Looking for advice on partitions

[smarteyeball]

Personally I have all my video, music, iso, downloads, installed games etc on separate drives/partitions.

I tend to install "general apps" like 7-zip, nero, firefox, office etc on the OS drive. The majority of apps need to have regisrty entires anyway and re-installing a handful of apps is easier than trying to repair semi-broken installations.

When it comes time to reformat/re-install, I just make a copy of my Public Folder and my Users Folder which contain app config settings, saved games and the like.

Once I've re-installed, it's then a simple issue to re-install an app and then copy it's config/settings back to the original location and continue on. ie Firefox settings/add-ons.

 

[tw33k]

Personally I have all my video, music, iso, downloads, installed games etc on separate drives/partitions.

same here

 

[Chappy]

Having any programs you install, keep their folders on a separate partition doesn't make it any easier when it comes to a reinstall. You can't have them work again after the reinstall, they must be installed again into the new OS image so it's easiest just to keep installed programs on the C: drive.
Music, documents, pictures and the like are a different matter and most of us keep those on separate partitions or drives since they aren't "installed".

Something some of us do is to keep a programs Data files, the ones that hold the user config info (how it looks, columns, setup..etc) on a separate drive so when we do reinstall the OS and then install the programs again, the data files stay put and the program starts up just as it was before the OS reinstall. That's a bit more complicated as to do this you have to do a custom install to point the user data files to this location.
Or an alternative to that is simply learn where your fave programs keep their user config data (usually AppData\Roaming or Local) and before you reinstall, transfer those files to a temp drive location and after the reinstall (OS & program(s)) then copy them back and your fave programs will have all the setup still the same.

 

[stevieray]

Having any programs you install, keep their folders on a separate partition doesn't make it any easier when it comes to a reinstall. You can't have them work again after the reinstall, they must be installed again into the new OS image so it's easiest just to keep installed programs on the C: drive.

OK, now I understand. I've never had to reinstall an OS on any of my machines, so I've never run across this stuff before. So if I've only got one more activation on a three pc key, I should hold off installing it for now.

Something some of us do is to keep a programs Data files, the ones that hold the user config info (how it looks, columns, setup..etc) on a separate drive so when we do reinstall the OS and then install the programs again, the data files stay put and the program starts up just as it was before the OS reinstall. That's a bit more complicated as to do this you have to do a custom install to point the user data files to this location.
Or an alternative to that is simply learn where your fave programs keep their user config data (usually AppData\Roaming or Local) and before you reinstall, transfer those files to a temp drive location and after the reinstall (OS & program(s)) then copy them back and your fave programs will have all the setup still the same.

So this way, I can keep the customization of, let's say, Firefox. I would just need to download the raw FF, and all of my add-ons could be saved in D temporarily, then moved back to C.

Alright. The logic behind everybody's advice is starting to settle in.

 

[davehc]

So if I've only got one more activation on a three pc key, I should hold off installing it for now.

Alright. The logic behind everybody's advice is starting to settle in.

Correct. If you get hold of an image program (Acronis - the best, or paragon - close second) an make a total image of your OS after basic customisation and activation, then, when and if you reinstall the image, the activation goes with it and you have no need to reactivate.

Regarding the above helpful posts, I copy the whole of my Users - username folder somewhere safe. It holds most of the data you will need, including personal files, pictures etc.

 

[stevieray]

Correct. If you get hold of an image program (Acronis - the best, or paragon - close second) an make a total image of your OS after basic customisation and activation, then, when and if you reinstall the image, the activation goes with it and you have no need to reactivate.

I suppose I could slipstream those third party apps into a new Win7 installation disk as well.