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Thread ID: 114457	2010-12-03 18:43:00	Advice needed for best partition strategy	blanco (11336)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1158470	2010-12-03 18:43:00	I am about to replace my knackered 500GB hard drive with a new 1TB drive installing Windows 7 and I'm wondering about best partition sizes. I thought to make "C" 200GB for the OS and applications, leaving 750GB for Docs, Video, Audio and whatever else. I also have a 1TB external drive which has 600GB free, currently containing backup and loads of audio/video, docs etc. What is the best proven stategy for partitions and are two enough? My old drive was not partitioned - everything in "C".	blanco (11336)
1158471	2010-12-03 18:50:00	I personally have C: for the O/S only. Apps and data go on other(s). Then once evertyhing is installed and set up to my satisfaction I image C:. It gets stored on D and external drives as well. ANy problems or bloat or clutter and I image it back. Voila, instant perfection again.	pctek (84)
1158472	2010-12-03 19:04:00	Thanks, pctek. There seem to be differing schools of thought on this subject. I've looked on a few sites for answers. Some go your way and others say put the OS & Apps together because most want to be installed to "C" by default. I'll wait and see what other peers recommend before proceeding.	blanco (11336)
1158473	2010-12-03 21:33:00	I normally have the O/S and Apps on C: and everything else on D:. Mostly as if C: dies then the Apps are going to want reinstalling anyway.	Snorkbox (15764)
1158474	2010-12-03 21:52:00	I only ever have 1 partition on a hard drive. Stops the issues where C: runs out of space and D: is still nearly empty, so more efficient use of the drive. I get the point about reinstalling the OS and apps without touching the data but then I'd normally restore the data from the backups or have the data on a separate hard drive. I did read somewhere that constantly jumping from one partition on a hard drive to another can slow the read speeds down, however without some real world testing I’m not sure how true that is.	gcarmich (10068)
1158475	2010-12-03 22:06:00	[QUOTE=gcarmich;972564]I only ever have 1 partition on a hard drive. Stops the issues where C: runs out of space and D: is still nearly empty, so more efficient use of the drive. In my case, allocating say 250Gb for the C partition would prevent this issue. I have 1TB to play with. 200plus GB allows for a lot of applications.	blanco (11336)
1158476	2010-12-03 22:11:00	I think the best scheme is to have two physical drives in your machine. One small C: drive for Windows and apps One large D: drive for data. I have been doing this for the last 2 years and it has really worked well for me. That way if either of the drives goes down it is much easier to get going again. Hard drives are so cheap now.	Digby (677)
1158477	2010-12-03 22:16:00	That makes a lot of sense digby - worth consideration. I wonder what Speedy and Wainuitech would suggest	blanco (11336)
1158478	2010-12-03 22:23:00	I have 2 disks but only use 1. OS and apps on C drive. All my data is stored on my server which has 2TB of space (4 x 500GB disks) plus a 80GB which holds the Server 2008 install. I haven't really backed up the server ever, it has been pretty solid for the past 2 years. I have had to do 2 OS re-installed but that wasn't an issue because my other data was fine. I have recently started using Windows 7's backup application and I have to say Microsoft actually got it right. Easy as pie to use and doesn't take long to restore your files. I backup my main rig to an external USB drive once a week. Cheers,	chiefnz (545)
1158479	2010-12-03 22:28:00	Umm, I usually partition, it doesnt matter what version of windows it is. I dont need 1 TB on one partition. I wouldnt fill it up. If I installed Win7 now, I would partition the hdd during setup. Since, I'm using a 1 TB hdd. Atm, I've got 3 partitions, C is 250 GB, D is 250 (this is empty), and E is 500 (this was / is in case I decided to dual boot with something else). It'll save me reformatting again (I'll just install / partition / install on D or E). E is full of updates / windows updates. If I decided to repartition the whole hdd, I would copy E across the network, format D and E, then copy it back later The only thing with having 1 partition, what if you got hit with something??	Speedy Gonzales (78)
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