Benefits of partitions?

Hi,

I've always reformatted and had just a regular C:\ drive because my current desktops hard-drive is only 80GB. I'm getting a slightly bigger (250GB) hard-drive so I was thinking I'd like to partition into the following:

- C:\
- Games
- Movies
- Work
- Programs & Applications
- School
- Scratch
- Miscellaneous
- Pagefile.sys (?)

I read somewhere that it's good to have pagefile.sys on it's very own partition (size should be 3 x RAM = 12GB for me)...is that right or is that something way off? What are the benefits of multiple partitioning, and is all these even possible on 1 hard-drive during reformatting?

Advice appreciated, thanks so much.

 

thats a lot of partitioning.

if you are going to keep it simple. 1 for programs, 1 for data.

 

Is this going to be a problem for my system?

 

well you will lose a bit of space with each partition, so i say if you want to break up your drive, just keep it simple with a system and a Data partition.

personally, i don't really see why you have to partition. it is a bit of a waste but it can keep you safe sometimes. but really it isn't that necessary. maybe just get separate drives?

 

It's a M4400 laptop and this one can't hold separate drives .

I'd like to partition for organization. Folders get so messy with me.

 

Just 2 partitions is all you should need to separate the OS and DATA, from there you can just use FOLDERS to separate the data further

 

Well...you can only have 4 primary partitions.........
And 12GB for a pagefile is crazy.....lol
This will work.
- The OS and programs
- Documents & files

 

I'm just asking then, is it going to hurt in any way to have 4 partitions? What do you recommend for the pagefile, Thomas?

 

No, but it's not going to help either.

 

No it won't hurt. It might wind up being terribly confusing though . I couldn't handle keeping that many partitions organized.

 

Okay so if that's the case then 2 partitions it is. But why do people recommend having another partition to keep the pagefile.sys file on?

 

its the same as a folder tree sort of. but it is unnecessary. why do you want 4 anyway. as long as you have your system separated from the data, you aren't going to get anything from having other partitions.

 

I♥RAM the strategy behind everyones suggestion is if your OS goes bonkers on you don't loose any Data? That offers a very real benefit. Data protection.

Partitioning is not done for organizational purposes. The only other I have even heard of is C:\OS,D:\Applications,E:\Data. Offers same Data protection as other but well some think OS on it's own runs faster. You can also more easily defrag as needed not defragging all when not needed.

Good luck hope you understand why your idea was a little extreme. Windows has folders so don't need to do what you suggest?

Edit: I type very very slow!.
Separate pagefile has to do with reducing fragmentation in for example the OS partition. It is not needed but that is why you hear that. Waste of effort imo.

 

I've read guides that say having the page file on a separate partition will improve performance because it is in a stationary location on the drive and won't get fragmented.

However there are no benchmarks to prove that. Windows does a good job keeping it organized as is. If not, then they would have designed it to operate on a separate partition themselves .

So I'd just keep it on C: .

 

I understand 100%, I guess I was extreme. I don't know a thing about hard-drives, so thats why I was asking if partitioning has benefits (as thread title).

So for the biggest benefit of data protection, I'll partition it as C:\OS, D:\Applications and all other Data (media, games, work, etc.) on E:\Data. From there I'll use folders. Hopefully I can stay organized.

I'll also have to invest in a Western Digital one day for backup.

@Gregory, thanks. I'll take your advice and leave it on C:\ .

 

With 3GB memory, you don't even really need a pagefile. Go to Task Manager to see your usage and see if you need additional memory. If you have to use a pagefile, I don't think you need more than 1GB.

 

idk why you need to keep system and applications on a separate one. if you want security and simplicity, then keep all programs on one, data on the other, and just make a ghost image of the c drive.

that way, if you get a virus, then you just pop in the ghost disk, restore that partition, and there is no problem.

2 is the max i'd suggest.

 

Since the 250GB will be new, so all the space on it should be unallocated, i.e. no partitions. So the first partition you make should be on the outer end of the HDD. So you could install the OS and keep the frequently accessed files on the 1st partition and then make partitions accordingly.
It does help drop access times a bit....

 

I would not put applications and data on the same partition. When you "install" things parts go into th Windows folder. If your OS crashes and you reinstall you may not be able to run some/most applications?

How are you going to remove the know useless applications? Overwrite? Will work by reinstall but if I must reinstall why save? Wipe it with the OS same partition.

Or if applications are on their own partition just wipe clean if OS fails. Do not put applications with data. If you do I would ask why are you partitioning? Just makes your app/data partition one big mess to hard to clean imo if Os crashes.

Edit: Don't need a pagefile? Not agreed and not agreed by those who know. pp and the MS software engineers. And you are? Who? And you designed what? Seriously one of the main reasons against your advice is you have no demonstration you gain anything by doing. You lose little by keeping. I could say more but that is the gist.

 

I don't plan to - I'll even move game's into the applications partition (since they are, programs in reality).

You're recommending I do a C:\ for OS & Apps, and a D:\ for everything else, correct?

 

Yes I am...

 

This is what I do. Works for me. And you. But to each his own right? .

 

I have a lot to learn so I think I'll follow the experts first and then make my own decisions when I learn enough about controlling my computer.

Thanks everyone, learned a bit !

Btw, as far as ghost drives go, that's another story for another day.

 

isn't that the first thing i told u, lol.

Yes, if you are doing it for safety then do that. if you are doing it just cuz you feel like you want to partition something, then skip the whole process altogether.

 

Indeed it is. Gimme a break, I was just trying to see what else I could do lol. You win though, you win.

 

i personnaly wound`nt recommend that many partitions couz with each partition u will loose a bit of your hard drive space and to keep it simple and organized, as said above, two partitions OS n DATA will just do that.

 

i always win.

 

That's the easiest approach and not all that difficult to organize.

 

I would have to say that I agree. I've never understood, in full, the reason why some people think it's so necessary. Those who partition, can you explain it to me, please?

 

One very simple reason. With the OS and apps on a single partition and all your data on another (My documents, favorites, pictures Outlook PST files etc), if you ever have to reinstall the OS you can do so without disrupting your data.

It makes for a more compact backup scheme. I make an image of the C: drive (OS and apps) and only have to update that image when something new is added to my arsenal. The data partition is backed up to an external drive much more often.

Gary

 

Technically speaking, having several partitions will make your hard drive r/w heads work more, since it has to seek more to get to the partition you want to access rather than if all the data were in a single (more or less) defragmented partition.

on Windows, I'd have 2 partitions like most people are saying.

C:\ OS + Programs
D:\ Data

There is no benefits at all at separating one partition "Data" into several partitions versus using folders. Besides, you might run into resizing or merging some partitions if you need space in the future, and that's never fun.