Question - partition my HD

jim31

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Just added a new WD 640 GB hard drive as the second drive on my Windows XP computer.

Next week I will be installing Windows 7 on this new HD. My question - should I partition this drive and what are the advantages or disadvantages of doing so? Also, will the installation program allow me to do this or must I use a separate program?

Suggestion greatly appreciated.

Jim
 

My Computer

OS
xp
I would partition it. Put Windows on one partition, and important data on another.

Then if you ever need/want to clean install Windows in the future, it will be easier because you won't have to move all of your data to another hard drive and/or repartition it first.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
Just added a new WD 640 GB hard drive as the second drive on my Windows XP computer.

Next week I will be installing Windows 7 on this new HD. My question - should I partition this drive and what are the advantages or disadvantages of doing so? Also, will the installation program allow me to do this or must I use a separate program?

Suggestion greatly appreciated.

Jim


Jim

Nice drive. you should partition the drive to keep the OS and data seperate. You might also want to create a partition for backups and images. this is about what I would do
Windows OS partition 50 gigs (more than enough for growth)
Data partition 400 gigs
Back ups or music, or expansion 200

Just an idea.

Its pretty easy to do even from within your current OS

let us know if you have any questions

Ken
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavillion dv-7 1005 Tx
OS
Win 8 Release candidate 8400
CPU
[email protected]
Memory
4 gigs
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia 9600M
Sound Card
HD built-in
Monitor(s) Displays
17" Wxga
Screen Resolution
1440x900
Cooling
none
Internet Speed
45Mb down 5Mb up
...should I partition this drive and what are the advantages or disadvantages of doing so?
Well to put anything on the drive you have to partition it...gotta have at least one. :P
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Alienware Aurora ALX R4
OS
Windows 10 Pro (x64)
CPU
Intel Core i7-3930K (3.2GHz - 4.5GHz)
Motherboard
Alienware Aurora-R4 x79
Memory
4x Samsung 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (16GB 1600MHz)
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia Geforce GTX 690
Sound Card
SteelSeries Siberia Elite
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp U3011
Screen Resolution
2560x1600
Hard Drives
Samsung 850 Pro 256 GB, Seagate 1TB Desktop Hybrid HDD, 2x Western Digital 4TB Green HDD
PSU
875W Some Dell PSU <.<
Case
Alienware Aurora ALX
Cooling
Custom Liquid Cooling (EK CPU & GPU blocks) dual EK 480RAD
Keyboard
Logitech G710+ Mechanical
Mouse
Logitech G700s
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Verizon Fios (50 mbps average)
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Server: Intel NUC D54250WYK: i5-4250U, 16GB, 256 GB mSATA, Windows Server 2012 R2

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Gateway, Toshiba Laptop, and Home Brew
OS
Windows 7 x64 HP, Windows 7 HP, Windows 7 Ult
CPU
Intel I3, Cerelon, Pentium 4 @ 3Ghz
Motherboard
Intel, Intel, Asus
Memory
8G, 3G, 3G
Graphics Card(s)
On-board Intel, On-board nVidia, nVIDIA card
Sound Card
on-board, on-board, SoundBlaster
Monitor(s) Displays
Hannspree HF237, Toshiba, SyncMaster 931B
Screen Resolution
default (all)
Hard Drives
1T internal, 320G internal, 160G internal, 1T networked
PSU
300w, unk, 650w
Case
black, black, grey
Cooling
air (all)
Keyboard
standard wired (all)
Mouse
standard wired (all)
Internet Speed
6M down, 768K up
Other Info
Home LAN through Linksys hub to 4 port and wireless switch/router. Networked HP 2600n. Wife's computer running Windows 7, and spare laptop running Ubuntu "Karmic Kola" (9.10).
Ha! :)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to list.
OS
XP, Seven, 2008R2
CPU
AMD, Intel, VIA
Motherboard
Various
Memory
Corsair, Kingston, etc.
Graphics Card(s)
ATI, NVIDIA
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung
Hard Drives
Maxtor, Western Digital
Keyboard
qwerty
Internet Speed
22 Mb/s @ home, 1 Gb/s @ server
Other Info
All of my systems still run fastest on XP 32-bit for the most part. Win7 is fun to play with, but I still prefer XP for raw speed, security, and functionality.
Jim

Nice drive. you should partition the drive to keep the OS and data seperate. You might also want to create a partition for backups and images. this is about what I would do
Windows OS partition 50 gigs (more than enough for growth)
Data partition 400 gigs
Back ups or music, or expansion 200

Just an idea.

Its pretty easy to do even from within your current OS

let us know if you have any questions

Ken

Absolutely the right approach - keep your OS and data separate so you can image the OS (to DVDs perhaps) and re-load it if it gets sideways.

BTW - Welcome to Seven Forums, Jim31 :)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Gateway, Toshiba Laptop, and Home Brew
OS
Windows 7 x64 HP, Windows 7 HP, Windows 7 Ult
CPU
Intel I3, Cerelon, Pentium 4 @ 3Ghz
Motherboard
Intel, Intel, Asus
Memory
8G, 3G, 3G
Graphics Card(s)
On-board Intel, On-board nVidia, nVIDIA card
Sound Card
on-board, on-board, SoundBlaster
Monitor(s) Displays
Hannspree HF237, Toshiba, SyncMaster 931B
Screen Resolution
default (all)
Hard Drives
1T internal, 320G internal, 160G internal, 1T networked
PSU
300w, unk, 650w
Case
black, black, grey
Cooling
air (all)
Keyboard
standard wired (all)
Mouse
standard wired (all)
Internet Speed
6M down, 768K up
Other Info
Home LAN through Linksys hub to 4 port and wireless switch/router. Networked HP 2600n. Wife's computer running Windows 7, and spare laptop running Ubuntu "Karmic Kola" (9.10).
Many thanks to all who replied - greatly appreciated. Yes I will follow your advide and partition..

Jim
 

My Computer

OS
xp
Partion HD reply

Many thanks to all who replied - greatly appreciated. Yes I will follow your advide and partition..

Jim
 

My Computer

OS
xp
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