A Few Reformatting Questions

[Radon3k]

I'm going to be reformatting my computer here soon and I would like to try something new. I would like to partition the hard drive for specific functions, such as one partition for music, another for games, and the main one for Windows and Office. I've heard that moving the pagefile onto a different partition also helps increase the speed of Windows, is there any truth to this? What is the best way to partition the drive? Just format the drive and install Windows like normal and then partition it through Windows?

Thanks

[Joe Gronlund]

Putting the pagefile on another partition is really only affective on a SCSI setup in my opinion anyway, i am sure others feel different about that though.

The best way to format your drive would be to backup everything you need to backup. Completely Wipe out the drive, partition drive C: during your Windows Setup, leaving enough space for the other two partitions. Then just create the other two partitions using Computer Management, Disk Management in Admin tools..

You can Format them in Disk Management as well..

[filburt1]

I did that partitioning style a while ago. The problem is you never correctly guess the size of each partition so you have one that's completely full (system, in my case) and one that has a lot of free space. I have since just let each physical drive be a letter and leave it at that.

[Radon3k]

Joe, could you explain why you feel as though it's only faster on a SCSI setup (which I do not have)? Also, how would you move the pagefile? I'm assuming that if I decided to move it and felt that it was better where it was that I could move it back, correct?

filburt, are you saying you have multiple hard drives for each of your different uses or do you still partition? I understand the problem with guessing the amount of space needed though. Can you "un-partition" some or all of the partitions or do you have to format the entire drive over again?

[Vile]

Joe, could you explain why you feel as though it's only faster on a SCSI setup (which I do not have)? Also, how would you move the pagefile? I'm assuming that if I decided to move it and felt that it was better where it was that I could move it back, correct?

filburt, are you saying you have multiple hard drives for each of your different uses or do you still partition? I understand the problem with guessing the amount of space needed though. Can you "un-partition" some or all of the partitions or do you have to format the entire drive over again?

If you use an application such as Parition Magic, you can resize partitions, merge, create new ones, etc. It's pretty much THE best tool when it comes to this. I used it to create a couple of partitions on my system, so i have one (smaller) parition for Windows, and another (larger) one for all other data..That way if a restore/reinstall of Windows is needed, no data is lost. Been using a setup like this for years and it's working great for me.

[DirectPixel]

With PartitionMagic, you can resize partitions without having to wipe your drive. All you need is to run the program and do a restart.

I've been using your above-mentioned partitioning scheme for years, and it's been working great for me. Only thing I wouldn't recommend is to have a partition for your program files. I tried doing that a few times, but there really isn't a good way to completely move your C:\Program Files directory to a different drive without having conflicts.

[Radon3k]

Has anyone figured a way around filburt's problem of being able to guess how much space each partition should have? I'm tempted to just split the drives equally but I suppose the problem could then become what happens if I need more space on one particular partition.

[filburt1]

Has anyone figured a way around filburt's problem of being able to guess how much space each partition should have? I'm tempted to just split the drives equally but I suppose the problem could then become what happens if I need more space on one particular partition.

Use PartitionMagic to nondestructively reallocate the partitions.

I sort of have dedicated drives. C: is 20 GB and my former system drive with a still-bootable XP installation. D: and E: are general data storage. K: is my RAID 0 10,000 RPM pair and has the current Windows installation, programs, and games so they launch faster (and do).

Don't know why it chose C, D, E, and then K, but there you have it.

[Guest]

Joe, could you explain why you feel as though it's only faster on a SCSI setup (which I do not have)? Also, how would you move the pagefile? I'm assuming that if I decided to move it and felt that it was better where it was that I could move it back, correct?

filburt, are you saying you have multiple hard drives for each of your different uses or do you still partition? I understand the problem with guessing the amount of space needed though. Can you "un-partition" some or all of the partitions or do you have to format the entire drive over again?

I really don't think it's worth it to have the pagefile on the same drive. I placed it on a second hard drive many moons ago, noticed a bit of a speed up, but it wasn't anything to call home about.

Keep in mind my box is 4 years old.