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    How much free space needed for boot partition?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by vinuneuro, Sep 5, 2010.

  1. vinuneuro

    vinuneuro Notebook Virtuoso

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    I'm going to be reformatting soon, and I plan on setting it up so the boot partition is short-stroked. If my system files and programs use 37-40gb, will 50gb total for this partition be enough (10gb always free)?

    This is a 320gb hdd (298gb effective).
     
    vinuneuro, Sep 5, 2010
    #1
  2. Trottel

    Trottel Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yes, that will be fine.
     
    Trottel, Sep 5, 2010
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  3. AndroidVageta

    AndroidVageta Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah, 50GB should be plenty. 10GB space is more than enough for buffer space and temp storage (thinking game installation and what not).
     
    AndroidVageta, Sep 6, 2010
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  4. Nankuru

    Nankuru Notebook Evangelist

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    The rule of thumb is that drive usage should never exceed 80% if performance is an issue. Or at all in a perfect world.

    So if you know that you'll never use more than 40gig including all temporary etc files then 50gig should be OK, but I think I'd increase the size a bit. As drives become full performance falls off.
     
    Nankuru, Sep 6, 2010
    #4
  5. sean473

    sean473 Notebook Prophet

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    i use 60GB.. just on safe side.
     
    sean473, Sep 6, 2010
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  6. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    There is much more to this than asking if 10GB 'always free' is enough.

    10GB can be enough if all of the following conditions are met:

    1) the role of the computer will not change during its expected 'lifetime'

    2) you will not download a 10GB file (or, even two 5GB files, concurrently).

    3) the software 'base' you currently use will not be added to in the future.

    4) the software you do use does not build/make 'cache' files (such as Bibble, LR3, PS, etc.) that will quickly make that 10GB free space disappear.

    5) the software you currently use doesn't get upgraded/updated with a huge increase in HD capacity use.

    6) with a new O/S introduced, you aren't tempted to try an 'upgrade' (vs. a clean install) of the new O/S).


    I think you begin to see the possible issues, right? Not that any of the above cannot be 'fixed' by simply extending the c: partition - but in many situations, that is not possible (easily).

    For light/casual use, I can agree with most that 10GB and/or 20% free space should be enough. However, light/casual use has a way of being a term we use for 'others' and not for how we use our own computers - eventually.

    It is much easier to 'give up' an extra 10GB free space now (20GB total), than to have to start from scratch to have to add a few extra GB's in a few months time.

    You may also want to read this post; it may give you something else/more to think about?

    See:
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-hitachi-7k500-benchmark-setup-specifics.html


    Good luck.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Sep 6, 2010
    #6