TO partition or not to partition HDD

[gpwurzel]

GB, when you install apps, you generally get a chance to change where they install. Standard installation is into program files, on drive C:

When you get the box pop up saying "is this where you want this installed" change that to whichever other drive you want to use, click on ok/next and away you go

hth,

Wurzel

[MrRiplEy[H]]

This doesnt make sense to me. Shouldnt every drive that is accessed from a Windows based OS have a swapfile associated with it?

There is no reason to have more than 1 swapfile. It's used by OS to dump stuff and since you run only 1 OS at a time..

[llama]

You'd use a small partition on one drive for the OS and whatever you need on the other drive for applications.  The rest could all be converted to data storage partitions.

For the most efficient use of the drive you'd also want the OS and apps to only utilize 50-80% of the available space on thier partitions.  This allows the smoothest operation of defrag.

Splitting your Windows applications and your Program Files strikes me as a very poor idea.

Almost all of the major windows applications, when installed, dump things into BOTH the "Program Files" folder (which you suggest putting on a separate drive than Windows), AND the Windows folder (or the Windows\system(32)) folder PLUS the Documents and Settings folder.

In other words, once you install Adobe Acrobat you've got Adobe files littered across two partitions.

Then, when you've got to do a backup or restore, the Adobe files are going to be out of sync.

There are very very few Windows programs out there that really don't touch anything outside the Programs File folder, meaning that you can't count on the software working after backups and restores. Plus now you have the hard drive head flying all over the hard drive to load programs.

I would therefore never recommend installing Windows applications onto another partition away from your Windows installation.

-Llama

[TequilaChaser]

Splitting your Windows applications and your Program Files strikes me as a very poor idea.

There are very very few Windows programs out there that really don't touch anything outside the Programs File folder, meaning that you can't count on the software working after backups and restores. Plus now you have the hard drive head flying all over the hard drive to load programs.

I would therefore never recommend installing Windows applications onto another partition away from your Windows installation.

-Llama

I concur.......most all applications even if installed to your root directory ( example C:\<whatever folder>.......will still post / put files that are constantly used in the program files folder........ whether it be in the C:\programfiles\common files\ folder or it may even add its own application folder to the program files folder.......

some programs.as Skuzzy mentioned will even load a folder in your My documents folder.( refering to Skuzzy's post about the "Documents & Settings Folder" )......a good example of this would be VSO's Blindwrite or ConvertXtoDVD programs......... ULead is another application example that throws folders all over the place........

[Getback]

Splitting your Windows applications and your Program Files strikes me as a very poor idea.

Almost all of the major windows applications, when installed, dump things into BOTH the "Program Files" folder (which you suggest putting on a separate drive than Windows), AND the Windows folder (or the Windows\system(32)) folder PLUS the Documents and Settings folder.

In other words, once you install Adobe Acrobat you've got Adobe files littered across two partitions.

Then, when you've got to do a backup or restore, the Adobe files are going to be out of sync.

There are very very few Windows programs out there that really don't touch anything outside the Programs File folder, meaning that you can't count on the software working after backups and restores. Plus now you have the hard drive head flying all over the hard drive to load programs.

I would therefore never recommend installing Windows applications onto another partition away from your Windows installation.

-Llama

So what you are saying is install the os as normal and then save the data to a different drive. Correct? For instance. Use excel on drive C but then save the spreadsheets to drive D.

[BaldEagl]

I was simply taking Ripleys idea of installing applications to a different partition to an extreme.  There is no doubt that having two hard drive's heads working simultaneously would provide a performance boost, allbeit a small one. 

You wouldn't have the hard drive head flying all over the place as the OS and whatever files the application placed on the OS drive would be relatively compact.  In fact, there would be less head movement than placing the applications on the same partition.  That is exactly however, why I said in the first place that seperating applications from the OS on a single drive wasn't a good idea.

Regardless, I always let all applications install to their default locations except in rare instances so they are always on the same drive partition as the OS.

[BaldEagl]

Double post

[llama]

So what you are saying is install the os as normal and then save the data to a different drive. Correct? For instance. Use excel on drive C but then save the spreadsheets to drive D.

Exactly right.

What I normally do on my personal machines (desktops and laptops) is make that data partition and then make a folder called "MyDocs" on it. Then I right-click the desktop "My Documents" icon, choose Properties from the popup menu, and set the "Target Folder Location" to (for example) E:\MyDocs.

When you do this, all your software that normally opens and saves files into the My Documents folder AUTOMATICALLY goes to your data partition, including Office, iTunes, CS4, and everything else.

Very handy for backups and restores...

-Llama

[Chalenge]

I use the 3ware 9650SE RAID controller on a PCI-E x16 slot to control six 300 GB velociraptors (3 2 HD volumes) as is and I have it setup about like llama is saying here but it sound like I may want to add another 74 GB velociraptor off the MB SATA just for a swap/page file. The 9650 can handle up to 24 drives but Im already running an external 18" fan to keep cool air directed at the case intakes and more HDs are only going to make things worse for heat. I have been running swap/page files off of each volume so buying another drive and using it alone for swap/page file will help to speed things up and increase my volume free space?

Should I buy two 74 GB HDs and will the extra speed of another RAID volume speed things up even more or not?

[BaldEagl]

I would think your going to start running into vibration resonence problems pretty soon unless all those drives are cusion mounted or are (which they are not) server series drives.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Splitting your Windows applications and your Program Files strikes me as a very poor idea.

Almost all of the major windows applications, when installed, dump things into BOTH the "Program Files" folder (which you suggest putting on a separate drive than Windows), AND the Windows folder (or the Windows\system(32)) folder PLUS the Documents and Settings folder.

In other words, once you install Adobe Acrobat you've got Adobe files littered across two partitions.

Then, when you've got to do a backup or restore, the Adobe files are going to be out of sync.

A good reason to steer away from Adobe, very poorly made software. Link to critical security flaw advisory in Adobe software If you need only a reader, Foxit reader does everything that Adobe does, only much faster and with smaller footprint.

There are very very few Windows programs out there that really don't touch anything outside the Programs File folder, meaning that you can't count on the software working after backups and restores. Plus now you have the hard drive head flying all over the hard drive to load programs.

It is a known good programming practise to develop software that is constricted to it's own private enviroment. If a software alters system configuration and/or installs files to system folders it's essentially bad software that will break either itself or the OS sooner or later. Or most likely both. Software (read: badly made ones that write stuff to registry/system/user profiles) is the reason why Windows installations go bad with time. You can move AH by copying the folder to anywhere you like and it will work after that. Same with Foxit reader, a single .exe that will work after you copy it from a zip file.. Any application that relies on data written to user profile or system locations will inevitably break itself with time, if not sooner then the next system restore. Don't you just HATE games that hide your game saves to user profile or other hidden locations and then you need to move your stuff to a new computer and/or fix the existing one? Absolute nightmare to hunt them all down - or submit to losing your game progression.. 

Which is why many people just disable system restore as it generally breaks more things than fixes.

Now, if your OS gets porked through installing several badly made applications that write registry entries, alter system dll:s in system locations etc. they will mess up the Windows without a doubt. When that happens it's 10x easyer (and reliable due to returning back to an unaltered system configuration) to reformat the system partition and reinstall the couple absolutely necessary badly made programs which hopefully were not the ones conflicting and messing up the system. This way, only the absolutely necessary apps do their bad karma on the OS while restore essentially leaves a potpurri of past bad karma to background.

[Chalenge]

I would think your going to start running into vibration resonence problems pretty soon unless all those drives are cusion mounted or are (which they are not) server series drives.

They are mounted in an Antec case with the silicon vibration dampening grommets but I almost want a seperate case just for HDs because of the heat generated.