partition size

sboulema

OSNN Veteran Addict
Joined
19 Jun 2002
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He guys and girls.

I was just wondering how big is your partition where you put your OS on.
I have XP installed on a 3 gig partition and it is constantly nagging about the fact that the partition is full. :mad:

So if know how big you make your patition I can change mine to a proper size.
 
ha...here's one of my pet topics...did you know that partitions suffer performance in xp?..that's right...microsoft says your system cannot optimize across partitions...you see, XP places your files in the proper locations on your disk for efficiency's sake...this is why an XP OS will actually become noticeably faster with use...you will not get proper optimization when you partition.

additionally, I see no housekeeping benefit to partitions, as in a single partition, you can set up virtual partitions simply by making folders with subfolders...make the same amount of umbrella folders as you like partitions, name them, and put everything you want in sub within the umbrella.

The only actual benefit I see is that you have an added step of redundancy, in case you need a reformat, but this is not a good reason, as hard drives fail all the time, and backups should always be made off the box.

you can read all about what I'm telling you in the white papers

here


and

here

and taken from the second article, this quote;


Microsoft strongly encourages system manufacturers to manufacture single NTFS volumes on all systems where a 32-bit version of Windows XP is preinstalled, using the tools described in this article.


personally, I think portioning your hard drive is just an exercise, and that's the only practical purpose

unless of course you have multiple discs...then of course partion...
 
Dealer-
I have (2) 60 gig drives, I have the master set to a 10 gig partition and and 45 gig partion. Would this be why XP is running noticably slower now? I always thought it was better to put your os on a smaller partion...
 
no dreamliner, when you have multiple discs, you are still getting optimization...you see, the paragraph I quoted is actually decieving...optimization does in fact still take place in separate partitions, what doesn't happen, is the file couldn't be put in the optimum place on a single disk, if it's bound by the partition.

therefore, with multiple disks, the files are being optimized for seek time on each partition...follow?
 
I am thinking of buying a new HDD of 60 gig. I now have a HDD of 10 gig, (I know very small). So you're saying I need to put XP alone on the 10 gig HDD and my programs and documents and games on the 60 Gig HDD. But I also want to run windows 98. I thought about putting 98 and XP on the 10 gig HDD both on there own 5 gig partition. Will this make XP slow again becuase of the partition?

I hope you have some good advice for me :D
 
let me also state before I get slapped around...partitions are by most experts concidered to be quite usefull, and worth the almost transparent sacrifice you might be making in speed...I am only stating my personal opinion, when I tell you I see no useful purpose to it.

furthermore, if you put your apps on the same partition as your os, the seektime will be optimized just fine for performance sake.

otherwise, since I'm no proponent of partitioning, I can offer little guidance in actually setting up your partions...allan will hopefully stop by, and help with making a very formidable computor using partitions

he wil also demonstrate his belief that a partioned computor is the best choice...And I want everyone to know, so that I do not get into a debate again with allan on this issue, his knowledge concerning the os is far more versed then mine...therefore, make your own choice after reading the ms documents.
 
Originally posted by sboulema
I am thinking of buying a new HDD of 60 gig. I now have a HDD of 10 gig, (I know very small). So you're saying I need to put XP alone on the 10 gig HDD and my programs and documents and games on the 60 Gig HDD. But I also want to run windows 98. I thought about putting 98 and XP on the 10 gig HDD both on there own 5 gig partition. Will this make XP slow again becuase of the partition?

I hope you have some good advice for me :D

My advice will not come in too usefull on this, as I don't do partions...here goes

of course, if you are dual booting, you need to partion, and xp will optimize just fine within it's own partition...I don't think but am not sure if any other ms os optimizes the file location

as far as both os's on the same 10 gig partition...again, I have to ask someone who's done this to step in and take over
 
OK thanks anyway dealer!

I am a proponent of partition because you dont't loose your files, if you have to format, but I hope allan will drop by so he can give me any advice.
 
sboulema

Try Norton Speed Disc on your 3gig partition it will reduce the size of the MFT free system space & put it to the front of the drive that should stop the stop windows from nagging.
Hi Dealer me again - As Dealer said windows & NTFS is great for being dynamic, self tuning & very secure. But if like me you like your games to be installed in a contigous nature they would be better off in a fat32 partition. As for as "hard drives fail all the time" I would say this is more true of a floppy or a scratched CD.
One more thing you cant Fill an NTFS partition like you can with FAT 32. Which is ideal for my collection of MP3s Movies & pictures which is now 30gig & still growing - these files really dont need the NTFS treament - Except maybe the pictures for password protection
;)
 
Thanks twozigzagcolt45 I am going to check if Norton speed disc can help me. :D
 
i have a 30gig hdd with 3 partitions. First = 5gig for windows and apps, second = 22gig for games, mp3, and general data, third = 2gig for temp directory, temporary internet files, cookies, mail... everything that fragments a drive.... But i did this when i had Win98 so my first partition is becoming a little tight for WinXP and office XP!

Worse then that, i put back my temp folders in the first partition to install visual studio .NET on the third one because it eats 1.8gig (not for all components).

My advice would be to separate your OS and apps from the rest of the data, so if you have to format you won't loose or have to backup everything on 84 cds!
3 partitions would be cool if you have 2 OS.

I'm not a performance expert with OS and partitions so it's an "amateur" advice :p
 
I like your setup swi...as I say, you don't loose mcuh of the optimization benfits if you have your os and apps on the same partition.

two...I'm not at all familiar with fat, I'm taking your word on the benefits of it's use in gaming...I'm guessing the white paper I linked you too does not resolve the issues you have with ntfs?

could you walk me through your lines of thought...I do recognize that when ms makes a document, and a statement, it's not neccesarily true for all use.

I'm leaving, so I won't be able to read your findings out till I get back:D
 
only 1 slight problem with installing your apps to a seperate partition is when windows loads & it has to look through another partition it does slow loading time quite a bit. This only applies to apps that have a direct connection to windows like an entry in msconfig or services.
 
Originally posted by TwoZigzagColt45
only 1 slight problem with installing your apps to a seperate partition is when windows loads & it has to look through another partition it does slow loading time quite a bit. This only applies to apps that have a direct connection to windows like an entry in msconfig or services.

you missunderstood me two, the apps need to go on the same partition as the os...they should not be given their own partition
 
Here's something against the nagging (in case Norton Speeddisk doesn't help)

Open regedit and navigate to:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

Create a new DWORD value called NoLowDiskSpaceChecks
And change its value to 1
 
two...I'm not at all familiar with fat, I'm taking your word on the benefits of it's use in gaming...I'm guessing the white paper I linked you too does not resolve the issues you have with ntfs?

Well, i'm still with fat32 cause i had to do some networking with win98/me computers when i installed XP... on the next format i'll use ntsf though i'm not really aware of the benifits yet! I'll to get informed of it in the next days.
 
the only apps I keep on a seperate partition are the ones that still work after a reformat - I think I've 2 or 3 of them but what I do keep & is of great benefit is all the setup programs
 
Thanks to all of you guys. :D

Swi I had the same partition setup in mind and if it works for you, I am gonna use it too. But Swi I have one question You say a 5 gig partition for XP and office is a little tight, but what about Xp alone on a 5 gig partition is that still tight? I want to put Xp on a partition so that it will never complain about insufficient disc space.
 
I agree with dealer.. no real need for me to partition with xp.. I used to do it before... but now I just leave everything on the HDD without partitions and I just create folders to duplicate the drives that you would have created by partioning..

and yes win xp is supposed to speed things up with more usage so I see not the need to partition....

but then to each their own...

:D
 
Hi dealer. I wanted to get a little involved with this thread because I've partitioned using Partition Magic and I want to share my experience.

I have a 27.5GB harddrive. I went with FAT32 because it seems like my system performs better with it. At PCPitstop I record higher cache speeds.

I made an 8GB partition for my OS and programs. I know alot of people prefer having their programs placed on another partition when they partition, and I never could understand that, because Windows will always place common dlls and files along with the OS partition anyway, (To prove this, try moving your system program files to your data partition. You will have duplicate system files.), and if you have to reformat, you're going to loose your programs anyway, because they are tied to the registry.

My reason for partitioning was in case I need to reformat I won't loose my data files (videos, music, some text files, and program installation files).

My solution to loosing my programs in the event of a reformat was to place the installation exe or zip files in a folder on my inactive data partition. That way, reinstalling them is just a click away instead of long search on the net for the programs.

I'm very happy with the way I have things set up.

As far as file placement, I use Diskeeper. Diskeeper I noticed, places your files closer to to front of the disk for you, which I think is the proper placement for speed. (dealer and I can disagree about this and still be buddies. :) )

Partitioning has also made defragging a faster process because my really large data files are not on the partition with the OS.
Defragging the data partition is pretty much a snap, too.
 

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