Partitioning A Disk

[astral]

I like to keep my disk partitioned,

C: OS

D: Programmes

E: Personal Data

F: Photos

G: Etc

I find it easier when backing up and recovering.

In the past I have created a Primary Partition for the OS

then an Extended Partition containing Logical Partitions for all the others.

At present I am rebuilding my disk after a crash and seem to have created

a relatively small Extended Partition, containing 2 logical partition.

then the 3rd Logical is outside the Extended area.

Is this approach OK??

Or should I adjust things to put all the Logical Partitions inside a big Extended one???

Thanks

I am using Paragon Partition Manager 9.

[astral]

What, no experts out there????????

[surface]

The main difference between primary partitions and extended partitions with logical drives is that you can't boot an OS from an extended partition.

Since you can only have 3 primary partitions per disk, you will need an extended in there. It doesn't matter how you set it up, it's all the same.

Edited December 20, 2008 by surface

[nikster]

I subscribe to the "one single big partition" theory...

It works like this:

I have one single big partition. It contains everything.

I have one single big external backup drive. It backs up everything.

That's it.

[Fore Man]

I agree with NIKSTER. I used to go to a lot of trouble partioning my drive and with the advent of easy -to-use back-up software, I decided to place it all on a single partition and do periodic back-ups. This gets a bit off-topic, but is related to he OP's basic topic.

The best utility I have found bar none is Acronis. It is far easier to use than Ghost; our IT folks swear by it. You make a boot CD using the program and once this is done, you boot into Acronis using that boot CD. From this utility you create the back-up which can be saved to a variety of media. I use a USB HDD. What's nice is that once you have created the full, initial back-up, you can then make incremental back-ups to keep pace with the changes on your PC. The initial back-up takes 1-2 hours depending on how big your partition is; the incrementals take 30-minutes or so. And I have restored a crashed HDD on three occasions without a hiccup. Check it out.

[webfact]

I work with 3, 750GB HDD internal and 3, 1 TB externel HDD. Each has 1 partition only!

Backup with Storagecraft "Shadowprotect" which is much faster and less bloated than Acronis,

which I used for many years but changed my mind due to some problems - specially with 2 partitions on the same disk.

Edited December 20, 2008 by webfact

[Langsuan Man]

I have to agree with the previous three posters. Whenever I play around with Partition Magic I am bound to get into trouble so I just say NO.

[2008bangkok]

I think 5 partitions are a tad excessive but i do think that a C and a D and backup the D drive is the way to go.....

[tripplejjj]

I subscribe to the "one single big partition" theory...

It works like this:

I have one single big partition. It contains everything.

I have one single big external backup drive. It backs up everything.

That's it.

Go with the advice above and Acronis True Image Home is good. I have a crack for the the English version. PM me if you need it.

Edited December 21, 2008 by tripplejjj

[astral]

Thanks for the input.

I DO agree about Acronis.

I used it to restore the OS partition after a crash. 6 minutes had the OS back in place.

Then Paragon Partition Manager 9, a free version with a magazine

to create the partitions.

I will consider the comments on one BIG partition,

but do prefer to keep OS and Program Files separate.

That way settings are preserved if I have to reload the OS

[zzdocxx]

Interesting thread, thanks.

I have two partitions, C and D, for programs and data (word docs, mp3s, photos, etc.) respectively.

Only thing is, Windows XP often puts new files by default into the "My Documents" folder in the C drive.

It's not a big deal, I just have to hunt around for files every now and then, and when backing up, to make sure I have got everything.

I've read about making "ghost" backups but haven't progressed quite that far. Data is backed up on an external HD. Only thing about that was that it was set up for certain file types, and didn't default to include others. For example, I think I had to add "pdf" to the list of file types to back up.

OK just rambling here.

[Rice_King]

I have two partitions, C and D, for programs and data (word docs, mp3s, photos, etc.) respectively.

Only thing is, Windows XP often puts new files by default into the "My Documents" folder in the C drive.

It's not a big deal, I just have to hunt around for files ...

You can change the target if you want My Documents to point to a different folder location. How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder

[Thaigreg]

I have two partitions, C and D, for programs and data (word docs, mp3s, photos, etc.) respectively.

Only thing is, Windows XP often puts new files by default into the "My Documents" folder in the C drive.

It's not a big deal, I just have to hunt around for files ...

You can change the target if you want My Documents to point to a different folder location. How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder

Hi,

Thanks for the info.

Greg

[zzdocxx]

Hey thank you RiceKing, I will take a look at that.

Here's a related question: Anyway I can get my Start menu to show the D drive folders rather than the C drive folders? I am thinking that might not be possible.

(edit:)

Hey just looking at the link, that might take care of both issues.

Edited December 22, 2008 by zzdocxx

[Phil Conners]

Theres not much point in having a separate partition for programs as most Windows programs need to be properly installed to work.

Not having a separate partition for data though, ought to be punishable. When (not if) your Windows installation gets corrupted you will need to reformat and reinstall Windows and if you have your data on C: you will lose them. Whether you need more than one data partition is really up to the individual. The advantage in multiple partitions are that if a partition gets corrupted you limit the damage. OTOH with multiple partitions you may have to resize the partitions if the size requirements change - something that may in itself lead to corrupted partitions.

[chiang mai]

Theres not much point in having a separate partition for programs as most Windows programs need to be properly installed to work.

Not having a separate partition for data though, ought to be punishable. When (not if) your Windows installation gets corrupted you will need to reformat and reinstall Windows and if you have your data on C: you will lose them. Whether you need more than one data partition is really up to the individual. The advantage in multiple partitions are that if a partition gets corrupted you limit the damage. OTOH with multiple partitions you may have to resize the partitions if the size requirements change - something that may in itself lead to corrupted partitions.

Agreed totally.

[Tywais]

I also do not use multiple partitions but prefer multiple drives. My main drive is a WD Raptor where the OS and applications reside (and the games) . A 2nd drive for internal scheduled backups and as my file server where all my installation software is archived including drivers and a 3rd for multimedia.

As Phil mentions, the problem with partitioning is you have to anticipate your sizing needs. If you underestimate then you either have to do partition resizing (not recommended) or use another partition for the overflow losing your separation of data. The other end of the spectrum is overestimating. In this case if you have much more space then being used you are wasting disk space.

At my office though I do have two disks with the 2nd partitioned into two segments. The primary drive is for the OS and application, the 2nd with one partition for internal scheduled backup (where space requirement is pretty well known) and the other partition using the remaining space for our office file server.

I use Acronis to do an image of a clean install of the OS and all applications then a separate backup of all my documents and projects which reside in two separate directories keeping things easily controlled.

I manage my application directories by creating directories based on function. For example, I have one for Engineering, Utilities, Graphics, Programming, Multimedia, Network apps, one for Downloads. My Start menu has the same structure but in addition Games and one specifically for Microsoft applications. I hate everything being under one Program Files directory. There are zero icons on my desktop because navigating the Start menu is straight forward with the above setup.

[nikster]

Theres not much point in having a separate partition for programs as most Windows programs need to be properly installed to work.

Not having a separate partition for data though, ought to be punishable. When (not if) your Windows installation gets corrupted you will need to reformat and reinstall Windows and if you have your data on C: you will lose them. Whether you need more than one data partition is really up to the individual. The advantage in multiple partitions are that if a partition gets corrupted you limit the damage. OTOH with multiple partitions you may have to resize the partitions if the size requirements change - something that may in itself lead to corrupted partitions.

You don't lose anything if you have a backup. That's the point of the backup.

Regarding re-installing Windows: Always going to be a pain, I agree. Just re-installing all programs takes forever. However, with a good backup, you should not have to do this either. The programs/data separation strategy assumes you don't make backups, or you screw up and forget. A good backup program will remind you, and automate the backup process enough so that can't happen.

It's very easy with OS X and a Mac

Then you have an excellent backup utility built-in (TimeMachine). It keeps incremental backups every week, day, and hour. So the most you'll lose is an hour's work.

And you never have any installation nightmares. If you need to re-install the OS, it's absolutely no big deal. Everything is preserved, down to the settings, app programs, and settings in the app programs. You can use the included migration assistant on your backup disk, or you do it manually the old fashioned way, just copy over your old home folder - that also has all your settings and everything you need. Applications can be dragged over and will work - no registry that could get screwed up... ok enough about OS X. On Windows, a good backup program will provide pretty much the same service.