# Hard Drive Partition and Windows XP?



## coastergeekr (Feb 17, 2005)

Should I have 2 partitions on my Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM 16MB SATAII Hard Drive...one for Windows XP, and the other for my files? I've heard it speeds up the computer, but I'm not sure. If I should do this, how big of a partition should I do for XP Home, and what type of partition should it be?


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

Many believe that is a good idea, many do not. It really won't run any differently, but it will make for inconvenience as default saving will be to the main drive and you will have to change saves every time ythey come up. You could move My Documents folder to other partiton making that easier...installed programs will also default to C drive so they will have to be watched as well to install where you want them. frankly I think this is an enormous waste of time and energy. In todays computing world it is no safer really as when the hard drive goes so do both partitions. The only ease would be to reinstall or rather repair XP, will be quicker as it is on one partition, but if you format then everything would have to be installed again anyway if the programs are installed on the other partition.


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## Tumbleweed36 (Feb 13, 2004)

Hi,

You will never get an agreement on this issue. My personal opinion is that you should make it one partition and forget it.


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

IMO the only real reason to partition a drive is for organization purposes. With a drive that large, you might want to organize it something like this; 20-25 gig for os and basic apps like office, photoshop, etc. Split the rest of the drive into two more partitions; one for video files and the other for music, etc. Since the os partition will get fragmented more often, it is faster to defrag a 20 gig partition than it is a 250 one  

I do agree that you MUST have a backup plan in the event of hd failure. Either another physical drive or an external type of drive would work out well. If your data files are important to you, back them up. Do not think about making a backup to another partition on the same drive. That is just asking for problems.

BTW there is no right or wrong answer; it really is up to you how you want your system organized.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

One reason to keep the OS on a different partition that your data files is for disaster recovery. 

For example, you could create an image of the OS and Programs that are on the first partition and keep it on the second. Then should the OS fail for any number of reasons, you can simply restore from the image. 

I also like to backup that second partition to yet another drive. This way in case the first hard drive fails completely, you can restore everything, OS, data and files relatively easily and quickly


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

Bob Cerelli said:


> One reason to keep the OS on a different partition that your data files is for disaster recovery.
> 
> For example, you could create an image of the OS and Programs that are on the first partition and keep it on the second. Then should the OS fail for any number of reasons, you can simply restore from the image.
> 
> I also like to backup that second partition to yet another drive. This way in case the first hard drive fails completely, you can restore everything, OS, data and files relatively easily and quickly


 I agree with second idea, but as for partition to save image files on first drive, I see more issues where drive croaks and the 2nd partition then is meaningless as you say, better off putting image file on second drive. I have always found splitting one drive into multiple partitions is confusing remembering where to install programs as many default to C drive and you have to change them, and then remembering to make image files of both partitions...too much room for error for me. Everyone is different on this issue and no one is right or wrong really.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

Need to read the entire post.

That is why you backup the second partition to a second drive.


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## coastergeekr (Feb 17, 2005)

Well I've always had one partition on each drive I've ever owned...untill recently I heard about having two partitions, one with Windows and the other with my files/programs. But now that I see that there is no definitive best choice out there, I will stick with what I've always used, the one partition.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

When it comes to computers, seldom is there a definitive best choice for much of anything. 

So in case is a total hard drive failure, what recovery process do you currently have in place?


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## coastergeekr (Feb 17, 2005)

As of right now, none. My computer isn't up yet, I'm waiting for the processor. But I've never had a recovery process, should I? What is available/out there?


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

Yes you should have some sort of recovery method in place.

There are basically three things that I make sure can be dealt with easily. 

One is simply deleting a file or directory you wanted by mistake.
The other is where the OS is corrupted and needs to be restored
The last is when the hard drive fails completely

So for the first, I like to simply copy my data to a second hard drive. This is easy to do and does not require anyting like an imaging program to accomplish. Also if you just copy them as files, they are very easy to restore. If needed, you just copy back what you want.

For the second problem, I use an imaging program as mentioned earlier. If you image the partition with just the OS and Programs, you can typically restore this in a relatively short amount of time. Certainly far less than it took to put on initially. The other main benefit here is that with the data on a separate partition, you don't overwrite current data with old data from the previous image. Otherwise you would continually need to make images to keep your data current. 

For the last problem I use a combination of the first two.


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## johncon (Aug 17, 2006)

Well, after doing a complete reinstall of my PC, I can vouch that having data on a separate disc is the way to go. With the data off C, I was not concerned if I had to reformat/reformat/reinstall because it was located elsewhere. That being said, I've gotten lazy and with my new 250 gb drive, my documents are on the same drive. As long as you back up your documents/settings regularly (external drive/DVD/tape/your choice) then it shouldn't make much of a difference. Like the others have said - many opinions.

Now, I have seen people recommend creating a partition and place the swap drive there (no more than 5 Gb max) and that should speed up some bottlenecks. That's the theory but I haven't seen any established benchmark tests to show improvement.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

There is no benefit to creating a separate partition for the swap file. It's still on the same hard drive.


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## johncon (Aug 17, 2006)

Yes, you are right, but if he were to create a partition on another hard drive, would that not be an improvement. Again, I have not seen any 'official' results but I have seen recommendations based on a perceived performance increase.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

It might or might not. But that is not was initially mentioned.


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## mset (Apr 24, 2002)

Hi guys

I started a thread a while ago to ask how to reverse the partitioning process, but it didn't generate too much action. At that time, I had a computer with a small HDD that was running out of space on the primary.

I ended up building a new machine. I was with the guy when he was building it and he asked me if I wanted the HDD partitioned (Raptor 74GB). I said yes... but that was because I had an idea that I could use the partition as a form of backup. I have since realized that an external HDD is my best solution for backup and I have purchased one.

Now I have the same question as I had before, only I have two computers that need help. Can anyone tell me if there is any way other than Partition Magic to recover the unused space on my main HDD, the space that is used for the partition? I just want to eliminate the partition and use my main HDD as if it were never partitioned.

Here is something I found on another thread - is this the best I can do for this process? I guess I might have to just 'fess up and buy Partition Magic, buyt I'd rather not.

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"Fdisk, is not going to help here, you have xp dont you, go here and down load this, its an iso file that contains lots handy tools, partitioning tools which you will need,

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

You will need a blank cd and some burning software like nero or this for free

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/screenshots.php

Take some time to read up on burning an iso file in the help, BACK UP 1st before you try the ultimatebootcd, Then boot from cd, go to Partitioning tools, I would use Ranish Partition Manager to delete empty partition, then again to resize C:"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks, Nik


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

Not really you need third party software...


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Your only options are to buy a third party app OR a clean install using just one partition on the disk.
FWIW I would buy acronis disk director over partition magic any day [If you are going to buy an app]


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## mset (Apr 24, 2002)

crjdriver said:


> Your only options are to buy a third party app OR a clean install using just one partition on the disk.
> FWIW I would buy acronis disk director over partition magic any day [If you are going to buy an app]


Ok guys, looks like I have my answer. I should have waited to install all my security apps and Windows updates and SP2, but I guess it can be redone. I'll have to calculate how many hours it will take to do that vs. how many hours it will take to learn how to use the Acronis app.

Thanks for the confirmations.


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## Bob Cerelli (Nov 3, 2002)

A typical install I do with all the updates takes only around an hour or so. But of course then you have all the software, configurations etc to install as well.

Acronis is very easy to use. Pretty much walks you with only few mouse-clicks to get it working. 

Hopefully if you decide to have two partitions, it is not so confusing for you what you have on each.


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