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I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
partitions.
Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

"Freddie" <> wrote in message
news:iyofj.20759$...
> I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
> partitions.
> Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
> partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
> Thanks in advance for any replies.
>
>


Leaving the drive as a single partition is perfectly fine...and you might as
well just leave it that way.

There are some reasons for dividing a drive up into several partitions...
and a lot of it simply has to to with how a particular user likes to
organize their data.

Some folks feel better if they keep all of their data on one partition
and their operating system separate.
The rationale being that if one needed to reinstall the OS...
the drive could be formatted , yet the data would remain intact elsewhere.

The logic is perfectly valid...but of course it is always needed to backup
the data
elsewhere...as the entire drive can (of course) fail.

One of the biggest problems I seem to see posted on Usenet...
is that someone did divide their drive...but did not leave enough room
on their primary drive...Eventually they ran out of room!

On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:14:22 GMT, "Freddie" <>
wrote:

>I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
>partitions.
>Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
>partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
>Thanks in advance for any replies.
>

Nobody says you have to. It's purely personal preference.
But in the case of a system restore, or a crash, a lot of data you
wanted to keep could be lost.
So make your OS drive about 10gigs and leave the rest for the other
stuff.

Freddie wrote:

> I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
> partitions.
> Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
> partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
> Thanks in advance for any replies.

If you have at least a 2nd partition or a 2nd drive with a partition, and
you need to recover data, the recovery software (easyrecovery, file
inspector and others) will refuse to touch any directory on the partition
you want to restore from - for really good reasons of course (you could
overwrite data yet to recover, that is).
So you need another partition with enough space to hold the recovered files
and folders.
When you have your OS and your personal data or downloads mixed, and need to
reinstall the OS (maybe it's not booting anymore due to errors in the
registry or whatever), you will be happy if you have a full backup of your
personal data, e-mail folder, contacts and whatever else, from the last
evening.
You know, that simply doesn't happen. Your windows will refuse to start at
the beginning of just that day you *really* have planned your full backup
for the evening, according to Murphy's law.
Now, having your personal files on a 2nd partition, so you can overwrite
your OS from a known-good ghosted image sitting on the 2nd partition, using
just a bootfloppy or cd, or some acronis recovery dvd from 3 months ago, is
just cool.

"wisdomkiller & pain" <> wrote in
message news:. ..
> Freddie wrote:
>
>> I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
>> partitions.
>> Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using
>> multiple
>> partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
>> Thanks in advance for any replies.
>
> If you have at least a 2nd partition or a 2nd drive with a partition, and
> you need to recover data, the recovery software (easyrecovery, file
> inspector and others) will refuse to touch any directory on the partition
> you want to restore from - for really good reasons of course (you could
> overwrite data yet to recover, that is).
> So you need another partition with enough space to hold the recovered
> files
> and folders.
> When you have your OS and your personal data or downloads mixed, and need
> to
> reinstall the OS (maybe it's not booting anymore due to errors in the
> registry or whatever), you will be happy if you have a full backup of your
> personal data, e-mail folder, contacts and whatever else, from the last
> evening.
> You know, that simply doesn't happen. Your windows will refuse to start at
> the beginning of just that day you *really* have planned your full backup
> for the evening, according to Murphy's law.
> Now, having your personal files on a 2nd partition, so you can overwrite
> your OS from a known-good ghosted image sitting on the 2nd partition,
> using
> just a bootfloppy or cd, or some acronis recovery dvd from 3 months ago,
> is
> just cool.

Sorry, could you just tell me that again in plain English? I have read your
reply several times and can't make any sense out of it!

"Freddie" <> wrote:

>I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
>partitions.
>Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
>partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
>Thanks in advance for any replies.
>

I like to use a filing cabinet analogy when explaining the basics of
partitioning.

Having the hard drive as all one partition is like having all of the
files in one huge file drawer. As long as things are origanized
properly and files put into the designated places in the drawer
everything works well and files can be easily found when needed.

Using multiple partitions is liking have a number of different drawers
in the filing cabinet, each for a specific purpose. This can
facilitate the organizing of files and help keep the organized as new
files are added.

There are some disadvantages:
1. When a file does get misplaced you have more than one place to
look for it. But then of these places is smaller and therefore
possibly easier to search.

2. Partition sizes. If you create multiple partitions for different
purposes it is possible that over time one or more of these partitions
will be filled up, creating a need to increase the size of that
partition. This can be quite complex, as space has to be first freed
up by reducing the size of another partition, and then it may be
necessary to adjust the sizes of one more of the other partitions so
as to "move" the freed up space so it is adjacent to the partition
that needs the added space.

Example:
Drive is partitioned into C:, D:, E:, and F:
C: is full and needs more space.
E: is almost empty and can be safely reduced in size.
Step 1: Use a partition management utility to reduce the size of E:,
ensuring that the free space is taken from the beginning of drive E:
Step 2: Increase the size of drive D:, adding to it the freed up
space from drive E: This will be added to the end of drive D:
Step 3: Reduce the size of drive D: to its original size, ensuring
that the freed up space is taken from the beginning of Drive D:
Step 4: Increase the size of drive C: by adding the freed up space to
it.

In other word, partitioning a drive can make some things simpler. But
it can also introduce some major complications.

Hope this is of some value.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 200
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

"Freddie" <> wrote in
news:Nvwfj.21084$:

Partition info.

BTW, there ARE no disadvantages unless you don't plan ahead, and
even then you can resize them if needed.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_02.htm

--
Needless to say, I disdain such idiocies as Xmas and New Year's,
but I'd thought I'd play along just once...

thanatoid's New Year's Resolutions.

01. Stop posting good advice to help newsgroups.
02. Stop posting stupid advice to help newsgroups.
03. Drive to see the Grand Canyon and then to Las Vegas, buy a
gun.
04. Gamble a little in a desperate attempt to fit in for once.
05. Hire 5 of the best looking Las Vegas hookers and have a 3
hour orgy.
06. Have a king-size eggs and bacon and hashbrowns with onions
breakfast.
07. Return to hotel room, put gun in mouth and pull trigger.

Freddie wrote:

....
> Sorry, could you just tell me that again in plain English? I have read
> your reply several times and can't make any sense out of it!

Damn, today reviewing that looks like I may have been intoxicated ;-/
Now, when you need to recover files from your system because it got
corrupted or unbootable, you will need a 2nd partition or drive with
partition, to be able to save your recovered files to it.
Also, a 2nd partition or drive with another partition big enough, is a good
place for backups as well - you can use a livecd or start ghost/whatever on
the 2nd partition, from a floppy, to image the OS partition.
And, if you have to replay the image you may find it useful to not overwrite
your personal files, e-mails, addresses, bookmarks and whatever - if you
have, at first install time, invested that little time to redirect
your "Documents and settings" folder to the 2nd partition.

richard wrote:
>
> >I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
> >partitions.
> >Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
> >partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?
> >Thanks in advance for any replies.
>
> Nobody says you have to. It's purely personal preference.
> But in the case of a system restore, or a crash, a lot of data you
> wanted to keep could be lost.


Yeah, save your most important data to a second partition to make it
easier to backup.



--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

Freddie wrote:
>
> I am running XP Pro SP2 my HDD is a Maxtor 320g that doesn't have "multi"
> partitions.
> Could somebody please explain what are the pro's & con's of using multiple
> partitions for OS & other files, progs etc, as I have read about here?

For a 320 gig its not worth doing a second partition unless you want to
save data like mp3s to the second partition to save time defraggmenting.




--
http://www.bootdisk.com/