Noob Question Regarding Partitioned HD

Hi, I just got an Asus M50SV-A1 and I have a very noobish question regarding the hard drive being partitioned. Disc C is labeled Vista OS and drive D is labeled DATA. I guess I just don't really understand why the hard drive is split into two parts like this. Should I save certain types of files on one and not the other? Or should I save everything on one disk until it is full and only then start saving on the next disk? Thanks.

 

It depends on their sizes. Some people configure their computer to put the OS on one partition and everything else on another, like yours apparently is. It can become a problem if the C drive is small and you start installing stuff there. Like some of the latest games, that take up to 5gb of disk space. They all want to be on drive C by default and if you don't change it you run out of space.

So what sizes are the partitions?

 

All Asus Ensemble notebooks has 2 partition in 50/50 and around 7GB hidden recovery partition, Windows is installed on C: and D: is your data folder, you don't have to save files in D: but it'll be safer to save files to D: in case you ned to recovery Windows using recovery disk it'll wipeout entire C: drive.

 

Running dual partitions really helps out if you keep all of your data and files on the second partition. Not only does it help for the actual install, but you don't have to search around to find your files, and you can just copy the whole partition when you recover your hard drive. Trust me, much much nicer.

 

Taking this to the next in line for "Stupid question of the week" award...

I just got new M50SV today and noticed the same thing - 50:50 partion with 149Gb in each - I would prefer no partitions (I understand their usefulness, but I always outgrow them) or at worst, a boot partion of, say, 50 Gb with the rest for data. Is there a simple (ha) way of doing either on the ASUS or in Vista (new to Vista as well) without doing a complete re-format and re-install??

Thanks

 

The main reason for most people, for separating the OS and the data, is that if the os stops working for one reason or another, you can reformat the windows partition, without having to worry about losing your valuable data, which you probably haven't backed up, which would be safe on a different partition, it's also easier for ASUS to divide the drive in two, as data can consist of lot's of small files or extremely large files or a mixture of the two.

People vary in there needs, so it would be difficult for any manufacturer to get the partitions exactly right, single partitions are easier to set up, but not a great idea.

 

There are third party applications (i.e. Partition Magic, and a freeware Linux one, I think), which can dynamically change partition sizes without a reformat. Vista might also have a partition tool built in too, but I can't recall the details on that; do a google search for it or someone here might know too .

 

You can use GParted which is free software, and can be used as a live CD. Just make sure you know what you are doing before you try to make any changes to your hard disk!