I recently finished my first build and when I receive my replacement 8800GTS I will be ready to install an OS. I have read a number of articles regarding the question of partitioning the HDD on OS install. In reading these articles it is unclear whether partitioning is even necessary and, if so, why. This computer has a 320 Gb Seagate SATA drive and will be used almost exclusivly for gaming. My question is whether it is recommended that I partition this HDD and, if so, why. Also, if I do partition how large should the OS partition be? Initially I will be installing XP Home but will probably upgrade to Vista once MS works out the bugs and the third party folk catch up.
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I always like to create a small (20-50GB) Partition exclusively for the OS and other system progs. My windows installations always have had suicidal tendencies after a few months; Like this I can wipe the partition clean, reinstall, tadaa... And I don't have to worry about the data an the other partition like this...
desolationw
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I created a 20gb windows partition, 2gb pagefile and the other ~170gb is for main files. Basically means i wont lose everything or have 2 spend ages backing everything up when i need to re-install windows as the mains files partition will remain untouched.
It is up to you what you do, but i would recommend partitioning it.
It is up to you what you do, but i would recommend partitioning it.
Forget the page file. Just create the partitions you need; Windows will handle everything you need...
sailer
Splendid
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My opinion is to definitly partition the drive. With Vista coming out, I'd put 40 gig for drive C and the rest in drive D. Reason is this, if, no, when you have to reinstall the OS, it will wipe out everything on the drive. If your data is on the same drive, its gone. Even if you have backed up everything faithfully, it can still take a fair amount of time to reinstall all the data.
With a partition, you reinstall your OS and your data is safe and sound on the other partition. That means a bunch of time saved. You should still back up everything just incase the whole hard drive takes a dive, but it makes everything safer and neater.
With a partition, you reinstall your OS and your data is safe and sound on the other partition. That means a bunch of time saved. You should still back up everything just incase the whole hard drive takes a dive, but it makes everything safer and neater.
bydesign
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What are you talking about? Formatting the drive is an option for reinstalling an OS, not a requirement. Vista also likes to manage where you install and store things, not suggesting this good thing but it's a bit of a control freak by default.
There are reason you may considering partitioning such keeping defrag times down and so on. Partitioning is NOT any safer for your data. If you are that careless none of your data is safe.
There are reason you may considering partitioning such keeping defrag times down and so on. Partitioning is NOT any safer for your data. If you are that careless none of your data is safe.
CompTIA_Rep
Splendid
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Manufacturers partitioned the computer into the windows and 2nd partition. This was because XP didnt run so hot with one large partition. This has been resolved and now no longer a benifit to multiple parts. Its all up to you for your convenience.
I see no performance advantages for keeping your OS on a separate partition from the rest of your files, if you only have 1 drive.
If defrag your drive regularly, you should get the same performance with 1 big partition.
I partition my HD because I run several OS, so it's more out of necessity. SOme people do it to because they think it's more organized.
Since you will not be able to fully separate your programs (games) from the rest of the OS, as many libraries and system files are installed in the windows/system directory, you won't be able to reformat your windows partition (if something goes wrong) while keeping the rest of your files intact ...
One reason to making at least one extra partition (with XP installed on it) is to have a sort of a "recovery" OS that you can access the rest of your drive with, in case your original partition becomes unbootable/unuseable.
That gives you the option to easily recover some important files. This extra partition doesn't have to be very large, maybe 20Gb, as it won't be used often.
One last thing to note, is that the more free HD space you have on a certain partition - the less chances of fragmentation when you install new software. That will keep your PC running generally smoother (albeit not significantly) on a day to day basis, and require less frequent defrags.
I don't know if you noticed, but playing a high loading game (anything that has a long loading screen between maps) is always faster on a HD with tons of free space, rather than a HD thats filled to capacity. Because of this, it might be benefitial to keep your main partition (with your OS and all your games) as large as possible.
CHeers
If defrag your drive regularly, you should get the same performance with 1 big partition.
I partition my HD because I run several OS, so it's more out of necessity. SOme people do it to because they think it's more organized.
Since you will not be able to fully separate your programs (games) from the rest of the OS, as many libraries and system files are installed in the windows/system directory, you won't be able to reformat your windows partition (if something goes wrong) while keeping the rest of your files intact ...
One reason to making at least one extra partition (with XP installed on it) is to have a sort of a "recovery" OS that you can access the rest of your drive with, in case your original partition becomes unbootable/unuseable.
That gives you the option to easily recover some important files. This extra partition doesn't have to be very large, maybe 20Gb, as it won't be used often.
One last thing to note, is that the more free HD space you have on a certain partition - the less chances of fragmentation when you install new software. That will keep your PC running generally smoother (albeit not significantly) on a day to day basis, and require less frequent defrags.
I don't know if you noticed, but playing a high loading game (anything that has a long loading screen between maps) is always faster on a HD with tons of free space, rather than a HD thats filled to capacity. Because of this, it might be benefitial to keep your main partition (with your OS and all your games) as large as possible.
CHeers
I hate partition and never use them unless needed for multiple OS but that's just me.
I always go for multiple HD setup as this is the best performance/safety.
Yet with only one HD I do agree that partition for the OS is wise. I suggest installing the OS and program files on the same partition as you probably need to re-install most of them anyway if OS go bad. Thus I recommend ~40gb also.
I strongly recommend imaging software (Vista has his own) like TrueImage or Norton Ghost, or any other that suit you. Imaging will make a complete OS re-install so much easier and really faster.
Bottom line is everybody got their way to do thing and stay organise. Not everyone keep important data, so backup/security and so on is always different.
Read the comments, pick the idea you like, and roll with it =)
I always go for multiple HD setup as this is the best performance/safety.
Yet with only one HD I do agree that partition for the OS is wise. I suggest installing the OS and program files on the same partition as you probably need to re-install most of them anyway if OS go bad. Thus I recommend ~40gb also.
I strongly recommend imaging software (Vista has his own) like TrueImage or Norton Ghost, or any other that suit you. Imaging will make a complete OS re-install so much easier and really faster.
Bottom line is everybody got their way to do thing and stay organise. Not everyone keep important data, so backup/security and so on is always different.
Read the comments, pick the idea you like, and roll with it =)
I believe there is a lot of garbage info about partitioning out there. It used to greatly impact the speed of data access in the 486 and Win95/98 days, but I believe that for the most part it is only a matter of convenience today - or required for multi-OS loads. I have timed a 400G drive with and without OS/app/pagefile/data partitioning on an AMDX2 5000 with 2G RAM and Windows size set pagefile. I saw no speed difference. I have kept a single partition for over a year and see no major fragmentation issues either way. I access about 10 apps a day (not counting startup apps) and save about 4G a week in torrents that are usually deleted within the month. What could I possibly be doing right here? For convenience, it is easier to save data to a single logical letter all of the time, but for disaster recovery you'll still have to reinstall an app due to registry settings - so it is only a convenience issue for the modern PC/OS as far as I can tell.
The_OGS
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There you go - me too.
In other words I would rather have 2 x 160GB HDs than 1 x 320GB any day.
If you have 3 HDs Windows can use them as Boot drive, System drive and PageFile drive for example.
You can partition one drive up into smaller but it's not the same...
However, if I had only 1 x 320GB drive I would partition it like the guys have recommended to you.
Or - just pickup the smallest HD you can get with a 16MB cache (probably well below $100 bucks) for your OS and use the 320GB for storage.
If you move your pagefile to another HD on its own controller, there is a performance advantage.
If you move it to its own partition on the same HD, not so (but at least the pagefile will not fragment).
There is a reason new mobo's support ~10 SATA drives! HDs are inexpensive.
If you work with video files like I do, you can benefit from 3 or more HDs. I take MPEG4 video from 1 HD, interleaved with AC3 audio from a second HD, and output the finished result to a third HD.
I don't care how many partitions you make, you can't do that with just one harddisk, heheh...
Regards
CompTIA_Rep
Splendid
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How about using flash drives of 8gb for the OS.... a 4gb flash drive as the pagefile. A 500gb hdd has a file storage unit, and a raptor for games.
Yes no maybe so?
Yes no maybe so?
Partitioning goes back to the olden days when your drive couldn't be bigger than 32MB. If you have no real need to partition, don't.
An example of a real need to partition is having two different operating systems, like UNIX and Windows and you need the ability to boot one or the other.
An example of a real need to partition is having two different operating systems, like UNIX and Windows and you need the ability to boot one or the other.
Me likes!
Altough pagefile : 512meg is plenty, I don't know why you would make it bigger!
the 1.5X you ram is from the old day IMO. with 128meg of ram 196 of swap might be a good idea =)
Altough pagefile : 512meg is plenty, I don't know why you would make it bigger!
the 1.5X you ram is from the old day IMO. with 128meg of ram 196 of swap might be a good idea =)
CompTIA_Rep
Splendid
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I was just saying.
The accepted rule of thumb is 1.5x your memory for the pagefile for memory up to 756mb. For anything greater, use .75%.
512mb memory = 756mb PF
1gb memory - 756 PF
I imagine that with 64bit os, you would expect to double that estimate. I personaly dont use a PF because i have enough memory to run everything in memory.
The accepted rule of thumb is 1.5x your memory for the pagefile for memory up to 756mb. For anything greater, use .75%.
512mb memory = 756mb PF
1gb memory - 756 PF
I imagine that with 64bit os, you would expect to double that estimate. I personaly dont use a PF because i have enough memory to run everything in memory.
The_OGS
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I have 2GB and yesterday (while playing 'Prey') my pagefile use went up to over 1024MB.
No matter how much memory you have, Windows likes a swap file.
Memory utilisation is much more aggressive in Vista and it likes a pagefile equal to your RAM - so in my case ~2GB.
So it seems the pagefile will not go away,
L8R
No matter how much memory you have, Windows likes a swap file.
Memory utilisation is much more aggressive in Vista and it likes a pagefile equal to your RAM - so in my case ~2GB.
So it seems the pagefile will not go away,
L8R
CompTIA_Rep
Splendid
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It also depends on preference. I would rather buy more ram then increase my pagefile... but 1gb of ram has done me well so far.
Upgrading to vista myself later today.... hope its much beter then RC1.
Upgrading to vista myself later today.... hope its much beter then RC1.
The_Hanz
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Hard drives write from the outside in. When your disks spins at thousands of RPM the outside will always spin faster than the inside, thus making it faster.
I make a seperate partition on the hard drive for my OS's so they'll load faster at boot up and I partition the inside for use as general storage.
If I'm wrong lemme' know.
I make a seperate partition on the hard drive for my OS's so they'll load faster at boot up and I partition the inside for use as general storage.
If I'm wrong lemme' know.
CompTIA_Rep
Splendid
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The folks who are saying partitioning doesn't matter and recommend just going with one great big 'un, are not wrong. But I think they've also never been in a situation where following that tactic has turned around, bitten off a big chunk of their behind, and then laughed at them.
The primary reasons to divide things up into a smaller OS partition and a larger data partition are (1) if you ever need to resort to a clean install life is simpler or (2) you can more easily create a backup image of the OS partition. (It's a heck of lot easier to save an image of 16GB paritition than of a single ~380GB (or so) partition).
If you never have problems with Windows big enough that you want to resort to a reformat/reinstall, then having a separate OS partition is not going to buy you that much. And I'm sure there are lots of people out there who never have had any problems with it.
I'm not one of them. Personally I have done so many clean installs of windows I sometimes think it's what I now do "for entertainment".
I actually go even further than the 2 partition scheme. I have my main hard drive partitioned into a 16GB OS and the remainder data. I then have a separate hard drive that holds my windows "My Documents" folder. That way if I have to reformat I don't have to worry about backing up and restoring the stuff in "My Documents". All I have to do is tell windows to change the location of that folder once it is reinstalled.
-john
The primary reasons to divide things up into a smaller OS partition and a larger data partition are (1) if you ever need to resort to a clean install life is simpler or (2) you can more easily create a backup image of the OS partition. (It's a heck of lot easier to save an image of 16GB paritition than of a single ~380GB (or so) partition).
If you never have problems with Windows big enough that you want to resort to a reformat/reinstall, then having a separate OS partition is not going to buy you that much. And I'm sure there are lots of people out there who never have had any problems with it.
I'm not one of them. Personally I have done so many clean installs of windows I sometimes think it's what I now do "for entertainment".
I actually go even further than the 2 partition scheme. I have my main hard drive partitioned into a 16GB OS and the remainder data. I then have a separate hard drive that holds my windows "My Documents" folder. That way if I have to reformat I don't have to worry about backing up and restoring the stuff in "My Documents". All I have to do is tell windows to change the location of that folder once it is reinstalled.
-john
The thing about partition is if your HD dies, then you have a lot of trouble no matter what.
With 2 HD setup + backup it is either easy to replace the OS hd and throw the image(that reside on the storage HD), or to throw back your back on the new storage HD.
Anyway I am a fan of 2HD config, if only one HD, partitioning is smart.
With 2 HD setup + backup it is either easy to replace the OS hd and throw the image(that reside on the storage HD), or to throw back your back on the new storage HD.
Anyway I am a fan of 2HD config, if only one HD, partitioning is smart.
Sciberpunkt
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I've tried it different ways over the years and am now in favor of the two partition 'system' and 'program' drive approach. Drive C is a 16GB partition for Windows, the swapfile and hibernation save data while Drive D has its own "Program Files" folder where most installations go. I also modify the Windows registry to relocate the "Documents and Settings" folder to the 'program' drive
My reasoning is that the swap file and system files are physically stored at the "beginning" of the drive where read/write access is fastest.
My reasoning is that the swap file and system files are physically stored at the "beginning" of the drive where read/write access is fastest.
CompTIA_Rep
Splendid
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Just wait untill 16gb mem sticks are cheap. You wont need to create that extra partition on the drive for the OS, just toss it on a flash drive 
The_OGS
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Yes - I have tried to learn about the new Vista technique, which uses Flash memory (if present) to speed up the OS, but the whole OS on there? Kewl
What about the solid-state HDs that are actually memory?
One of those for the OS, and then painfully slow drives like Raptors or 7200.10 for everyday storage, LoL. Sounds good!
Hey thanks for writing, Rep. We need knowledgable folks in here (and maybe you hear things before the rest of us do...)
I am amazed at some of the people setting up their own rigs, building and configuring hardware and BIOS fearlessly. Certain among them are without benefit of knowledge... basic stuff like concepts, memory speed or whatever. FSB? They dunno! But it's great because you gotta jump right in, that's how you learn I guess (and why Tom's is here).
Hardware is inexpensive lately... but just today I read a guy says he doesn't know memory timings or anything like that - but he was building an E6700 with some killer memory like Dominator or Titanium Alpha!! LoL, heheh...
Sorry, should've PM'd probably.
So PEH, you're good now? Did you partition that monster and learn what a pagefile is?
See PEH, he has big $$ stuff (8800GTS!) but he's just learning, we're all learning,
L8R
What about the solid-state HDs that are actually memory?
One of those for the OS, and then painfully slow drives like Raptors or 7200.10 for everyday storage, LoL. Sounds good!
Hey thanks for writing, Rep. We need knowledgable folks in here (and maybe you hear things before the rest of us do...)
I am amazed at some of the people setting up their own rigs, building and configuring hardware and BIOS fearlessly. Certain among them are without benefit of knowledge... basic stuff like concepts, memory speed or whatever. FSB? They dunno! But it's great because you gotta jump right in, that's how you learn I guess (and why Tom's is here).
Hardware is inexpensive lately... but just today I read a guy says he doesn't know memory timings or anything like that - but he was building an E6700 with some killer memory like Dominator or Titanium Alpha!! LoL, heheh...
Sorry, should've PM'd probably.
So PEH, you're good now? Did you partition that monster and learn what a pagefile is?
See PEH, he has big $$ stuff (8800GTS!) but he's just learning, we're all learning,
L8R
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