Partitioning a Hard Drive

I'm going to be installing a new hard drive. My present hard drive isn't partitioned. What is the reason for partitioning a hard drive? What benefits would I received by partitioning the new hard drive?

Denise

 

People used to most often partition up drives for a couple of reasons:

One, sometimes it was felt best to put the OS in one partition, usually smaller than the rest, and store the data in the others.

Two, there was an actual benefit in the pre -FAT32 or NTFS days to smaller partition sizes: smaller partitions meant smaller cluster sizes and less wasted space. Lets say you have 16K cluster sizes and you want to store a 33K file. Two clusters get filled up, and the remaining byte occupies a 16K cluster all by itself-- no other data can be written to that cluster. If you had a smaller partition, able to be formatted with 4K clusters, then you'd only be wasting 3K as opposed to 15.

Today, I believe the most benefit to partitioning a large disk is data protection. If something corrupts the partition table of one logical drive, chances are the others will remain intact. That was usually the big reason for number one above.

Besides, sometimes it's just easier not to have to mine through the huge number of folders that can accumulate in a very large partition over time.

 

Thanks, Doug, for the info.

How many partitions can I have?

Can I have one for my operating system, another for my programs, another for system restore points, etc? Or am I limitd to just one partition?

Denise

 

>> I'm going to be installing a new hard drive. My present hard drive isn't partitioned. What is the reason for partitioning a hard drive? What benefits would I received by partitioning the new hard drive? <<

Actually, your current (or "present") hard drive is partitioned. A partition is created whenever you format the hard disk. All hard drives must be partitioned, even if they will have only one partition. Most one-partition hard disks are labeled the "C:" drive. In order to use the "space" within any hard disk, it must be partitioned.

Partitioning is one of the necessary steps in order to 'prepare' a drive for use. It is the method of defining certain areas of the hard disk for the operating system to use as a volume. It is the process of dividing the hard disk's space into pieces, so they can be prepared for use, or even dedicated to different uses. Even if the entire disk is intended to be left in one piece, it must be partitioned so that the operating system "knows" that it is intended to be left in one piece.

Typically, a one-partition hard disk is labeled the "C:" drive ("A:" and "B:" are typically reserved for diskette drives). A two-partition hard drive would typically contain "C:" and "D:" drives; but other letters can be used depending upon how you format and what’s already on the drive. CD-ROM drives typically are assigned the last letter in whatever sequence of letters have been used as a result of hard disk formatting, or typically with a two-partition, the "E:" drive.

When partitioning a hard drive, it creates different sections of it that the computer reads as "separate" disks. The most compelling reason many geeks partition the hard drive is so that the user can install multiple operating systems on it. For example, if you’re already running windows and you want to run a UNIX or Linux, etc. operating system as well on your HD, Linux would needs to be installed on its own partition in order to function properly. Sometimes it is a good idea to have several partitions for one operating system. For example, “swap space” is usually best put in its own partition for Linux instead of in the main Linux partition for reasons pertaining to speed.

As "TheDoug" mentioned in the previous post above: Another primary benefit to partitioning is the ability to keep a live backup of your current operating system on another drive, just in case you're customizing your main OS and something fouls up - then all you need to do is copy the clean System Folder from your back-up drive onto your main drive and you're good-to-go!

Some folks create "separate" partitions on a hard drive in order to divide up their disk space. For example, a user could have a hard disk divided or "partitioned" into separate drives for keeping the primary the operating system on Drive C. On Drive D perhaps data like documents, databases, text files, music, pictures, etc. Drive E to store Internet-related software like FTP programs, newsgroup and email software. Some folks also do this because they want to get into video editing, and don't need for a brand spankin’ new hard drive, but want some separate space to store large files with say, unfinished movies. Likewise, you can create a partition just for storing all your Games.

Another reason a user might want to partition their hard drive is so that it will read data more efficiently. If you have a midsized to large hard drive (20-50 GB or more); it would be wise to split it into at least two partitions. This way, the hard disk doesn't have to scan as much to find files, defrag, etc. It also allows data to be stored in smaller block sizes, which means more space for your files.

Nowadays, utilizing reliable and stable software it's a far easier task to partition your physical drive into multiple partitions. Many users partition a hard disk with FDISK, or a software program like Acronis. Using FDISK; the graphical interface it shows the hard drive, as well as illustrating any changes you are planning to make, and makes it much easier to create “logical partitions” on your hard drive.

Lot’s of great info, tips and how-to's on this subject can be found in the links as the PCguide.com website.

Good Luck!

 

What size is the drive? Will you be replacing your present drive with it, or just adding it as a second? What OS do you run, and do you anticipate upgrading it (e.g. Windows Vista)? Do you do a lot of gaming? mp3 collecting? digital photo manipulation?

 

You can have up to 4 primary Partitions on any single Hard drive
If you have more than one HDD you can have multiple Partition on all of them
Your OS can be installed on any one of those.
If you plan on using more than one OS, Install the oldest OS first on the first Partition.

I always use multiple Partitions
One for the OS, (For W2k or XP I like to use minimum of 20 gb) the other for other OS or Storage.


The PC I'm using right now has 4 partitions on an 80gb HDD
It's a dual boot PC.
I have on the first Partition Windows XP pro OS aprox 23 gb
The second is Windows x64 OS aprox 23 gb
The third is Storage aprox 23gb
The fourth is also storage aprox 5gb

How you set up is up to you & your needs, Big files like Movies need Big partition's, It's best to give a little thought before you load windows.
All HDD manufactures have free utilities to Partition & format their HDD's

I highly recommend using Multiple Partitions
Some folk's like one big partition, Not me!

 

I also use multiple partitions,I have an exact perfect working duplicate of windows just after first installation on one partition,if something screws up I just load with other partition,mirror it and carry on,I also have 2 storage partitions which I keep seperate

 

I have 2 internal hard drives. Belarc Report says:

My C drive contains Windows and everything else. I store all my mp3's on my F drive. I don't do any gaming but I work with a tremendous amount of videos that I edit on my C drive and then move to one of the ex hd's.

But putting the ex hd's aside, my new drive is 300G and will be replacing my existing C drive.

I'll take your advice and put Windows in its own partition, my programs in another partition, a partition for working with my videos, and everything else will go into the last. I won't have another operating system besides Windows and I have a copy of my entire C drive (including MSConfig, Regedit, and Taskmgr separately) saved on one of the ex hd's, and I delete the existing copies and create and save new copies about once every few months.

Do I have to format the new C drive in NTFS format? Someone built my pc for me and is no longer available to answer questions about it. I don't know why my C drive is NTFS and the F drive is fat32. I won't be doing anything with the F drive. It will remain as the secondary/slave drive.

Is partitioning a hard drive the same thing as formatting a hard drive or is it a separate step?

Denise

 

Partitioning/Formating two different things
Simple answer is Partitioning is dividing it, formating is erasing & setting the file system Fat or NTFS
Before one can install Windows on any given Partition, that partition would need to be Formated
If you Partition & format your HDD all data will be erased, if your Format your HDD all data will be erased.

You didn't say which Windows OS you use:
Windows 98 uses Fat file system it cannot use NTFS
Windows 2000 or XP can use either Fat or NTFS
NTFS is Better, more efficient, more secure


Here's a MG thread/sticky on Formating
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=25831

I prefer to use the HDD manufactures free Utility to multi partition & format, I believe all Retail HDDs come with the utility on CD?? It's also free download at Manufactures web, also available free here at MG's front page
Maxtor is Maxblast
WD is Data LifeGuard Tools
Seagate I think is SeaTools