Should I partition?

[Phix]

I'll be gettin a new pc soon with 2 80 gig hd's w/ Win xp. Should I partition them, to separate the os and my other files? I've heard that I shouldn't b/c of scripting (i think) capabilities of xp, where the data could be accessed very fast. My current pc of 8 gig hd and win98 is partitioned into 4 2 gig drives so I could find files easier and faster. Basically, would this be necessary with my new setup?

Thanks

[otheos]

Nothing to do with XP. If you use 2 physical drives and have the OS on one (say the first partition of the first drive) and program files on the second (the first partition of the second drive) and keep them in separate cables, everything will be running faster as the system will not have to stop reading OS files to access Program files.

So make two partitions on each drive minumum. Keep the first (fastest) partitions for frequently accessed stuff (like I mentioned above) and then the remaining space use it for your own data.

BTW going from currenlty 8GB to 160GB is quite an upgrade. Are you sure you need all that space? Why don't you just get the one drive (on and make sure they are 7200rpm drives as they are marginally more expensive than 5400rpm but significanlty faster).

[sven222]

160gb....my god....so much free space....so little time

Originally posted by otheos


BTW going from currenlty 8GB to 160GB is quite an upgrade. Are you sure you need all that space? Why don't you just get the one drive (on and make sure they are 7200rpm drives as they are marginally more expensive than 5400rpm but significanlty faster).

man i need 160 gigs im low on space

[MegalosSkylaki]

Yo,GZ3,

I rent you some Outer Space.

I have a friend in the business.

I spend some time there myself.

Not that it shows.

DO--OG

[Phix]

Thanks for your help. I am getting a new pc and I am a graphic artist and will be using Photoshop and 3DS Max. So you're saying have Win xp on drive C (or whatever it will be) and data on drive D? So no virtual drives just the 2 physical drives as partitions? In other words, I wont have to partition each indivdual drive?

Actually, he's saying to partition each drive into two 40 GB sections. Put Windoze on the first partition of the first drive, install all your programs onto the first partition of the second drive, use the second partion of the second drive for you're data, and the second partition of the first drive for Linux.

C:\ will be Windows
D:\ will be Linux
E:\ will be Program files
F:\ will be Data

[Phix]

Oh...well I'm only gonna be using windows though. And even with 2 os's on an 80 gig drive...won't there be a lot of wasted space after that? Or am i missing something here?

[otheos]

Here's what I'd do:

D1
p1: 11GB Windows
p2: 20GB dynamic for RAID0 with p3 from d2 as workspace (total 40GB)
p3: 30GB dynamic for RAID1 with p4 from d2 as secure storage (total 30GB)
p4: remaining for static storage (mp3s, video etc) or other use.

D2
p1: 1GB Swap file
p2: 10 GB Program files
p3: 20GB dynamic for RAID0 with p2 from d1 as workspace (total 40GB)
p4: 30GB dynamic for RAID1 with p3 from d1 as secure storage (total 30GB)
p5: remaining for static storage (mp3s, video etc) or other use.

Adjust sizes as needed, but keep dynamic disks within same cylinfer boundaries.

Bare in mind you sacrifice 30G for that RAID1 array but with all that storage it's well worth it.

[Phix]

Thanks for the advice, but I'm not using RAID. I talked to someone else yet again and he said to put Windows on Drive 1, Program files on Drive 1, and data files on Drive 2. Is this ok?