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Thread ID: 107644 2010-02-24 10:18:00 No point in having a separte data partition? Robinz (9362) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
861286 2010-02-24 10:18:00 Is this true

With Vista and NTFS there really is no need in the additional partition.
The Windows compliant programs MUST write data to the OS (C) drive regardless of where you put the program. You gain nothing, and the disk heads will have to jump from one partition to another all the time.

forums.techguy.org

The way it reads, by data I'm assuming he means personal files and not program files.
Just about to upgrade to W7 and was going to minimize the OS/programs partition to make the maximum room for the data/media files then use a network drive to do back-ups. Now I'm wondering whether there is any point if W7 behaves the same as Vista?

Sorry about the spelling!
Robinz (9362)
861287 2010-02-24 10:25:00 I'm using 3 partitions, one for Win7, one for install files, and there's nothing on the other YET. Nothing wrong with it. It'll save me from downloading them later / or burning them to cd/dvd. Since they'll probably update them sooner or later. And it'll be a waste of a cd / or dvd's

But I guess most programs like to be installed on C, since most expect to be installed on C. Otherwise it may not work. Which I have come across before (when I did try installing programs, on another partition besides C). With earlier versions of windows
Speedy Gonzales (78)
861288 2010-02-24 10:37:00 It makes a lot of sense having a data partition as when you will eventually have to reinstall Windows all your data will still be in place but there is not much to be gained by installing programs in a separate partition as you will usually need to reinstall them anyway. mikebartnz (21)
861289 2010-02-24 10:58:00 Although these days you might be using a SSD, what would be the best configuration for that setup? DeSade (984)
861290 2010-02-24 11:37:00 I have my storage on a totally separate drive.

With partitions on the same drive, you have no protection against drive failure, all partitions are lost

You get no performance increase because the heads have to move around the drive anyway.

With a separate drive, you get better data protection and better speed. Not to mention upgrading a drive with only 1 partition is a lot easier than moving multiple partitions from one drive to another, then expanding them etc.
Agent_24 (57)
861291 2010-02-24 11:43:00 Whats the recommended size of partition for OS and programs. Given that the OS is likely the largest program on most peoples system then perhaps double the OS size would give plenty of headroom for a few decent size programs and the usual plethora of smaller ones. Robinz (9362)
861292 2010-02-24 11:48:00 I like the idea of a totally seperate drive but my main computer is a laptop. Robinz (9362)
861293 2010-02-24 16:26:00 I like the idea of a totally seperate drive but my main computer is a laptop.
I know that with MBP (store.mcetech.com) you can use the optical drive space for an extra HDD, and others (newmodeus.com) as well, though not sure which models?
Some other members may have done this?
notechyet (4479)
861294 2010-02-24 21:19:00 Whats the recommended size of partition for OS and programs. Given that the OS is likely the largest program on most peoples system then perhaps double the OS size would give plenty of headroom for a few decent size programs and the usual plethora of smaller ones.

Well my preferred setup is:

Drive 1: OS
Drive 2: Programs
Drive 3: Storage

Any time a drive runs out of space, you just use Ghost etc to clone it onto a new, bigger drive. The single partition will automatically be extended and is a very painless operation.

I don't use partitions: if you run out of space on one partition, you then have to shrink another and grow the first one. This probably takes even more time than just cloning (Files must be moved around so there is space on the drive to move the partition barrier etc)

If multiple drives are not an option, then I stick with just one partition on the whole drive. As long as you Defrag regularly, you won't notice performance issues.
Agent_24 (57)
861295 2010-02-24 23:26:00 You're going by what this twit says?:

DoubleHelix's
Drako, it doesn't make sense to separate the operating system and program files though since most programs would need to be reinstalled if the Windows partition were wiped and reloaded.

What rubbish.
One: Most don't need to be reinstalled. Some do yes, but that's why you have an image of C:

Here's a scenario. Windows gets trashed for some reason, you reimage C: and carry on happily because everything else was on D:.
pctek (84)
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