In general it does seem to make sence to partition a hard disc into at least a couple of sections.
And I think I can see the logic in having windows in one partition and data in an other.

Can anyone advise me if I partition what else to load in the windows partition
where best to put all hardware drivers. broadband software and antivirus software

any advise would be a great help

and can I move My Documents out of the windows partition.

I would do at least two partitions, depends on the size.
One is called System the other Data. You load the OS on System and in Data you create folders and when you add an applicaiton put them in the folders on Data. Most applications give you the option of putting them other than on C: but you can change this. I create folders for Downloads, Drivers, Utility, Application, MP3, etc

Some applications only install on C: so you willhave to install on C:

Once everything is installed run a complete backup of C: and make a recovery disk, put the backup image on Data or even better on another partition like Backup...

If you keep data on the other drives and need to reinstall the OS or get a nasty virus, you have a backup copy and your data on a separate partition.


V

You can also check this link (http://partition.radified.com/) for partitioning strategies.

Hi mhill52.

Well there are so many different ways to go about it. And you will probably get many different answers to this question.

But the biggest reason in my mind to have at least two partitions is to enable easy backup and restore of the system drive(C), while leaving the rest of the hard drive untouched. The other big reason is because malware will usually infect the system drive without getting into the other partitions.

There are several advantages to multiple partitions depending on how you set it up. But this is what I do.

I figure out what I need to have up and running in the event of a total hard drive failure.

I add all drivers to the C:drive (15GB partition). And any program installs that I will need right away. Like anti-virus, fire wall, spyware programs, office XP programs, printer software etc.. This leaves me with about 7.5GB free. Plenty of room for future windows updates and defragging.

Basically whatever I will need to function with in case of HDD failure. Then I will make an image of the C:drive so that all I have to do is restore that image to the new drive. Which takes about 30 minutes for my situation. Then worry about reinstalling things like games and other nonessential programs later to another partition. Or in the case of a viral infection in the C:drive, all programs on the other partitions will be still usable as long as they have been installed before my last backup.

I also move my Outlook Express files, and "My Documents" to another partition, and back them up to various media at different times. This is because these files tend to get larger over time, and you want to keep the system drive as small as possible so it is easy to backup.

That's what works for me. But like I said there are so many ways to go about it and you will certainly get more and different opinions on the subject.

I hope that helps. :)

A quick Q. I hope Im not taking over mhill52s thread here, but if I have an 80 gig HD and want to partition it into 3 partitions, what would the partitions look like on the computer? i.e. Would my 1st partition (where my XP and virus software etc go) be C: drive, my 2nd partition be D: and 3rd be E: seeing as I have no other HD's or Opticals? Im just curious how the PC views these different partitions. How would they come up in Explorer?

Would my 1st partition (where my XP and virus software etc go) be C: drive, my 2nd partition be D: and 3rd be E:
It depends on the Operating System and whether the partitions are logical or primary ones and how many fixed disks are on your system.

Under XP the C: drive will be the sytem or active partition that the system starts up from and which contains boot.ini and the other boot loader files.

The windows folder will usually be on the same partiton but doesn't have to be. The partition that contains the windows folder is known as the boot partition and the letter assigned to it follows the assignment rules if it is different from the system partition.

Windows assigns drive letters according to various rules and under WinXP these are fixed/remembered in the registry after the first boot-up so that the addition or removal of other drives doesnt affect the earlier assignments. Under Win9x this doesnt happen and all letters are assigned dynamically at each boot up; Win9X drive letters are not customisable.

Under Win2K/XP, apart from the system and boot partitions (which may or may not be on the same partition), you can change the drive letters of all other fixed HDD and CD/DVD partitions to any other letters of your choice, excluding A and B which are reserved for floppies.

So - under XP you should have no problem reassigning your Data or whatever partitions to whatever letter you want. It is better to do this early rather than late otherwise you may need to remap any paths already used to point to any files such that the system and you can find them.

and can I move My Documents out of the windows partition.RClick on the Desktop My Documents folder and choose properties. Move it to wherever you want it.

Ok thought so. Thanks Paul

Here's what I do with Win98SE system:

1. Keep the C: partition as small as possible, holding only "Windows", "Program Files" [plus leftovers after moving others off] along with registry and other configuration files.
These occupy about 95% of used space = 1.55 GB of 3,000 MB partition.

2. Move all my personal data [listed below] off C: ideally on to a [perhaps small, old, spare] separate physical HDD, but a small partition would do. Mine occupies 237 MB of 2,000 MB D:
a. My Documents. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
b. E-mails for all identities. [use the email client to move their home]
c. Internet Explorer Favourites. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
d. Temporary Internet Files. [use the browser (Internet Explorer) to move them]
e. Re-home the Windows Address Book as shown here http://tinyurl.com/24q6l . Use the key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab FileName” to specify its new address. [Its normal home address [in Win98] is C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\(the name you gave your PC).WAB]

3. Any other storage of data files I wouldn’t want to “jump back” [when C: is restored] are held on other [E: F:] partitions according to type/file size.

4. I made a G: partition to hold image file backups and [Windows and/or MS Office] installation files [installation run from there and files left permanently in place], but these could be held on D:.

These can all be backed up separately and more or less often as suits their needs.

It's great to have backups on a separate drive or media that are restoreable by running a prog from a floppy or CD.
So everything is off the HDD that may have failed and need to be replaced and restored.
I also have "Simple Backup" backups on CD-RW's and the prog runs from a floppy to restore these to the HDD partitions.
Also have copies of the image file backups held on an old 8 GB external USB connected IDE HDD.
Also have "MS Backup" copies [backup to a file] on there [made and restored from within windows (always skips some files = not good)].
This provides flexibility of restore options.
Normally I could restore an image file backup by running "Image for DOS" from the [free] "Emergency Boot CD", or alternatively "Simple Backup" run from a floppy.
Once my CD-drive broke down temporarily and that put me in trouble when a restore was needed; all I could do was restore an "MS Backup" from within Windows. Just as well Windows would boot!
I'd love to be able to run [an imaging] prog from a floppy that could directly access the external USB HDD.
Restoring from a 2nd physical internal HDD would be almost as good.

great advise. thanks to all Im now getting the Idea
does splitting an 80G drive into 20G for system and rest for data sound about right.
once the partitions are created can you alter the size of them at a later date

"does splitting an 80G drive into 20G for system and rest for data sound about right"
I'd say 10 GB would be plenty for WinXP, but I'd have more partitions for different purposes for the following reasons:
A) You backup all partitions EXCEPT the one holding the backups. The reason being obvious I hope. So I guess that's why I don't put my backups on D: [forgot that].
B) Some data changes frequently and needs frequent backup [keep such all on one partition], whereas other data doesn't change very often so it's a waste to back it up as often as the other.

"once the partitions are created can you alter the size of them at a later date"
Either use "Partition Magic" or else repartition just after making fresh backups and then restore the backups to those new partitions. Make sure the new partitions are big enough to hold the backup contents with just the right room to spare.

I suggest following Poppy's link above. It offers a great summary of reasons for partitioning along with some useful tips for creating new partitions.

Here's the link again : link (http://partition.radified.com/)