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Thread ID: 42442 2004-02-11 03:56:00 Best partition size for Windows? peejayw (5130) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
214511 2004-02-11 03:56:00 I am about to re-install Windows XP Home Edition. I have 12gig main drive and a 40gig second drive.
I was thinking of installing Windows to its on partition on the smaller C drive.
I currently have about 350 MB of ram.
What would be the best partition size for Windows?
Thanks,
peejay
peejayw (5130)
214512 2004-02-11 04:34:00 I like to use a 6 to 8 gig partition for XP and I install most of my program files like office to another Partition to avoid using it all up quickly. But I'd say 6gig should be about minimum. Odin (227)
214513 2004-02-11 05:31:00 I only have a 3gb partition for windows but I install everything onto a separate partition dedicated for programs.

I guess with windows updates etc 3Gb is minimum for reasonable use IMO. If you like system restore and installing programs onto the windows partitoon then make it bigger as you see fit. I have installed windows onto a 2gb partition, still had 512mb free and worked fine.
PoWa (203)
214514 2004-02-11 07:03:00 Not sure about XP, but W98se takes up 580,373Kb. The smaller the better, as doing images is quicker and uses less CD's. 4 to 6 gigs would be plenty. Mine is 2.38 Gb.
Bye
Peter H (220)
214515 2004-02-11 07:33:00 Wow my latest win98se install was under 200mb. PoWa (203)
214516 2004-02-11 07:54:00 Depends on if you do a custom or full install - still doesn't take up much space. Thats why I'm staying with it.
Bye
Peter H (220)
214517 2004-02-11 07:56:00 I was also thinking of the size of the scratch disk, the smaller I can keep it the quicker it will be to defrag? peejayw (5130)
214518 2004-02-13 03:42:00 12 gigs is ideal if you want to install lots of programs 8 gigs would be the minimum I would use for XP kiwibeat (304)
214519 2004-02-13 10:37:00 I have been running XP for a couple of years & recommend the following:-

1] Active Primary partition 'C' for the XP system. 3 gigs. Keeping it this size will make it much easier to make "Ghost" images, defrag etc.
2] 1st Sequential partition "D" for backups, Ghosts etc, about 5 gigs.
3] 2nd sequential partition "E" for programmes.
4] The rest for Data, "F"

Use FAT32, it is easier to maintain and accessible to DOS.
You will need to beat XP into shape. Run a little programme called "XP-Anti Spy", this switches off all the annoying garbage and speeds it up. I have 256meg RAM which is more than adequate, tried 512 but made no difference.
Mzee (158)
214520 2004-02-13 12:19:00 @ Mzee
hmmm, I do not follow your logic here,

quote
1] Active Primary partition 'C' for the XP system. 3 gigs. Keeping it this size will make it much easier to make "Ghost" images, defrag etc.
2] 1st Sequential partition "D" for backups, Ghosts etc, about 5 gigs.

2 * hard drives, 1 12 Gigs, and 1 is 40 gigs..
why would you want to put your back up on the same disk (but different partition.) ?

@ peejayw
The question being what is the best size for a windows partition. By this I take this to mean..What size should I set my Windows partition for Best performance ?

Well this we can now try to answer...

1) WinXP requires a lot more space then Win98, A standard WinXP pro day to day installation will require 3-5 Gigs of space.

2) Placing the paging file in its own partition on the start of a separate Hard Disk+ setting the Min-Max size will greatly increase performance.
(What Size should I set my paging file ? The general rule of thumb is ram *1.5.)

Therefore a basic setup would be along the lines of
Hard Drive 1
Partition 1 = C: = ~4-8 Gigs (For Windows)
Partition 2 = D: = ~6-10 Gigs (For Program Files + Games)

Hard Drive 2
Partition 3 = E: = ~2 Gigs (For Paging File)
Partition 4 = F: = ~38 Gigs (For What ever)

Obviously you can set up your partitions how you like, as this is a very simplistic overview for your situation.

PeebZ
PeebZ (454)
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