Disk partitions

[beatlebryce]

I'm understand how this works. I have a 160 GB HDD, (although for some reason my computer only sees i have 130GB, but whatever its beside the point. EDIT: I have SP2 now, but when I first installed my OS, it didnt even have SP1, it was the barest OS for XP. I have a new computer, it was built last year. My mobo is ECS C51GM-M, new as of last year. There is a disk that has the mobo drivers when you first install it. I remember I didnt install the IDE driver, cos it made my HD crash, so I had to format and start over, when I was first beginning the installation. Maybe thats it?). So, I've had this computer for a year now, so obviously there are files everywhere. How do I go about making a system files only partition now? Is that possible?

[hotdoge3]

Windows 95 max is 2GB or if drive is 3GB make in to 2 like 1.5 & 1.5 is ok not read hard drive it is all the Bios may need up date for free tools and info http:www.sec.co.kr

http://samsunghdd.com http://wwwsegate/supprt/kb/disk/capacity/index.html http://hddguru.com www.ultimakbootcd.com http://dban.org 'dban boot & Nuke & XP sp1 max is 137 GB so fit sp2. & I said it all free & all good. My 2 Harddrive size is as C:\15GB NTFS D:\ 2.7 GB FAT 32 E:\6.19 GB NTFS F:\4.72 GB FAT32 G:\8.51FAT 32 H:\ DVD/CD ROM I & J = 1.9 GB FAT 16 K 8.11 GB FAT32 the FAT 16 IS FOR Page File 2000 mb of Ram CPU 2400 # 1 HD size is 40 GB & # 2 is 12 GB

[SOULJA-kol]

Hello!

 

This post is about disk partitions and why they are so great!

They are so great, that in fact everyone should have one!

 

A good idea is to partition your harddisk to have 2 partitions.

This way you can have your operating system and system files on one partition (the primary partition) which usually is C:

 

Then you can have another secondary partition which is D:

where you store any other data such as media files (music, movies) and all sorts of stuff.

 

Maybe you have a 100 gb harddisk. Then you can allocate for example 20 gb to have on a system/primary partition (C:) where you have for example Windows XP. Then the rest (80 gb) you have on your secondary partition (D:).

 

This can help you keep stuff categorized and prevent you from accidently deleting something on the system partition when you are handling your files.

 

Now imagine if your operating system didnt work so well, you needed to reinstall it, and you thought it would be a good idea to reformat the harddisk. Now if you only had one partition on the harddisk you wouldnt be able to format the disk without all your files get deleted.

 

But because you have partitioned your harddisk to two or more partitions you can format the system partition, reinstall your operating system and still have all your files left intact since you cleverly stored them on the other disk partition.

 

So now you know!

 

my COMPAQ LAPTOP has recovery partition in D: known as PC RECOVERY i can FULL re install my pc but not deleting any files...

[Mangual]

Alrite this actually two queries so plz help if u can. A mystery for you tech guys.

 

So my computer was acting slow & sluggish and i hadnt wiped my drives in ages so i did. I put the toshiba recovery disks, followed the instructions and now its in its factory state... BUT Toshiba satellite laptops have two hard drives C (main one 91g) and a back up D (110g). Now the C drive is good to go, but my D drive is nowhere to be found. How can I get it back? Thats 110 gigs i can use to put misc stuff.

 

Second Q) I backed up my vital stuff but i left alot of stuff I couldnt fit in my flash drives in that D drive (mostly 2g of music and some vids). Once I somehow restore my D drive, with your help, is that data recoverable. If not thats not to important compared to Q 1

 

Update: I was reading some of the prior posts and i went up to the Computer management page of My computer and the D drive is there as Disk 1. Its blacked out and says its "Not initiatived" and "unallocated" how can i attach it back and revive my files? Thanks guys.

[DennisD]

Alrite this actually two queries so plz help if u can. A mystery for you tech guys.

 

So my computer was acting slow & sluggish and i hadnt wiped my drives in ages so i did. I put the toshiba recovery disks, followed the instructions and now its in its factory state... BUT Toshiba satellite laptops have two hard drives C (main one 91g) and a back up D (110g). Now the C drive is good to go, but my D drive is nowhere to be found. How can I get it back? Thats 110 gigs i can use to put misc stuff.

 

Second Q) I backed up my vital stuff but i left alot of stuff I couldnt fit in my flash drives in that D drive (mostly 2g of music and some vids). Once I somehow restore my D drive, with your help, is that data recoverable. If not thats not to important compared to Q 1

 

Update: I was reading some of the prior posts and i went up to the Computer management page of My computer and the D drive is there as Disk 1. Its blacked out and says its "Not initiatived" and "unallocated" how can i attach it back and revive my files? Thanks guys.

 

Hi Mangual, and welcome to the forum.

 

That sounds pretty drastic. You've probably wiped or corrupted the Master Boot Record on that drive.

 

The only thing I can suggest is this Free Open Source utility, which may help in recovering a lost Hard Drive.

 

Test Disk:

[Winapp2.ini]

If theres MBR problems you can insert a winxp disc and open the recovery console, pick your windows installation and I believe the command is "fixmbr"

[CCluvler]

Partitons are perfect for putting big files on, as usually your C:\ drive often has about 15GB of space used up for your OS. Usually most computers come with them.

[wareup]

No Question about the good point of having partition.

Lets now talk how big should be a good partition. Now these days its common to have 320Gb Hdd so, will 2 partition be good?

 

I saw a thread discussing about fragments, yeah we know it bu how much will be the ideal partition.

[1984]

Depends what you want to use it for. I have 2 drives on my desktop, each is 500 gb. Didn't bother partitioning either.....but should have with the primary drive. Whichever drive has your operating system on it only needs to be big enough to hold your operating system with room for program additions, etc. If it was me, I wouldn't have my "C" drive any bigger then 50 gb or so....and use the rest for storage and such.

[DennisD]

I've got my single 80gb drive set up with a 20gb partition for the Operating System. I've a lot of software installed, but it doesn't increase in size much any more as new installations are usually replacements for older or inferior programs.

 

Have about 6gb free on that partition.

[JDPower]

120Gb hard drive here - 10Gb partition for OS and programs, second partition for everything else. Apparently it's best to make sure there is at least 25% free space on a partition for best performance so bear that in mind.

[Kingorgg]

My Laptop came already with 2 partitions, Both at 111GB. Which is great, as I don't have to spend time creating a Partition

 

I've just finished transfering all my music and video over to it, including college work backed up to that drive

 

Thanks for the Info Eldmannen

[samonteroel]

Most of us now are aware of good things of having partition.

How about its side effects? Please comment on my idea. I recently got this HP laptop, intel dual core, 4 GB RAM, and around less than 200GB HDD. After creating partition via partition magic SLOW DOWN is very noticeable.

 

Should it be better to make a partition via Windows setup?

 

Thanks.

[Corona]

If you're running Vista as your main OS, keep in mind that 4GB of ram and a decent sized hd such as the one you have is fairly optimal for running Vista. If you were to partition your drive for another OS or whatever, you'd be shrinking the page file memory your Vista was comfortable running with.

 

Should it be better to make a partition via Windows setup?

I have no idea what that is about. Sorry, but someone here will no doubt chime in.

 

Oh, I think I do know what you mean. Then I am definitely not the one to ask about that. (That's why I bought Partition Magic in the first place.)

I remember PM would automatically create a 1024MB (1 gig) cylinder between partitions (as a spatial boot/buffer between partitions, I assume). I don't know if that is applicable or how that's done via a manual Windows partition job.

[xbrianx]

I have Vista Ultimate(64 bit) and one hard drive with 226GB of free space. Dell has already created one partition for "recovery" that only uses 15GB.

 

I want to create a partition to separate my art files, like all my PSDs, reference images, videos, etc. With my hard drive size, would 50GB be enough to satisfy my OS afterwards? I have 5GB of RAM too.

 

Also, just a quick question, if one of the partitions gets a virus, would that affect both partitions since they're the same hard drive?

[DennisD]

My single disk is partitioned, with 20gb for my Operating System, which includes a 10gb "My Documents" folder, meaning all our photographs and my daughters iTunes music library.

 

I have a lot of programs installed, a lot of which also have Application Data folders.

 

I should think 50gb would be more than ample, but as in my case, you can at a later date re-size a partition up or down if needs must.

 

Regarding a virus jumping across, I asked this question when I first partitioned my drive and I think it unlikely unless you have some sort of program installation on the new partition, or another Operating System. Of course don't take that as a definitive answer, just an opinion.

 

Hope that helps.

[xbrianx]

My single disk is partitioned, with 20gb for my Operating System, which includes a 10gb "My Documents" folder, meaning all our photographs and my daughters iTunes music library.

 

I have a lot of programs installed, a lot of which also have Application Data folders.

 

I should think 50gb would be more than ample, but as in my case, you can at a later date re-size a partition up or down if needs must.

 

Regarding a virus jumping across, I asked this question when I first partitioned my drive and I think it unlikely unless you have some sort of program installation on the new partition, or another Operating System. Of course don't take that as a definitive answer, just an opinion.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks! I don't know how much I'll really need, but after thinking about it again, 20GB seems good enough for me and allow some extra space. Also, like you said, I can always resize it if I need more.

 

The tutorial I found was for another version of Vista and had different menu options than my version. I found others, but I'm not sure if I understand. Basically, I right click on my OS drive, click on Shrink Volume, and then it creates another partition that includes the space that I just "shrunk" from the OS drive?

[formfrank84]

Good post.

Even if I knew this stuff, would really help others out!

 

Vanguard Its pretty ok. Partitions helps. In fact system partitions operate faster when they are not that large.

[formfrank84]

I have Vista Ultimate(64 bit) and one hard drive with 226GB of free space. Dell has already created one partition for "recovery" that only uses 15GB.

 

I want to create a partition to separate my art files, like all my PSDs, reference images, videos, etc. With my hard drive size, would 50GB be enough to satisfy my OS afterwards? I have 5GB of RAM too.

 

Also, just a quick question, if one of the partitions gets a virus, would that affect both partitions since they're the same hard drive?

 

 

Chances nowadays are that it may especially the ones that affect the partition table or the ones that are activated or replicated when you transfer files across partitions. Therefore possibilities are quite high

[Fluffy]

Hi I`ve just got for Christmas ! a seagate expansion 500gb external hard drive so i can have more storage,I

I have already (small capacity 40gb) 20gb on my C drive and 20gb on my D drive I use for storage I have a few questions if any one can give me a few tips and pointers,I have been reading this thread but have got lost a bit into knowing what`s the best thing to do so here goes

1.With addition of new hard drive do I need to reformat my existing drives to be more efficient ?

2.Backed up programs on existing D drive-is it better to put all of these on the new (G) drive ? (if so do I need to do anything with the programs so they know to go to the new G drive and not the old D drive

3.I will be using the new G drive for photo`s,music documants etc do i need to format this drive in any way or just keep adding files

 

I like the idea of keeping my file secure in case i get hit with anything nasty and have the option of reinstalling windows etc to clear out the computer of anything that might have infected the computer,do i need to have some protection to the new external hardrive ?

I would appreciate any top tips from you guys and apologise if anything sounds to b*****y obvious but would sooner ask a simple question rather than pretend i know what i`m doing !!!

Fluff

[redhawk]

1.With addition of new hard drive do I need to reformat my existing drives to be more efficient ?

No, you have an external hard drive this will not influence the performance of the internal hard drive containing the Operating System you will however may find that the external drive is slower because USB is slower than IDE/SATA.

 

2.Backed up programs on existing D drive-is it better to put all of these on the new (G) drive ? (if so do I need to do anything with the programs so they know to go to the new G drive and not the old D drive

Unless you have the original install files backing up programs is a waste of time many are dependant on register entries and library files that you simply cannot just copy files.

Personally I would take your 500GB hard drive and partition it into 50/50 or 250GB/250GB or split into another ratio you see fit.

Next I would use backup software and make a clone copy of your Operating System and save this to the first partition of your external drive.

Now you have a clone of you Operating System when something bad happens you have a reliable means of restoring everything as it was with all programs and files intact.

For the 2nd partition of your external drive you could store all your photos, music, video files etc stuff accumulated since your last back up.

 

As for Malware threats I wouldn't worry too much most only usually infect the Operating System hard drive I've rarely seen any infect other drives.

If you’re still bothered about this problem then install a good Anti-Virus program and make sure Windows has all the latest service packs and patches installed.

Also I would avoid using Internet Explorer although this is purely a personal choice of mine.

IE bug's tend to get exploited a lot that I personally never feel safe using it, and for the years I've ran Firefox I've never encountered a single Malware problem on my machine.

 

Richard S.

[Fluffy]

Redhawk

Many thanks for your clear reply,

I like the idea of having the cloned operating system stored in the external hard drive,

my existing "backup" folder has email,internet favourites some microsoft files and a few other application and programs (that do include the install files),if i had a good cloned copy of my system presumeably this folder would become redundant ?

If anyone can recommend some software back up that they`ve used I would be grateful for the info ***will post this request now in "software forum thread !***

 

Thanks again Redhawk

[LumpyMcBumpy]

Most of us now are aware of good things of having partition.

How about its side effects? Please comment on my idea. I recently got this HP laptop, intel dual core, 4 GB RAM, and around less than 200GB HDD. After creating partition via partition magic SLOW DOWN is very noticeable.

 

Should it be better to make a partition via Windows setup?

 

Thanks.

 

Partition magic is known to mess up vista partitions.I would use easeus free partition tools instead.

[aqua]

i think there is also a free version of paragon too

[jounkarry]

Eldmannen gorgeous post ! you have provided an excellent information ,it really really will help out many people

kindly keep sharing with us such a good information .

Thank u