setting up new hard drive

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I need to set up a new hard drive. it is 120bg. I read the article about
partitioning it. But to be totally honest i'm not sure how it works so i can
plan how to divide it. Is there an article that explains in detail how to
access programs and work from 1 partition to another? If I understood the
article i should have WIN XP on 1 partition and programs on another and data
on another???? I also have win office that has 8 programs on it. If i save
my data to a different partition then the programs how do i access it.
Another thing is my daughter subscribes and downloads music. Should that
program be seperated to yet another partition with the music files? Any and
all help would be MOST appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Phil
 
Phil said:
I need to set up a new hard drive. it is 120bg. I read the article
about partitioning it. But to be totally honest i'm not sure how it
works so i can plan how to divide it. Is there an article that
explains in detail how to access programs and work from 1 partition
to another? If I understood the article i should have WIN XP on 1
partition and programs on another and data on another?
Click to expand...


First of all, there are no "shoulds" when it comes to how to partition your
drive. You'll read many opinions, and some of the people who will present
those opinions will present them as if their way is the only right way, but
that's not correct. I won't tell you how to partition it, but I'll try to
give you some information that will help you decide.

How to partition your drive depends on you, how you work, how you like to
organize things, and in many instances on your backup strategy.

For many people there can be benefit in separating their data from Windows.
In particular, if their backup scheme is one that backs up their data, but
not the operating system, such a partitioning scheme can facilitate that.
For those whose backup scheme consists of making an image of everything on
the hard drive, there is much less value to separating it on its own
partition.

Some people also isolate their programs on a separate partition. They
usually argue that if they ever have to reinstall Windows, they will be able
to keep their installed programs. They are mistaken and the argument is
fallacious. Except for a few trivial programs, all programs have m*many*
entries in the Windows folder, in the regisstry and elsewhere. Take away
Windows and all the programs will fail. Reinstalling Windows always means
that all programs also have to be reinstalled. So there is usually little or
benefit to separating programson a separate partition.

Another common issue is for a system that runs mutliple operating systems.
You normally need a separate partition for each one.

For *most* people, two partitions--one for Windows and your programs; the
other for your data--is enough.

I also
have win office that has 8 programs on it. If i save my data to a
different partition then the programs how do i access it.
Click to expand...


There's no problem here at all. Data can be accessed from an Office program
(indeed, from almost every program) very easily regardless of where it is.
First you can change the My Documents folder to a different drive. Second,
your data doesn't even have to be in My Documents. It can be anywhere you
want it, and from the Open dialog box, you can navigate to a separate drive
(partition) just as you can to a separate folder. Or if, for example, you
want to open a particular .doc file, you can navigate to it in My Computer
or Windows Explorer and double-click on it regardless of where it's located.

Another
thing is my daughter subscribes and downloads music. Should that
program be seperated to yet another partition with the music files?
Click to expand...


That "program"? What program? Or do you mean should the music files be on a
separate partition?

Again, the answer depends on how you're going to do things, in particular on
how you're going to back them up. If you are going to back up your Office
data, but not the music files, there's value in separating them. If every
time you back up one, you're going to back up the other, that would suggest
that they would better be in the same partition.
 
While there are many schemes for using multiple partitions it is not
necessary to have more than one partition. The main reason for creating
multiple partitions is for convenience purposes. How large to create
partitions is one of need. As my friend Ken Blake - MVP often points out is
that no matter what size you initially create the partitions to be sooner or
later you'll find a need to change the sizes. Another thing to bear in mind
is that if your hard drive fails you will lose access to the entire drive so
trying to keep data safe on a multiple partitioned drive is of no avail.

However in your case, if you want to multi partition and once again there is
no reason that this must be done, I'd suggest that the 120 GB be divided
into 2 partitions. There really is no valid reason to have more than 2
unless you are multi-booting as well. Most new drives come partitioned so
boot the XP CD and delete all partitions found, if any, then create a
partition that is 10 to 20 GB depending on how many programs you will be
installing. Remember that XP itself request 1.5 - 3GB for a full install and
it also needs plenty of room for it's various cache files.

Create this first partition to be 10 - 20 GB. It must be a Primary
partition. Once it is created format it as NTFS and let Windows XP install
itself. Once XP is installed you can work with the remaining unallocated
space from within Windows. Boot to the XP Desktop. Go to Start button and
right click on the MY Computer icon. Select Manage. From the Computer
Management Console (left pane) click Disk Management. On the right pane you
will see the portion of the drive that XP is installed on and a blank
portion marked "unallocated'. Right click the unallocated space and select
the option to Partition. Once it is partitioned (use the whole size given)
choose the option to Format. Use NTFS as the format.

That should about do it. Your new partition will be ready to accept data and
will be displayed in the My Computer window. Generally I move the My
Documents folder to the second partition. To do that right click the My
Documents icon and select Properties. Change the path to the new partition
i.e.. D:\My Documents (where "D" is the drive letter assigned to the
partition). Get into a habit of storing all data in the My Documents
directory as it is protected from System Restore. You can also change the
location of your Outlook Express Mail Store to the new partition.

Install you applications to the C drive by default. When you run MS Word and
select the option to Save it will by default save to the My Documents
directory. In any event you can simply select where you want to save.
 
Thank you for a very thorough response. The program i was referring to for my
daughters music is called limewire in which she has paid for unlimited music
downloads. If i give it a seperate partition should that program be in that
partition or lets say for example that program was in C drive and when you
dowload you can just save it to D drive? See Im not sure if i am in C drive
what are the hassles of searching for files in another drive. Also having to
send file to nero for burning. As far as backing up I have Norton ghost that
i can take an image and i was thinking of keeping an area for that. Does that
sound like a good way? I guess the downside is if the hard drive fails
totally i still need another source of backup.
 
Phil said:
Thank you for a very thorough response.
Click to expand...


You're welcome. Glad to help.

The program i was referring
to for my daughters music is called limewire in which she has paid
for unlimited music downloads. If i give it a seperate partition
Click to expand...


There's no need to give *any* program a separate partition, and in general
it's not a good idea. Programs should usually all be in the same place.

should that program be in that partition or lets say for example that
program was in C drive and when you dowload you can just save it to D
drive?
Click to expand...


When you download any file, whether from that program or from some internet
site, you normally get to choose where to save it, just as when you create a
file with your word processor, you get to choose where to save it. The
process of choosing what drive and folder to save it to is identical to the
process of just choosing a folder.

Think of it like saving a piece of paper in a real file cabinet. You can
open one drawer and choose which folder to put it in, or you can open
another draware (the analog of another partition) and choose what folder to
put it in there. It's equally easy regardless of which drawer you choose.


See Im not sure if i am in C drive what are the hassles of
searching for files in another drive.
Click to expand...


No hassles at all.


Also having to send file to
nero for burning.
Click to expand...


Same thing. Just as you can open a second drawre, Nero can too.

As far as backing up I have Norton ghost that i
can take an image and i was thinking of keeping an area for that.
Does that sound like a good way?
Click to expand...


No, not in my view. It's better than no backup at all, but just barely.

I guess the downside is if the hard
drive fails totally i still need another source of backup.
Click to expand...


Correct. I don't recommend backup to a second non-removable hard drive
because it leaves you susceptible to simultaneous loss of the original and
backup to many of the most common dangers: head crashes, severe power
glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, even theft of the
computer.

In my view, secure backup needs to be on removable media, and not kept in
the computer. For really secure backup (needed, for example, if the life of
your business depends on your data) you should have multiple generations of
backup, and at least one of those generations should be stored off-site.

My computer isn't used for business, but my personal backup scheme uses two
identical removable hard drives,I alternate between the two, and use Drive
Image to make a complete copy of the primary drive.

Also note that if your backup scheme is making an image of everything on
your hard drive, a lot of the justification for having any more than one
partitions vanishes.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



 
Anything you or any other user want to keep should be in a different
partition. A different hard drive with its corresponding partition and
filesystem is preferrable.
 
Here's a method I commonly setup for many users:
C: for XP and 3rd party programs
D: for internet downloads only for AV scanning afterwards
E: for AV scanned software downloads
F: for personal data only
All is on one hard disk

Optional -
2nd hard disk with image files from Ghost or whatever. Used for quick
imaging and restoring.

Firewire/USB hard drive same as above, for safety not connected except
during imaging or restoring process. This protects your data if your PC
burns up.

Removable caddy ide hard drive for mirror copies of first hard drive,
identical hard drive physically to the first. Removed after copy is made.
Hardware RAID 1 does this automatically as a similar option, but is not
physically removed from the PC after a copy. Rather, constantly updated.
 
Anderson said:
It's better to make drive C big enough.
Some programs copy a lot of stuff to C even though you install them in
others drives.

-------------------------------------
If your Start Menu contains too many programs,
try this little tool 'StartEx'.
Size: 410K,
OS: windows 2000/xp/vista
HomePage: http://www.zalentino.com
Download:http://www.zalentino.com/startex/zal_downloadstartex_en.jsp
Click to expand...

And what is adequate size for all but not too big, not knowing their PC
habits, 3rd party installs, and whimsical internet installs? Drum roll,
Ringo.
 
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