Installing operating system ONLY on c: ... need comments on that..?

80 gb hard drive, plan to patition 10 + 40 + 30 gb


c: windows xp pro


d: ms office and all other programs


e: for backup





windows often need restoration or even clean install


now, if i do it as above ... i will be relieved of reinstalling the other programs after a format / clean install of os in c:





need comments and advise on my plan

Installing operating system ONLY on c: ... need comments on that..?
Problem is, the registry will be wiped on a clean install. In a word, no. C and D only would be my plan.
Reply:Won't work. Each partition will have less than the total space available, so your 10GB c: partition will only have about 9.4GB available.





XP Pro, with all upadates and service packs and space for restore and swap file will run you about 10GB just to start - not to mention future upddates.





Also, there is not much point in using the same physical drive to back up - what happens when your hard drive starts having seek errors? Either get an external HD for backups, or a second internal drive.





Another thing. If you use the current setup, you still need to reinstall almost all programs, since 90% of programs integrate with Windows during the install process. If you use your current setup, and reinstall Windows (clean format c:) then you still need to put all the programs back in.





Use one partition, back the whole thing up either full + incremental on a schedule, or real time backups using Windows' backup software (Start -All Programs -Accessories - System Tools - Backup).
Reply:Unfortunately, the idea of putting all your programs on the D drive so that you do not have to reinstall then after a "cleaning" of the C drive will not work. Most programs when installed (whether on C or D) add files to the C:\Windows\system32 directory (dll files, etc) and also place entries into the registry. Both of those would be wiped by the reformatting of the C drive. Without those, most programs on the D drive will not run.





The usually way to use partitions is to put Windows and all programs on C, and any data files (music, pictures, documents, etc) on D. Then you can clean the C drive without the lose of any of your personal files.





If you want to do frequent reinstalls of Windows, I recommend that you invest in a program like Norton Ghost or Drive Image. Either of them are able to make a back up image of your entire hard drive. You would install Windows and all your favorite programs (Office, etc) and get everything working good. Then you run either program and it will make a compressed "image" of the drive. You can save that to multiple CDs or DVD (the program will slipt it across the disk for you if need) or to another partition of your hard drive.





If you want to refresh the C drive, you run the program and have it copy that image back to the C drive. When done, you will be back to exactly the way everything was when you made the image - fresh install of WIndows with Office, etc.





Use this method daily to build computers for the company I support.
Reply:Don't listen to the first poster, he doesn't know what he's talking about. I would change your first partition to 20GB. This will allow you to install new programs in the future without having to change the partition table. You don't want to have the programs you install be on a different partition than your Windows install. This will cause a lot of undue movement on the read/write heads on the HDD, which results in slower read/seek times. You have to wait longer in layman's terms. Then, for data that you want to save, create another 20GB partition. Lastly, for the backup, create a 40GB parititon. This way, you'll comfortably be able to back up both Windows and all of your data on to ONE partition. Let me know if you need any other help.





Regards,





Brandon
Reply:Flawed in the sense that when programs install, they will add system files, and alter current system files.





If you have to format and reinstall XP, it will also delete those files added by Office etc. If your restore point was after the programs were installed, you should be fine, if not, there may be issues that will cause you to have to reinstall the programs





C, and D for backup
Reply:I encounter customers with partitioned drives who have 15 and 20 GB C:/ drives, full to the gills, and near-empty D:/ drives. They are desperate to get more space on their C:/ drive, and it is usually difficult.





If you make a little bitty C:/ drive you may regret it.
Reply:Hi,


Just have one big partition, and then go for a clean install.
Reply:use partition magic 8


this will give you usefull options like making a partition smaller or biger and other choices and also using system commander


and os selector give you the ability of having a particular version of windows installed more that once


http://majorgeeks.com/google_search.html...


http://majorgeeks.com/google_search.html...


http://majorgeeks.com/google_search.html...


you can merg all or two of your partitions by partition magic and have fresh install of your xp by system comander without having to format an wipe the present installed xp

sweet pea