New hard drive & xp optimization

I just purchased a new 160 gig hard drive. What is the best way to configure the hard drive. A friend of mine suggested the following:
20 gig - Drive C Windows operating system only
5 gig swapfile
Remainder for files and applications.

Also, Does anybody know what services are safe to disable or set to manual? Also, what recommendations to use as far as turning off themes, using a screen saver, power setting options, i want to get the best optimization possible.

Thanks in advance

 

well optimize as in speed? well, then you should " right click on my computer>properties>advanced tab> performoce...settings>then pick adjust for best performance.

hope that helps...but on the other hand, wht type of system do u have?

 

I'm no expert, but here is my comuter info:

Intel Pentium 4. 3.0GHz Socket-478. 800 FSB CPU

PC 3200 512/slot

I have 1gig of memory. but not for sure what all of this means. is what I have good? Also, what about configuring the hard drive?

 

Yeah, you've got a pretty decent setup there. As far as disabling services, check out http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm for info on what services to disable (I use the "SAFE" Configuration listed on the site with no problems). Ryuduo was right about going into the settings to optimize performance. This just disables some of the graphical enhancements in Windows XP. Just use a basic background and screen saver and you should be fine. Also, check your drivers. I have had a slow system just cause my graphics card driver was out of date, so double check those... And make sure you get spyware countermeasures. I have been pretty satisfied with Microsoft's new AntiSpyware, which seems to moniter items in current memory for any spyware. Sooooo, I think I got most of the bases covered...

 

yah u have some pretty good things. just do what i said and it might help out. or u can canl stuff from the services. to do that go to Control panel>Admin Tools>Services.. Just edit out the stuff u dont need.

Also u can try RUN>msconfig

see what u can do

 

what's the best way to setup the hard drive as far as partitions? do i need 5 gig for a swap file?

 

I haven't had to manually partition SWAP files since the days of FAT32. You should format the drive in NTFS with no swap file. Windows will automatically manage the swap file. You should have no problems whatsoever. I partitioned my 200 Gig hard drive (actually more like 180GB after formatting) like this: 20GB- System, 80GB-Programs, 80GB- Storage. It really just depends on what you wanna do...

 

Thanks for your help. I'm still new to all this computer stuff. One last question. what is a good backup program for backing up my documents, microsoft outlook and outlook express?

 

I use Drive Image to backup my stuff. I have a home network and use a network drive to store data. One other more basic solution is just to backup data on a seperate partition, or if you have an older drive, leave it in for storage and backup.