB should be good enough....better off with too much, than not enough.

I second having no partition at all. Just leave your drive as one partition.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Trashman
I'd say no partition, why bother, I just don't see the need anymore, I have a 320GB HD as well as a 250GB backup drive. No partitions at all.
But if you feel as if you must, i'd agree with Slugbait, 30GB minimum.. I'd go a bit bigger to be safe, 50-60GB should be good enough....better off with too much, than not enough.

I'm with the 1 partition group also :thumbsup:

 

[TallBill]

Another vote for 30.

 

[nova2]

i'd say go with one partition for your OS and one for all other data.
when/if OS needs to be replaced, just image over it using one of your monthly OS images you created using acronis trueimage.

 

[Trevante]

I definately say you should have two partitions, so you can wipe your OS at any time without worrying much about keeping or backing up important data. I say go for 60GB.

 

[soydios]

30-50GB if you must make a partition.
But I don't see why it's necessary.

 

[Pirotech]

Originally posted by: Trevante
I definately say you should have two partitions, so you can wipe your OS at any time without worrying much about keeping or backing up important data. I say go for 60GB.

I agree.
If you don't like it, you will be able to change the number of partitions or their size using special software, for example Disk Director or Partition Magic. I prefer Disk Director and advice u, it's very easy to use.

 

[JackMDS]

When you install Vista Ultimate as is it takes about 10GB.

If you add Office 2007, and few more essentials you would get to about 12-14GB.

The rest is Up to you, and whatever you are using on your system.

 

[oog]

one big partition

 

[13Gigatons]

500 Gig Hard Drive Partitions:

1. 40GB Windows Vista 32 bit
2. 40GB Windows Vista 64 bit
3. 20GB Windows XP 32 bit

4. 100GB Data/Documents
5. 300GB Media

Using Acronis TI to make backup images to internal or external hard drives and DVD gives you peace of mind that your Apps, Settings and MP3 collection is not only backed up but easy to recover if the the hard drive needs to be replaced.

 

[Count Alucard]

i'd say go with one partition for your OS and one for all other data.

This is the ONLY way to go.

 

[krotchy]

30GB minimum IMO

 

[bobsmith1492]

I went for 30GB (27.7 actual)... just make sure to change all your installs to the other directory. You can change your default My Documents folder over as well. I'm at 20GB on my install partition now and it's holding steady; something like 25 would probably work.

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons
500 Gig Hard Drive Partitions:

1. 40GB Windows Vista 32 bit
2. 40GB Windows Vista 64 bit
3. 20GB Windows XP 32 bit

4. 100GB Data/Documents
5. 300GB Media

Using Acronis TI to make backup images to internal or external hard drives and DVD gives you peace of mind that your Apps, Settings and MP3 collection is not only backed up but easy to recover if the the hard drive needs to be replaced.

Why the hell would you buy 2 copies of Vista? I'm running Vista Ultimate x64 right now, and it's absolutely flawless with 32-bit compatibility.
Hardware compatibility is perfect as well, although there's a few applications that are underperforming (albeit performing nonetheless, but that's an issue with Vista, not x64 vs. x32).

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: Trevante
I definately say you should have two partitions, so you can wipe your OS at any time without worrying much about keeping or backing up important data. I say go for 60GB.

Be careful doing this...if you lock the user permissions on your data partition, reinstalling the OS will render any password-protected user-restricted partitions and content unreadable.

I ran into this when I reinstalled Vista after I screwed up the first install. During my first try, I had changed my entire second hard drive's permissions to work with my account only. After the reinstall, all my data was suddenly inaccessible. Amen for a full remote backup before the switch!

 

[bobsmith1492]

Originally posted by: soydios

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons
500 Gig Hard Drive Partitions:

1. 40GB Windows Vista 32 bit
2. 40GB Windows Vista 64 bit
3. 20GB Windows XP 32 bit

4. 100GB Data/Documents
5. 300GB Media

Using Acronis TI to make backup images to internal or external hard drives and DVD gives you peace of mind that your Apps, Settings and MP3 collection is not only backed up but easy to recover if the the hard drive needs to be replaced.

Why the hell would you buy 2 copies of Vista? I'm running Vista Ultimate x64 right now, and it's absolutely flawless with 32-bit compatibility.
Hardware compatibility is perfect as well, although there's a few applications that are underperforming (albeit performing nonetheless, but that's an issue with Vista, not x64 vs. x32).

Vista comes with both versions (sometimes, anyway).

 

[Zepper]

I'd go with at least two partitions as well. I have C: thru O:, but I now think that's a bit of overkill... I'd also go with at least 30GB on the theory that it's easier to make partitions smaller than larger and most HDDs have so much more space than needed by any normal person that they end up looking like Fibber McGee's closet. Consider a third partition for gathering files for burning CDs/DVDs and perhaps a fourth for temporary and scratch files/folders to keep frequent reading and writing off the OS/program and data partitions - this will take some registry and/or system config file editing to move things like the Temporary Internet Files folder, printer Spooler folder, etc. to it. You may also be able to locate the Windows Virtual Memory (swap file) space there too. This would even work better to a partition on a separate physical drive.

.bh.

 

[Bovinicus]

I also feel like at least 2 partitions is the way to go. I usually like 3 partitions. I have one for the OS, one for applications, and one for data. That way it is much easier to wipe the bitch clean if it needs to happen, and we all know that it's going to happen at one time or another.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492

Originally posted by: soydios

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons
500 Gig Hard Drive Partitions:

1. 40GB Windows Vista 32 bit
2. 40GB Windows Vista 64 bit
3. 20GB Windows XP 32 bit

4. 100GB Data/Documents
5. 300GB Media

Using Acronis TI to make backup images to internal or external hard drives and DVD gives you peace of mind that your Apps, Settings and MP3 collection is not only backed up but easy to recover if the the hard drive needs to be replaced.

Why the hell would you buy 2 copies of Vista? I'm running Vista Ultimate x64 right now, and it's absolutely flawless with 32-bit compatibility.
Hardware compatibility is perfect as well, although there's a few applications that are underperforming (albeit performing nonetheless, but that's an issue with Vista, not x64 vs. x32).

Vista comes with both versions (sometimes, anyway).

I installed Vista 32 first and haved used it for awhile. Then I decided to try out Vista 64 to see if it would work as well with my hardware and software that I use. Vista 64 is on the DVD if you don't enter a key so it's a temp install. Windows XP is a older leftover install that I have not bother to delete, might come in handy one day.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Bovinicus
I also feel like at least 2 partitions is the way to go. I usually like 3 partitions. I have one for the OS, one for applications, and one for data. That way it is much easier to wipe the bitch clean if it needs to happen, and we all know that it's going to happen at one time or another.

I think that more important than having several partitions is having multiple drives for backups. Any one drive can fail at any time. Plus, having backup on a separate machine or external HD or removable media, and some off-site backup scenario going if you want serious insurance against data loss. I know this is nothing new to most of you, but is always worth mentioning in a thread like this. I'm doing all those things.

I've been keeping my applications and data on the same HD, but I back up all my data (and downloads) regularly in multiple ways.

 

[Roguestar]

I go with one partition for OS/programs, and one for data. I've not formatted D: since the first time I bought it, it has music and stuff on it, but C: gets formatted any time I'm doing a huge reinstall.

 

[SirFelixCat]

Originally posted by: Bovinicus
I also feel like at least 2 partitions is the way to go. I usually like 3 partitions. I have one for the OS, one for applications, and one for data. That way it is much easier to wipe the bitch clean if it needs to happen, and we all know that it's going to happen at one time or another.

Sorry to bump an older thread, but the quoted part has me seriously confused.

I plan on having 4 HDD's total, 3 physicalling in my computer and an external for imaging/backup.

74Gig Raptor 2 partitions: 1 for Vista Ultimate & 1 for programs
320Gig 1 partition for data
500Gig for data (music, movies etc)

So the big question I have is I understand that partitioning your boot drive so that when you reinstall your OS, you don't lose your drivers/apps/data etc...but you STILL have to reinstall the drivers and all programs, even if they are on another partition, right?

So why?