Hard Drive Partitioning

[Simon.The.Sloth]

Hi guys!

I'm slightly confused about something I was hoping you guys could clear up for me. I’ve recently ordered a custom 3xs PC from scan with a 1tb hard drive and I’ve received an email asking how I would like the hard drive partitioned.

Now, I’m under the impression that it’s best to have a separate partition for Windows 7, apps and games and then a larger partition for files and storage. I think this is so if the OS becomes corrupt or gets a very nasty virus, I can reinstall Windows and everything without losing my data?

I’m thinking of having the drive partitioned 250 GB (for OS apps games) and 750 GB (files).

Also, this computer will have multiple users and we would all store our files in our "My Documents" folders which is usually set to C drive by default, is it possible (or a good/bad idea) to move our documents to the second partition (D).

Any advice would be appreciated

[CaptainCrash]

Yes, that's the way I'd do it with a single physical HDD. My own OS partition is 150GB and it's only a quarter full, but if you plan on installing many games I guess you might need more.

You can move the default "My Documents" location very easily in Windows 7 - just right-click on it (it'll be in the "Documents" library), then Properties, Location tab, Move, and browse to a suitable folder on the second partition (or you can create a new one). Don't forget you'll have to repeat for each user account.

You could also just add your folders on the data partition to an existing library, but it depends on how useful you find the library concept in general - some people love it, others don't have much use for it...

[jackvdbuk]

id do it that way aswell, i have a partition of about 150 GB and the rest for storage

having music/documents/videos/pictures which would before be all on C:\ and now on a separate one from the OS makes re-installing/formatting 50 times easier

[jim]

I would personally have a separate partition for the page file as well, purely to prevent it from ever becoming fragmented, but that might be a waste of time - maybe ask Scan if that's worth doing?

[Simon.The.Sloth]

Thanks guys, I've now told them I would like it 250 gb for the OS and 750 gb file storage.

snootyjim, I've read allot of contradicting things about the separate partition for the page file, so I think I’m just going to leave it on the same partition as the OS.. Eventually when the prices come down (year or so) I'll get a decent sized single state drive for the OS which will make it completely unnecessary anyways.

[jim]

Thanks guys, I've now told them I would like it 250 gb for the OS and 750 gb file storage.

snootyjim, I've read allot of contradicting things about the separate partition for the page file, so I think I’m just going to leave it on the same partition as the OS.. Eventually when the prices come down (year or so) I'll get a decent sized single state drive for the OS which will make it completely unnecessary anyways.

Yeah, no need for it then. As you say, it's a fairly muddy situation - I only do it to avoid fragmentation, no other reason.

[arthurleung]

I normally have a 20G OS partition, 175G Games / Big App partition and the rest for data. It really depends on what you use on your computer.

Fragmentation of pagefile is rarely a problem. It is quite hard to run out of memory and even if you do, doesn't matter if it is fragmented or not your computer will be pretty much locked up.

IMO the pagefile is there so that the OS don't crash straight away in case you're doing something critical. Hold it out long enough that you can kill some of the memory consuming processes before freezing to a point you have to press the reset button.

[Simon.The.Sloth]

I was wondering what the reason is for having a separate partition for apps and games? I just assumed they would run faster on the same partition as the OS. Im mostly going to be playing games and using adobe photoshop / illustrator programs, along with others.

[MadduckUK]

he wants the os to be as fast as possible, increasing the size of the os partition to accommodate games and apps means that the OS runs a bit slower

[arthurleung]

he wants the os to be as fast as possible, increasing the size of the os partition to accommodate games and apps means that the OS runs a bit slower

My OS partition is so minimally-accessed that the fragmentation is well under 5% even after not defragging for over a year.

In fact I rarely defrag nowadays as I optimized my storage pattern such that it never generate more than a couple fragments per file. Even if there are some fragments the effect is minimal for large files.

[MadduckUK]

My OS partition is so minimally-accessed that the fragmentation is well under 5% even after not defragging for over a year.

In fact I rarely defrag nowadays as I optimized my storage pattern such that it never generate more than a couple fragments per file. Even if there are some fragments the effect is minimal for large files.

its not about fragmentation, its about putting the things you want to be fastest as far to the outside of the platter as you can, at the "start of the drive" because that's where it can be read and wrote optimally

[kalniel]

its not about fragmentation, its about putting the things you want to be fastest as far to the outside of the platter as you can, at the "start of the drive" because that's where it can be read and wrote optimally

Which, being the case, means there's no effect on having a large OS partition and putting other things there as well - just make sure you defragement your OS and shove it to the edge of the disk before you install games.

Or use mydefrag to custom sort things afterwards and put games files towards the end of the partition, leaving the OS to go to the start.

[Zak33]

/cough

or buy an extra hard drive, have the OS in the first partition of the main drive, and use the rest for data that can be accessed a tad slower...

The seciond drive can be a smaller one, and from my recent playing around, a smaller one with smaller cache seems to be fastest for game loading

Quickest I've found yet is an 80gig Seagate barracuda! They're so cheap as to be worth adding into the build
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/80GB-...RRACUDA-720010

£27 inc vat

[LuckyNV]

smaller hard drives are very expensive per GB
you're looking at nearly 3GB per £ on that 80GB drive, not to mention its "slow" by modern drive standards with respect to transfer speeds

if you get something like this
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/640-G...MB-Cache-89-ms
that is nearly 15GB per £, much better value for money, there are other options too for 320GB or 500GB drives, or even step up to another 1TB, but I think the 640GB is a sweet spot in terms of value for money, performance and actual cost.

but for the OP, on a single 1TB drive, just partition about 150GB for the OS+drivers+integrated apps (things that would definitely need to be reinstalled if you format your OS)
then put everything else on the other partition.
put the pagefile on the OS partition and force a fixed size (4GB should be more than enough)

[Zak33]

LuckyNV.. if you read my post you'll find that's not the point.

I know it's expensive per GB, and I know it's theoretical speed is slow...

but I promise, for game loading, in my tests on CoD4 CoD5 and ARMA2, a "slow" 80 gig drive is faster to load the game and the levels, than a Sammy F1 750gig, a WD AAKS 400gig, a Hitachi 1TB and a WD 500 AAKS.

[Disturbedguy]

I personally partition my drive in the following way.

OS partition - enough space for OS and updates + a little extra just incase.
Game Partition - A rough ball back for the games I own + more
Music - I like mine seperate.
Files and stuff - again a rough figure
Spare - Just incase something doesnt fit into the above.

I also have a 300GB drive for back ups and stuff that ISN'T partition, I just create folders for when I did the back up.

I have a 1TB Samsung F3 on the way with will become my primary drive

Edit: 1Tb Sammy arrive just now..now need a new case before I bother with a rebuild..