Primary? Extended? Logical?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Holy Crikey
  • Start date Start date
H

Holy Crikey

I have a 300GB hard drive and did a fresh install of Windows XP Pro.
What I did at the outset of the installation process was allocate 80GB
on partition C: and installed Windows on that.

The reason I did that was, I figured 80GB was enough for all the
programs I'm ever going to install on this computer and was going to
use the rest of the HDD as separate partitions for various file
storage. So, even if my Windows gets corrupted for any reason and I
have to clean reinstall Windows, I only have to format the C:
partition and the files on the other partition will remain intact.

Now, having successfully installed windows, I wish to make use of the
rest of the HDD and was wondering whether I should create it as
primary, extended or logical? Sorry if this is a very obvious
question, but I wish to create 3 more partitions on top of the C:
partition I created already.

Please advise as to what type of partition I should create them? Are
there any hard and fast rules as to what a partition should be created
as given certain situations?

If the C: partition is on one HDD and the other partitions are on
another HDD, unlike my situation, can they both be primary? Or, does
the partition that Windows is installed on can only be designated as
primary and the rest are extended or logical? Thanks for your time
and coutesy.
 
Youre treating the other partitions as though they are seperate hard drives,
really doesnt work that way...
 
Ok, so I should then make the rest of the partitions as extended,
instead of primary? Didn't really any of my questions, but thanks
anyway.
 
Andrew said:
Youre treating the other partitions as though they are seperate hard
drives, really doesnt work that way...
Click to expand...

You can create a maximum of 4 partitions on one physical drive, so if 4 is
enough then your best bet is 4 primaries.
If you might need more than 4 then make the rest of the space as an extended
partition and create logical drives within that partition.
P.S I prefer to keep C:(OS)+(Programs) on one physical drive.
 
Holy said:
Ok, so I should then make the rest of the partitions as extended,
instead of primary? Didn't really any of my questions, but thanks
anyway.
Click to expand...

P.S Dont listen to Andrew E.'s a sandwich short of a picnic.
 
Simple rules to go by:
4 primary partitions per hard disk.
An extended partition is considered a primary partition as part of that
count.
An extended partition is a holding container for logical drives, cannot be
used to store files.
Logical drives reside in an extended partition's framework. The number of
which are not limited as primary partitions are.

The PC seeks the first primary active partition for access to system boot
files first. Then, primary partitions, then logical drives across all the
hard drives installed. XP goes by the found first rule from installation on
for assigning drive letters. Unless modified by the administrator
afterwards.
 
Simple rules to go by:
4 primary partitions per hard disk.
An extended partition is considered a primary partition as part of that
count.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, I see. That's where I was sort of confused. Since I read that
you can have up to 4 primary partitions, not knowing the above.
Thanks!
An extended partition is a holding container for logical drives, cannot be
used to store files.
Logical drives reside in an extended partition's framework. The number of
which are not limited as primary partitions are.

The PC seeks the first primary active partition for access to system boot
files first. Then, primary partitions, then logical drives across all the
hard drives installed. XP goes by the found first rule from installation on
for assigning drive letters. Unless modified by the administrator
afterwards.
Click to expand...

That's great. Thanks again!
 
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