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    Partitioning Drive

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by escapedturkey, Aug 6, 2006.

  1. escapedturkey

    escapedturkey Notebook Guru

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    Just a few questions.

    1. Does Partition Magic work with the Dell Notebooks?

    2. My notebook will be a 60 gig drive. How big should partition C: be for Windows XP and Vista (when it comes out)?

    3. How many partitions should I create?

    Thank you. :cool:
     
    escapedturkey, Aug 6, 2006
    #1
  2. Gautam

    Gautam election 2008 NBR Reviewer

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    The second two are totally subjective

    1) Yes - Partition Magic will work on any notebook
    2) I believe WinXP was 4GB...not sure anymore...and Vista is about 15GB. If you want your primary partion to be used for other programs, bigger than 20GB
    3) As many as you want, but IMO less is better. It is just easier for me to deal with less partitions. I don't have to remember where I put things. Some people have multiple partitions for frequent formats, security issues, etc.
     
    Gautam, Aug 6, 2006
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  3. NumLock

    NumLock Notebook Evangelist

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    what ever he said ^^

    but less isn't better; I currently have 5:

    c = windows
    d = program files
    e = daily downloads and mp3s
    f = storage
    g = storage of large files

    easy defrag of only the d drive whenever i uninstalla old apps.
     
    NumLock, Aug 6, 2006
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  4. dishinet

    dishinet Notebook Enthusiast

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    I used Partition magic before I installed Vista beta 2. Worked like a charm. I only
    have 2 Partitions because I like it simple. :) One for XP and one for Vista. The Vista Partition is around 17 GB. The OS used about 8.5-9 GB when installed.
     
    dishinet, Aug 6, 2006
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  5. postmortem

    postmortem Notebook Consultant

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    Many more isn't better when you have single hard drive. What you have done is made additional work for your hard drive. Because disk head now has to jump significantly to read data from one partition to another. Particularly to run windows disk head will runk back and forth from C and D.

    And when you format C:, you will use all your programs, because registry entries for them stored at C: will be lost.
     
    postmortem, Aug 6, 2006
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  6. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    I would use the smallest amount of partitions possible. On mine, i have my XP and Spare for reasons that postmortem stated. Plus MediaDirect only supports 4 partitions (including your XP and diagnostic partition), so the more you split up the HDD, the more likely you'll have problems with MD.
     
    Amber, Aug 6, 2006
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  7. escapedturkey

    escapedturkey Notebook Guru

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    Out of a 60 gig HD what size should the partition be for Windows XP and potentially Vista?

    Thank you. :)
     
    escapedturkey, Aug 6, 2006
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  8. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    The biggest problems with partitions, IMHO, are that if the drive goes, they all go. Notebook drives, in my experience, have not been the most reliable critters on earth.

    I used to love to partition, however with the cost of 3.5" 160GB external drives hitting $40 on sale, why bother with partition software?
     
    hydra, Aug 6, 2006
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  9. uncleG

    uncleG Notebook Consultant

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    I think 15G is more than enough for xp, as for Vista maybe 20G since it takes like 8G to install for the beta.
     
    uncleG, Aug 6, 2006
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