Windows 7 - Newbie with partition questions

I wanted to partition my hard drive into 4 sections. C=Operating System, D=Applications E=My Files and F= extra space I can allocate to other 3 sections in the future.

I loaded Office Suite and it asked where to load it. I said "D". Then I loaded another program and it said it was going to place it in C: Programs Files. I changed it to be D: Program Files. A third program told me it was going to C: Program Files (x86) I changed that to D: Program Files (x86). So now I have a drive labeled "D" with some Applications in just "D", some in D Program Files and some in D Program Files (x86).
Question 1 Will having these applications in such a haphazard manner hurt when trying to access the programs?
Question 2 What does the "x" mean in (x86)?
Question 3 When I loaded Flash and Acrobat Reader, those files did not ask where to be stored, where did they go?

1. Very possibly ... do you have a specific reason to do this?
2. It indicates the type of architecture (32 bit)
3. They were stored in c:/program files

No,it would be the same on your C: partiton.
Program Files is the 64bit program files, Program Files (x86) is you 32bit files,the x is the multiplier.
More than likely they went to app data on the C partiton.

Agreed.
I have a "Data" partiton where i store my films and important .exe files that i downloaded incase my C: partiton becomes unstable.That way i still have my important files untouched and usable if the need arises without re-installing them.

Oh Rats! I was hoping to keep the "C" drive just for the operating system and "D" for just applications. The theory of course would be if I needed to reinstall Windows 7, I could do this without having to reinstall everything else. I find it tedious to have to remember which programs I use and then reinstall them.

After reading what you all wrote, it appears that I will have to format the hard drive and make the "C" drive much larger than the 30Gb I initially made, perhaps 125Gb and use that to load Windows 7 AND all the Applications. I have a 1 Tb hard drive so space, at least for the next several years, should not be an issue.

Thanks for the guidance.

I use a third party backup utility to make an image of my c: drive... It takes about 15 minutes to restore the image and eliminates the need to reinstall .... See Brinks tutorial on how to do this with Windows native utility -=> here

Thank you for the link, Tews. That might work.

Knowing my level of computer skill I would wake up one day and realize my system is working very slowly. At that point I would decide to reinstall Windows 7. Wouldn't the restore file have the virus/worm/Trojan horse/bad stuff that caused the slow down when it was backed up? I guess I could restore from an earlier point, but that assumes I would know when the virus/worm/Trojan horse/bad stuff was originally placed on my "C" drive. (not when I finally got disgusted with the computer's performance, and decided to do something!)

Or, am I doing what I always do and over think an issue???
k

Your best bet in my opinon is to create a back up disc using Paragon
Free Backup Software: Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free Edition - Overview

Burn a back up disc of your current OS (better to have it exactly how you want it) and name it Back Up Disc Primary

Then every few weeks create a new back up disc to keep up with your programs,if any of them or all of them contain a trojan etc you can use your primary back up disc.

Buuut,you shouldnt be getting viruses.
What anti virus are you using?
For paid i would recomend Kaspersky,never let me down.
For free id advise Avast avast! - Download antivirus software for spyware and virus protection
It is thee best free antivrus in my opinon.

And also i would advise malwarebytes
Malwarebytes.org

Dan

Thanks Dan. I am not entirely sure why my computer begins to bog down and run slowly. I just assumed it was virus/worm/Trojan horse/bad stuff. I use DiskKeeper to try to keep the hard drive neat and tidy. I use Eset's Nod32 for bad stuff. It could be several other reasons why my computer slows, and reinstalling the operating system seems to help speed things up again.

I was hoping I could keep application software on a separate partition from the operating system so I could just reinstall the OS without redoing the applications. However, I do not have the computer skills necessary to make sure the applications do load to the "D" drive. Some just auto load to the "C" drive, and that would make the situation worse when it came to formating the "C" drive, I'd never know which file was an operating system file and which was a file just for an application that auto loaded into the "C" drive.

I guess I will just have to make a larger partition for "C" to hold OS and applications.

Thanks for all the help guy's, but I am afraid my ignorance with computers will just make the task harder trying to make back-up's.

I doubt your computer slows down due to a trojan etc,i dont like NOD32 but it should still pick them up.
If its getting slow,try pressing Windows Key+R>Type MSCONFIG>Hit Enter>Go to Services>Click the Hide Microsoft Services and leave just your anti virus and click apply.
Then go to start up>unclick anything you dont want starting up when your pc boots,theres usally a few that will slow it down.
Then clear the icons of your desktop,they can really slow the loading when it starts up.
You could use RocketDock ,its a very useful application and it can be set to autohide.
Download RocketDock - RocketDock.com