partitioning hard drives

[raz]

I know a lot of you are probably going to roll your eyes at this but...I've always partitioned my drives as one big partition, not because I think that it's better (I realize it isn't)but because I don't fully understand the 'hows' and 'whys' of having multiple partitions. I'm not asking for a lot of explainations here but I would appreciate any suggestions on any books or sites that would help me. I just purchased a 9.1 gig and I think I would like to be a little more knowledgeable on the subject before I start to install it. Most of my computer know-how as been gained by the "learn-by-doing" process, but this just seems to fly right over my head.
Thanks,
Raz

[socalgal]

Hi raz

I must confess I don't fully understand it either as I only have one partition on my three hdds! (roll your eyes <g> ) But, I can link you up to a couple good references about it. http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/part.htm

Another is http://www.storagereview.com/ . Go to Reference, Hard Disk Logical Structures and File Systems.

[ktwebb]

There are not many advantages to having smaller partitions. Smaller clusters so small files do not take up a bigger cluster that a large partition would have. And the obvious one would be system tools taking a lot shorter time to finish. Defrag and full scandisks will finish alot quicker. Being able to name various partitions so you can organize like a partition for games, one for mp3's and so on. Generally it doesnt make much difference. If you want to make multiple familiarize yourself with fdisk and do it.

[jad1097]

I got this from Zdtv ( http://zdtv.com/ ) a while ago. From either screensavers or call for help. I know it is kind of long but this is the way I did it.
Perform the Format and Install
Boot from that boot floppy you just made. Now restart your machine. After a bunch of grinding and whirring (this is what computing was like in the days before hard drives) you'll see the prompt:
A:
Insert your Windows installation disk in the CD drive and type the commands:
D:
DIR
If you can see the contents of the CD ROM drive, you're in business. (If you have more than one hard disk on your computer, your CD might not be D:-- use whatever drive letter works.) If not, go back to the article on making a boot disk and try again.
We've reached the point of no return. You're going to partition your hard drive. Once you do, you will no longer be able to recover your data. Reassure yourself that you do indeed have good backups and that you've copied everything you need off the drive, because you're about to kiss it goodbye.
Type FDISK
Now we're going to delete your DOS partitions and create three new partitions. (This is my personal favorite partitioning scheme, but feel free to replace it with one that works for you.) Type 3 to Delete partition and then select your Windows partition-- that's almost always the Primary DOS Partition. Once you've done so, you're committed. Now create three new DOS partitions. The first is for your swap file. Make it about 150MB. Next, create your main Windows partition. Make it as big as you want, but leave 500MB or so free for your final data partition.
Putting the swap file and your data in a separate partition is good for organization, and it also helps make your system a bit more robust. The swap file will work faster if it doesn't get fragmented-- and it can't if its on a partition by itself. Putting it on the first partition ensures that it's on the fastest part of the hard drive. Separating your data directories onto a partition of your own also helps keep fragmentation down, and it will simplify clean installs in the future. Make sure to give your data partition sufficient space for growth. Once you've created your partitions, exit FDISK and reboot from your floppy.
Now you can format each partition, starting with the Windows directory:
FORMAT C: /S /V
The /S parameter makes the C: drive bootable. /V verifies the format. Format D: (your data directory) and E: (your swap partition) as well using the /V (but not the /S) parameter. Take a break, this might take a while.
Once you've got your C: drive formatted, copy the Windows installation files to the hard drive. This will speed up the installation and ensure that you have copies of the Windows install files available in future. No more fumbling for the Windows CD when you install new hardware. All you need is the files in the WIN98 directory, although if you have a large enough hard drive you can copy the entire CD to it. I suggest creating a folder called WIN98 on your hard drive and sticking the files there. Once the files are copied, pop out the floppy and restart your machine. It should start up and you should see the C: prompt grinning at you. Time to begin the installation of Windows. Change to the install directory you just created (CD WIN98 for example) and type SETUP. The setup should begin and you're in business. Check back with us when it's done

[raz]

From reading the sites Socalgal suggested (thank you) I guess by far the greatest advantage of having multiple partitions would be less wasted drive space. I'm still a little unclear if performance is increased or decreased though...or if there is no change. It seems like the number of clusters would be the same, whether you have one partition or many. And therefore your drive's performance wouldn't necessarily benefit from multiple partitions (I could be wrong, but it seems correct).
Though I've never actually done it, I'd bet that it's a pretty straight forward procedure to configure your drive into multiple partitions...just choosing the appropiate options in fdisk (or any partioning utility). So I guess the actual partitioning wouldn't be a problem.

[jonathankeeping]

One of the best advantages of partitioning a HD has to be the fact that you can have multiple OS's on the same HD. I am going to set Windows NT on one partition and Windows 98 on another. These partitions can be hidden from each other so they don't conflict. You can also use partitions to back data up. Eg if you mess Windows up somehow, you can restore it with your backup partition. I would advice you investing in a complete partition package though. Partition Magic 4/5 is very easy to use and still very powerfull

[BFlurie]

With a 3.2 gig HD & 4 partitions --
c -- 8192 byte clusters, 507Mb
e -- 16384 byte clusters, 1068Mb
f -- 32768 byte clusters, 1094Mb
g -- 8192 byte clusters, 507Mb

You can see there is a lot less disk slack using partitions.

[This message has been edited by BFlurie (edited 12-01-1999).]