Partition Order/Size Question

fireflayer

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
133
0
18,680
I will be installing XP Pro. It seems that one partition for OS, one for swap, one for games/programs, and maybe another one for backup would be nice.

I would assume the backup one should go last, the games/programs second to last, but I am not sure if the swap or the OS should go first.

Also, what should the sizes be? I will be using a 60GB Maxtor, and might be picking up another one from Best Buy for $63 and running RAID-0.

But right now I just want to get it running on the 60GB. What would recommended sizes be for the OS and swap? I have 256MB of Crucial2100DDR if that affects how big of a swap would be needed. I don't be much video editing or anything like that.

Thanks
 

NurseMSIC

Distinguished
Nov 3, 2001
250
0
18,780
I regard myself as having a 'medium' (?!) level of knowledge so am prepared to be corrected.
I have my OS partition set at 4 Gigs, which for Win 2000 is fine for that and all my primary programs.
A swap file is best on a second, seperate physical drive. If you dont have one, and are just partitioning your single hard drive, keep it with Windows, or else the drive head will be jumping all over the disk and will slow you down.
I personally find 12 Gig is enough for my games, i tend to have around 5 installed at the same time, then will have finished one before installing another (although 'Birth of the Federation' just keeps on truckin'...).

I personally have a final partition (for me 35 Gig) for data, in my case video editing, MP3s and photos. The video editing gets transfered to CDs (and hopefully later this year DVDs) when done, to free up space, the MP3s are at 14 Gig and keep growing...

Hope this helps a bit.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=18108" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=18108</A>
 

Garasaki

Distinguished
Mar 29, 2002
35
0
18,530
This is a very interested questino...i will be watching closely!!

I didn't know it was best to have a seperate drive for swapping. I'm wondering...how often does that get accessed?? And will performance be hindered if I use a slower rotation drive for that one? I'm preparing a system as well, and was planning on using a seagate barracuda, because its quiet. If i put my swap file on a seperate hd, it'll be an older, louder, slower one...

Good info in that last post though...cheers to you!
 

fireflayer

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2001
133
0
18,680
ah, that does make sense to put mp3s and such in the last partition. i do currently have an extra 10gig 5200rpm drive, but i think i'm putting that in another computer and selling it to a friend. the difference shouldn't be too great between a swap file on a seperate drive or on the same drive (considering i'm eventually going to be running raid-0) should it?

so it seems now:
first: OS-5gig
second: games/programs- about 30 (i have a lot of stuff :p)
third: mp3s, backup, whatnot-20

The actual amount of space on a 60 will be around 55, won't it?

also, since i've become lazy and just use formatting from my xp cd, anyone know of a site with some basic fdisk info?

thanks
 

NurseMSIC

Distinguished
Nov 3, 2001
250
0
18,780
Regarding the swap file on a slower drive, that is a very good point.
On my system, i decided to have Windows on my ATA100 7200 drive, but with the swap file on a seperate drive which is only ATA66 5400 rpm. I made the decision because i felt that 2 read heads could work faster than one, but in truth it is a guess of sorts and i suppose only benchmarks would show if i am right or not.
If you have two drives of the same speed though (as i hope to have shortly) then put the swap file on the non - windows one.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=18108" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=18108</A>
 

NurseMSIC

Distinguished
Nov 3, 2001
250
0
18,780
Sorry also forgot to add - i chose to keep my OS partition at around 4 Gig (although Partition Magic can increase ot for me if i want in the future) as that is the one that is always in use, ie every second, and needs defragging very often (i do every 1 to 2 weeks). The MP3 section isnt written to anything like as often, so doesnt require defragging. Better to defrag 4 Gig than 40 i say.

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=18108" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=18108</A>
 

lhgpoobaa

Illustrious
Dec 31, 2007
14,462
1
40,780
ive kept my system relatevly simple.
win2k, 80gig drive, 5gig system partion with 512mb swapfile and hibernate file.
the other partion (D:) is just games.

as the swapfile size is fixed at 512-512mb theres no need to have it on another partition. it sits at the start of C drive and never moves.

besides, if you have lots of ram (512mb or greater) then the occasions of dipping into the swapfile are few and far between.

all my mp3's and critical data are stored on a seperate drive 80gig (E:) and backed up onto cd for security.

<font color=blue>All religions are true, for a given value of 'true' - Terry Pratchett.</font color=blue>