So... What about partitions???

With so many Windows reinstallations going on, I thought I'd offer some 'considerations' wrt hard drive partitions. Some of this is kind of 'generic', while some is particular to the newer E1505/6400, E1705/9400 series....

When you reinstall Windows, one of the steps you will go thru is identifying a partition for the operating system to reside. When you work your way thru this section, you can... 1) Delete existing partitions, 2) Create new partitions using what is called 'unallocated' space or 3) Do nothing and leave the partitions alone.

Option 3 is obviously the most straight-forward... simply reinstalling the operating system into same 'big' partition that held the original OS. But you end up loosing some flexibility by not taking advantage of this 'opportunity' to make provisions for future 'data' partitions.

I say 'opportunity' because once the reinstallation is complete, you can't easily go back and change your mind. By planning ahead and leaving some unallocated space, you can gain some very useful options. Some examples may be in order...

Say you have a 60GB hard drive as delivered by Dell. Since I have an E1505 I'll be using that as an example. It comes with 3 primary partitions already on the system.

Dell Utility partition [approx 40MB]
Win XP MCE partition [approx 50-55GB]
Dell Restore partition [approx 4-5GB]

This partition scheme consumes the entire hard drive leaving no unallocated space for any data partitions. You could free up space by deleting the Dell Restore partition and many folks choose that option. But a bigger payoff would be to resize the XP system partition so that it's not so big.

You may note I didn't say anything about the Dell Utility partition. I recommend leaving that partition alone. It is very small, so little is gained in terms of recovered hard drive space. But more importantly, it minimizes potentially large problems with MediaDirect 2.0 down the road.

 

So how big should your system partition be????

If you intend to create large data partition(s), the system partition need only be sized to accomodate your OS and other applications. That said, not all applications are created equal when it comes to eating up hard drive space. Microsoft Office is probably a good example of an application suite that needs a fair amount of room.

A little homework will be needed on your part to get a 'back of the envelope' number for applications you plan to install. And even then you'll need to reserve a little space for any future software installations down the road. If you force me to give you a number, I'd say 10GB minimum and 30GB maximum.

Why bother????

Probably the biggest reason to create data partitions is so that you can preserve your data if you ever need to reinstall your operating system. With multiple partitions you can reformat/reinstall the OS and your video, audio, web pages, address book, etc etc can remain intact. Also, if you make backups of your data to an external drive or to another computer on your network, everything is in a 'tidy' package and you just have to copy your data partition(s).

Some ideas about what can be put on a data partition...

--Browser Favorites
--Address Book
--Email files [not application]
--Temporary Internet Files
--Data files for Office, Quicken, etc etc
--Multimedia files

How to do it....

During a Windows reinstallation, I would delete the partitions you desire to include the system partition. Next, I would create a partition to host the operating system and size it accordingly. This would leave the rest of the hard drive unallocated. So in our example...

Dell Utility partition [40MB] Unmodified
Win XP MCE partition Deleted
Dell Restore partition Deleted
New 10-30GB partition created and then designated as the system partition.
Remaining 30-50GB Unallocated

So what about creating the data partition(s)???

I'd recommend doing that after you get XP installed and before you install any applications. It can be done from within Windows using the Disk Management Console. It's a simple 'right click' on the Disk 0 graphic which shows the unallocated space [it will have a black bar at the top]. Select "New Partition' and the 'New Partition Wizard' will begin. Select a partition size, drive letter, desired file system, and volume label. You're limited to a total of four 'primary' partitions. That said, you can also create logical partitions 'inside' what is called an extended partition. I recommend you read up on the subject if you intend/need to make multiple data partitions.

That's pretty much it. Just remember to 'point' your applications to your data drive for opening/saving files. As far as Favorites, Address Book, Email files, TIF files, there's information out on the web as to how to modify your system to access these items from a drive other that the 'C' drive.

This has been a VERY simplified discussion wrt partitions. If you want greater flexibility with your partitions or want to get into more advanced partition strategies, I'd recommend you investigate the commercial partitioning tools that are out there [e.g. Acronis, Symantec, etc].

Cheers

Mark