Partitioning in Windows for scratch disk

PA
Posted By
Patti_Anderson
Dec 17, 2003
Views
236
Replies
8
Status
Closed
I saw the other recent thread on partioning on a Mac, but I am wondering how to do it in Windows XP. Or maybe I’m asking, do I really need to do this? Can someone who is fairly computer literate do this themselves? And…Is anyone out there happily running Elements with just a C: Drive?

One reason I am asking is that I just got a new laptop yesterday! 🙂 Specs: Compaq Presario X1010US, XP Home, Intel Centrino, 512mb RAM, 60Gg hard drive. I wanted a bigger hard drive, but custom building one just took it way out of my price range. The screen/graphics on this laptop are crystal clear (ATI Radeon 9200). Compared to my old 256mb Athlon laptop this one really sizzles!

So should I or shouldn’t I partition? And then HOW do I do it? Point me to a tutorial if you know of one.

TIA
Patti
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Ed_Wurster
Dec 17, 2003
wrote…
So should I or shouldn’t I partition? And then HOW do I do it? Point me to
a tutorial if you know of one.

Partitioning should be done when the drive is first set up. When you first install XP, you can create one or more partitions.

You can buy add’l software to do this with XP, after the fact. It costs about $30.

Rather than do this, you should defragment the hard drive once a month.

Ed
DG
Don_Girard
Dec 17, 2003
Patti,
I’ve built three systems and replaced crashed HDs in a couple of others. I always partitioned these drives to help conserve space, but am now getting away from the practice. About two months ago, I replaced my wife’s ‘crashed, partitioned’ HD with a 50GB single partition drive.

One of the problems I’ve had with partitioned drives is that six months down the road my needs change and I need more space in one drive and less in another. I’ve used Partition Magic to move partitions with good results all but one time. That one time, which was my fault, I had to start from scratch, partitioning, formatting and re-installing everything. My present system which I am planing on replacing after the holidays is partitioned with drives C-J and W, X & Y at the end. It also has a removable HD, which I use for backing-up three computers twice a month, which becomes K when plugged in. It also has a CD burner, which I use for permanent storage of digital photos, PSE files that I don’t want to loose. When I get approximately 650MB of digital pictures, I burn a CD, check that the CD is readable, and then delete those that were copied.

My next system will have a 60GB HD with one partition, a removable HD for back-ups and a burned for the permanent storage.

Guess what I just said is; NO, I wouldn’t partition.

Happy Holidays,
Don
R
Redmondite
Dec 17, 2003
Partitioning will help you with running out of space. If you keep your images on the C:\ and use a D:\ partition for scratch then you’ll have less problem with running out of scartch space in the middle of working. As for speed it won’t matter as you’re still thrashing one drive.

I’d use a product such as Partition Magic and do it SOON. The more stuff you’ve put on the C:\ the more likely you are to have problems. Also if you do it before adding any applications or data files and screw up it’s simpler to reload back to the as-shipped condition and try again.

Basically you need to clean up the C:\, do a defrag, and then use the partitioning software to carve a second partition out of the unused space. Frankly I wouldn’t trust the MS software to do the job which is why I prefer Partition Magic.

wrote in message
I saw the other recent thread on partioning on a Mac, but I am wondering
how to do it in Windows XP. Or maybe I’m asking, do I really need to do this? Can someone who is fairly computer literate do this themselves? And…Is anyone out there happily running Elements with just a C: Drive?
One reason I am asking is that I just got a new laptop yesterday! 🙂
Specs: Compaq Presario X1010US, XP Home, Intel Centrino, 512mb RAM, 60Gg hard drive. I wanted a bigger hard drive, but custom building one just took it way out of my price range. The screen/graphics on this laptop are crystal clear (ATI Radeon 9200). Compared to my old 256mb Athlon laptop this one really sizzles!
So should I or shouldn’t I partition? And then HOW do I do it? Point me to
a tutorial if you know of one.
TIA
Patti
NS
Nancy_S
Dec 17, 2003
Patti,

I haven’t had any problems running the program (WinXP Pro, 120 Mg HD, 1 G RAM)on my C drive.
PA
Patti_Anderson
Dec 17, 2003
OK, this is what I needed to hear. I will just leave it alone. I’ve already loaded most of the software I use anyway. I was just curious as to how complicated partitioning was and I think I got my answer!

I also use CorelDraw 11 alot and they also have the option for choosing your scratch disk. I thought maybe I was missing something. I will be content to defrag monthly.

Patti
BH
Beth_Haney
Dec 17, 2003
Patti (and others), I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned about computers – both platforms – in the last couple of years, but I stay away from partitioning. It really does seem to be one of those things best left to people who truly understand why and how it would be of help to them. If your system is adequate and well maintained, few of us who show up on this forum need to do it; if your system is inadequate, partitioning won’t help anyway. I think a reasonably sized hard drive, plenty of RAM, and regular maintenance are still your best friends in terms of the way software performs.
R
Ray
Dec 17, 2003
Patti,

Partitionning was very "à la mode" when Windows (previous versions) didn’t support large drive. But
with Windows XP, that bareer has fallen. Also, during that "era" the average file size was somewhat
smaller. Nowadays, with MP3s, Photoshop PSD file and alikes, it makes little sense to partition a disk because you’re most likely to run out of space quickly in one of the partitions (if not all of them!).

One thing I do, though, is when I replace an existing hard drive, I put my current bigger one as a second hard drive, and assign it all the temporary files (scratch disks) for all applications permitting this setting. That speeds up things because both hard drive can work together at the same time, whereas partitionning a disk is only logical. Physically, all is on the same device.

Ray
R
Redmondite
Dec 18, 2003
Vis-a-vie defragging your drive: Windows is REALLY sloppy with files and anyone that uses their system a lot should defrag at least once a week if not more often. Before defragging always get rid of temp files.

wrote in message
I saw the other recent thread on partioning on a Mac, but I am wondering
how to do it in Windows XP. Or maybe I’m asking, do I really need to do this? Can someone who is fairly computer literate do this themselves? And…Is anyone out there happily running Elements with just a C: Drive?
One reason I am asking is that I just got a new laptop yesterday! 🙂
Specs: Compaq Presario X1010US, XP Home, Intel Centrino, 512mb RAM, 60Gg hard drive. I wanted a bigger hard drive, but custom building one just took it way out of my price range. The screen/graphics on this laptop are crystal clear (ATI Radeon 9200). Compared to my old 256mb Athlon laptop this one really sizzles!
So should I or shouldn’t I partition? And then HOW do I do it? Point me to
a tutorial if you know of one.
TIA
Patti

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