How to partition my hard drives on Windows 7.

[berlin88]

I have Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) and three internal hard drives, how should I set up my partions/ drives? My goal is to maximize performance.


I have the following, with the SATA II being my most recent drive at 1 year old, and the other ranging from 3-5 years old.

Seagate 1TB SATA II
Western Digital 200 GB SATA
Maxtor 250GB ATA

Windows Peformance Index gave my 1TB drive a 6.1 for performance. I also have an external 250GB ATA (I think its a Western Digital) hard drive for storing backup files and transferring files between computers.



Here is what my computer will be used for:


1. Computer Games (Empire Total War, World In Conflict, Battlefield 2, Oblivion, etc.). Need reasonable space for current and future games as they are gettign larger all the time.


2. I have a Hauppauge TV card and occasionally make recordings. (Should the TV program be put on its own partition?) (What about recordings?)


3. Music/ Video Files (iTunes downloads/ music cd's) and all the video files I record with my TV card.

Windows has the my documents folder for pictures, world documents, videos and music, but should I leave those empty and just store it on a seperate drive?

Would iTunes see a performance difference if its installed on drive C:, but all the music is on drive D:?

I generally have been using the smaller 2 drives for storage of video files and my tv card program.


4. I have photo shop installed, but don't use it that often. I also have a program for editing the video files I record.




5. Here is how my system is set up at the moment

TB Drive

C: OS/ pictures/ music/ non gaming programs/ data files
D: Games and some video files

250GB Drive

E: filled wiht video files all on one partition

200GB drive

F: The software for my tv card, tv recordings and other video files.

 

[pathasse]

Well what ever drive is the fastest is where you want your OS and your Apps. Looks like you have it right. You could make things better with a SSD.

 

[berlin88]

Well what ever drive is the fastest is where you want your OS and your Apps. Looks like you have it right. You could make things better with a SSD.

Which plan did I have right, the proposed one or the one I am currently using?


Right now my 1TB drive is divided into two partions (1/4, 3/4) with OS on C:, Games on D: and Music/ data files/ apps on C: as well.


Most sites I have looked at said to put games and apps all on the OS drive, and then put Music/ data files/ Video on a different drive. Thats different from how I have it set up right now.


If I put all my music on Drive D: versus drive C:, should I also install iTunes on Drive D:? or leave iTunes on Drive C:?