Hard Disk Partitioning

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

My current Win XP computers have multiple HDD partitions on them. THis makes it easy for me to use different "drives" for different things. It allows me to reduce the # of subdirs I have to drill down thru to get what I want.

I use PartitionMagic on these computers.

I am voyaging into a newer, faster desktop (with the able assistance of red-beard) that runs Win 7, so I looked for an upgrade of PartitionMagic. No such luck - Symantec bought them out and then killed off the product. No version works with Win 7.

Is there something else I can use that anyone knows of??

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

Right in Win 7 . . .

Ian

imcarthur · imcarthur's Garage

The overview:

Ian

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

thx - I obviously know nuthin' about win 7...

masraum · 12-17-2010, 09:16 PM

I'm pretty sure that Vista, XP and some of the earlier Windows versions also had the partition gui built in. It just wasn't often used. I doubt most folks know about it or would know what to do with it.

MysticLlama · 12-17-2010, 09:43 PM

Weird, I hate partitioning, I always find it just doesn't work out.

Different drives, or partitions on a SAN, that's different, it's a performance thing, but just doing it on a workstation disk seems kinda unnecessary. Drives don't really do anything folders don't, and the process to switch to another drive is the same as a folder for the most part isn't it?

Try looking up how libraries work in Win7 and try to wrap your head around how they work, might totally change how you organize stuff.

The search is also WAY better and super useful. Same with favorites for folders that are multiple levels down. Lets you get to them in one click from dialog boxes.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I wouldn't bother, but you can always partition later if necessary. And this same partioning was available with XP.

masraum · 12-18-2010, 08:09 AM

One thing that I do like is having an OS partition separate from where I keep my files. That way if I decide to format and reinstall, I don't have to figure out how to juggle a couple hundred Gigs of stuff.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

thx - I will defer this & look at the Win 7 Library facility

the 'soft' drive letters worked well for me:
C: - Win XP OS
Data
Programs
Science
GIS data
Music
etc. - all on a different drive

johnnywishbone · johnnywishbone's Garage

I use PartitionMagic on these computers.

after i use this software, i usually re-format "c" and re-install all software. i hate pmagic. evil. nasty.
now i apple-mac. no problems.

MysticLlama · 12-18-2010, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

One thing that I do like is having an OS partition separate from where I keep my files. That way if I decide to format and reinstall, I don't have to figure out how to juggle a couple hundred Gigs of stuff.

Valid point.

I just run into so many machines that someone aimed low on one of the partitions making it super frustrating when needing to run a program that'll only work in one place.

I guess with big drives you could leave a ton of space, say 100-150+GB for the OS, and then the rest for other.

I have almost all media (music/video/installer files/etc.) on a couple of external or network drives, so when I nuke a system, it's just a bunch of docs and some pics, all fits on a USB drive no problem.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I am about to install a 128GB SSD on my main machine. I'm going to clone my drive to it, since I'm under that amount right now. Then I'll put the regular drive in for data. If this works well, I think I'll buy a 256GB SSD for my laptop.