A philosophical question on disk partitioning

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For many years (since Windows 3), I’ve been dividing my primary HD into three partitions – System, Programs and Data. Sooner or later, I’m going to have a [mess] that forces me to fully reinstall Windows, or I’ll get a new machine, an SSD, or some other circumstance that forces me to rebuild from scratch.

My question is – ?Is there any more reason to continue keeping my programs on a separate partition from my OS?? :confused: In the past, I did this for ease/clarity of backup; now, with programs “installed” by/into the OS, I’m thinking that program backup without OS backup is a waste of time. Of course, Data and Backups will continue to be on separate partitions/disks.

??Your opinions??

Zig

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My question is – ?Is there any more reason to continue keeping my programs on a separate partition from my OS?? :confused:
??Your opinions??

“Zigster”,
Hello… Give you my thoughts… NO!… In the “light ” of large drives and Imaging, i keep all my programs with my OS… After all the programs are my OS…(along with the Windows Blah, Blah.. that i view as secondary) Or at least that’s how i look at it. I have done a “Ga Zillion” recoveries ..All with my programs ..The “Data” is a different story…Images and your personal stuff on a separate HD. :cheers: Regards Fred

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Same, the only time I installed programs off the OS drive was back in the day when drives were too small, like 8.3 gigs, and I was running out of room. Data is easier to track, verify and backup when on its own partition, and if one images the OS regularly, not really feasible long term if there’s two to six hundred gigs of data included.

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Zig,

I’ll second the comments of my Esteemed Colleague Fred! For ease of backup move the Documents folder to a separate Drive/Partition and If you use Outlook make sure you move the Outlook.pst file there also. This makes doing an Image of your data extremely easy, faster, and less filling! The OS partition then doesn’t need to be Imaged as often unless you install/uninstall a lot of programs. :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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My HD is set with 3 partitions as follows:

C Drive – Win 7 Ultimate x64

D Drive – All data folders that Windows easily allows to be moved (Includes Documents, Downloads, Pics, Music, etc)

W Drive – Win 8 DP (playing with the Dev Preview now) (I chose W for this to prevent interference with my various storage devices, DVD, SD, , Ext HD, etc.)

My latest Images included C and W Drives. My Data is backed up to 2 separate PC’s in our house.

I find that when I screw something up on C or W I can pop in the Acronis Boot Media and restore from my Image (presently stored on an ext HD) in less than 10 minutes without touching the data at all.

I leave all programs with the OSes and just move the data.

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My 2¢ . . . I do also have three partitions but they are three distinct HDs on the one machine. As Ted wrote, C:, D:, & E:. The only one that I clone regularly is the C:.
I did say 2¢. Having fun. JP.

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It has been a while since my last post.

I have had a number of partitions since I purchased my current computer a couple of years back. I use Acronis Disk Director.
I took the opportunity to purchase XP due to familiarity on the system.

C Windows
E Programs
F Data
G Backup
X Hidden

Last week I decided to resize, (second time since the original setup) I eliminated the hidden drive and increased two of the partitions.

I have been using the recently departed Karen Ware Replicator for backup of C, E and F to G.

As I understand the prior discussion, you all would recommend at a minimum that I combine C and E drives.

The concept makes sense to me. Am I understanding your recommendation?

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C Windows
E Programs
F Data
G Backup
X Hidden

As I understand the prior discussion, you all would recommend at a minimum that I combine C and E drives.

The concept makes sense to me. Am I understanding your recommendation?

“S-R”
Hello… As far as I’m concerned…. Yes, for me it just makes sense..As i consider the OS (whatever flavor) to be the “engine” that make my “Apps” work…So for me they are one… With “disk space ” as cheap as it is now …no reason not to.:cheers: Regards Fred

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As I said in my initial post:

Sooner or later, I’m going to have a [mess] that forces me to fully reinstall Windows, or I’ll get a new machine, an SSD, or some other circumstance that forces me to rebuild from scratch.

It’s a good thing we had this discussion. Not 2 weeks later, the LCD screen on my Dell laptop went south, and couldn’t be replaced. Luckily, the machine was still under warranty; I’m now the proud owner of a new (to me) 15.6″ laptop, which I’ve set up as above. It’s heavier than my old unit (sigh), but it’s a Sandy Bridge core i7, and it really SCREAMS. Thanks to all for your input & help.

Zig

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For many years (since Windows 3), I’ve been dividing my primary HD into three partitions – System, Programs and Data. Sooner or later, I’m going to have a [mess] that forces me to fully reinstall Windows, or I’ll get a new machine, an SSD, or some other circumstance that forces me to rebuild from scratch.

My question is – ?Is there any more reason to continue keeping my programs on a separate partition from my OS?? :confused: In the past, I did this for ease/clarity of backup; now, with programs “installed” by/into the OS, I’m thinking that program backup without OS backup is a waste of time. Of course, Data and Backups will continue to be on separate partitions/disks.

??Your opinions??

Zig

NO
Having programs installed on other partitions or drives is only a matter of personal preference nowadays.
Installing your programs on the fastest drive you can get within your operating system is the best way to go imo.
Any programs that you have that are purchased and have a “product key”, should be backed up independently of your computer.
Drive imaging should never be a sole means of backup…but it can be very useful when it comes to uninstalling programs.

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I am an IT consultant, and am constantly evaluating soft/hardware, which results in my OFTEN having to use Acronis to restore a screwed-up C: drive (which at any one time could be W7 Ultimate x64, XPx32, or W7 Ultimate x32) (I use EasyBCD to boot from any of the 3 OSs)
All OSs were tweaked to use the same DeskTop, Favorites, Documents, Downloads, Pics, Music, etc, so I can restore C: without touching the data on D:

My Acronis TIBs are stored on Z: BackupS (a 2tb drive)

My Main HD is set with 4 partitions:
C: System (W7 Ultimate x64)
D: Data (All data folders that Windows easily allows to be moved – DeskTop, Favorites, Documents, Downloads, Pics, Music, etc)
E: TMP (temporary storage)
F: SourceS (all program installation files, keys, instructions, etc)
H: XPx32
I: W7 Ultimate x32

This setup has saved my bacon countless times.

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This thread has been around a while, but I just noticed it (I’ve been working 60 hour weeks since April; cuts down on my free time).

On this machine I have 15 partitions spread across 2 1TB drives. Why should all my data be confined to a single partition? Why should I backup large parts of my data that haven’t changed since my last backup? I have my data sorted by type on dedicated partitions, and backup only according to need. My financial data is backed up to DVD everytime I update my checkbook.

Having two HDD’s, I have Windows 7 all alone on a partition on one drive, and my Program Files folder and Users folder all alone on their own partitions on the other drive, allowing for better performance since both drives can be read at the same time. None of these were moved with Windows-approved methods; I moved them using my own methods as described in Set 7 Free. It may not be as fast as an SSD, but it is faster than I am, so I won’t be buying an SSD until the price/capacity matches traditional spinners.

I use drive imaging for backup exclusively (with my financial data being backed up to DVD as well) and it has served faithfully for many years. I also periodically archive my drive images to DVD for added insurance. Over the years, I have had failures of every other method of backup that I have tried, except for drive images. I don’t do incrementals of any kind (when I backup my financial data to DVD, it’s also a full backup). For more information, visit Partitioning/Backup Options. That was written when I was running XP, but it is still applicable.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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I am convinced that I should combine partitions for C and E drives as noted below per prior discussion in this thread.[INDENT]C Windows
E Programs
F Data
G Backup
X Hidden
[/INDENT]

Is there a special precaution in combining them with Acronis Disk Director?

That is to combine two partitions they need to be adjacent.[INDENT]Is there anything else?
Will the existing programs in both partitions work as before?
That is, will it be seamless?
[/INDENT]

I am planning on some partition adjustment near Christmas. I am running XP.

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Is there a special precaution in combining them with Acronis Disk Director?

I am running XP.

,

S-R ,
Hello…Make sure that your version of “Disk Director” will work with XP (your version) … First …and Most Important !

1. Make backups of both partitions and store them in a safe place off the drive your going to “mess with”.

2.There is a good tutorial for merging partitions Here also a free program as well in case Acronis won’t work for you.

3. And another one EASEUS:cheers: Regards Fred

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Acronis will merge the partitions, but the OS will still be looking for your programs in their old locations. If you’re going to do this (Acronis is OK, but there are many free programs if you haven’t already bought it), you’ll need to uninstall, then reinstall all the programs.

Zig

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I purchased Acronis Disk Director about 2 years back and have used it 3 times now.

Having the system look for an old partition for the programs loaded on E:Programs would be a show stopper. Uninstall then reinstall all of them would be a hassle. Though I have programs that I do not or seldom use.

I have thought about reloading XP from scratch. If that was the case, then I would simply have to reload all the programs I still use that were on E:Programs. I have saved most of the miscellaneous program exe files.

More thought about the cleanup required.

Thanks

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Having the system look for an old partition for the programs loaded on E:Programs would be a show stopper. Uninstall then reinstall all of them would be a hassle. Though I have programs that I do not or seldom use.

The registry can be edited to reflect the new partition letter, and XP would never know that anything had been moved. All your programs would work as they always had.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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The registry can be edited to reflect the new partition letter, and XP would never know that anything had been moved. All your programs would work as they always had.

“b”

Hello… sounds interesting could you give us an example? Would you search the registry (edit>find>F-3) and once found …what next? :cheers: Regards Fred

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”b”

Hello… sounds interesting could you give us an example? Would you search the registry (edit>find>F-3) and once found …what next? :cheers: Regards Fred

Yes, one starts with a registry search. In the case of backing up C: and E: and then merging the two, where E: goes away, the registry search would start with Edit > Find and type “E:” in the search box (without the quotes) and hit enter. Then with each registry path value that begins with E:, change the E: to C:, hit Enter, then hit F3 and continue through the registry until all the path values are changed to C:.

Any values that resist the change can be overcome by taking ownership of the value/key.

There will be lots of entries. Registry Toolkit from Funduc software can automate this task.

I would also suggest repeating the search through the registry, until no further E: entries are found. If one does use Registry Tookit, make a final search using regedit.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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