Re-installing Vista - should I use more than one partition?

I'm preparing to reinstall my visa laptop. I have a 200gb hard disk.

A friend has suggested installing with two partitions, one for data and one for the OS. Is this worth doing?

If so, how big should the Vista partition be? I'm guessing that most programs I install will also end up on this drive? So the size is dependent on that, but any rough figures would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

Really?..I've never heard of doing this..how will this affect performance?

 

40% for the os and 60% for data

 

My Vista partition is 30GB, 55 programs installed, 17GB free

 

Programs are going to want to install to the C: (operating system) drive. So remember to leave enough size for all of them.

Remember that you can always alter the size of the partitions later if you want to make the data partition larger.

Personally I would initially allocate 60GB to the OS partition and the remainder to the data partition. It is larger than is necessary, but it should ensure that you don't get any annoying out of disk space messages.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

The above quote is exactly the reason why I'm thinking of going down this route. Finding and transferring all the data I need to other drives/dvds has taken a long time.

Does anyone know if I can resize the windows partition without losing data after I'm up and running. For example if I gave vista 50gb, and had 150gb for data, could I increase the vista partition at a later date if needed?

cheers

 

Thanks Gergory, I didn't see your post before replying. Pretty much answers my question.

I assume the partitions can be resized without lost?

 

My vote is to keep everything on one partition. Users who often reinstall their OS tend to keep them separate, but IMO most people don't need to do this because you always have the issue of not knowing how much space to put on each drive.

 

When you resize the partition you won't lose anything. The space will just be reallocated. It is a pretty safe procedure, I do it fairly often.

I use a Linux utility called GParted to do it, but I think I have read in here that Vista has a built utility. Which makes life easier. (Although I have never used that as I am still on XP )

 

But you can always readjust the size of the partitions. It's quite easy to do. I just did it a few days ago. I use Norton Partition Magic.

Its so easy to partition, I dont see why not to do it. There are some performance increases and if anything happens to the OS you'll still have the File partition with all your stuff.

edit: As Greg said, 60GB should be good for your OS and programs. Adjust later as needed

 

I have 3 partitions, one for XP, one for 32bit vista, and one for 64bit vista....

 

I've reinstalled Vista 2 days ago, chose 25 Gb for the main OS partition, and the rest is left for stuff.
Works like a charm.

 

I was just gonna say that I don't see the sense in doing something like this, but INEEDMONEY cleared up the fog in my brain with his reply above. Man!, Rep for u.

 

Thanks

Hopefully the OS doesn't crash, but ya never know.

And its sooo easy to do. I've never heard of any negative things about partitioning. Only positive...

 

yea i know..i've done it before using partiton magic but for this particular case i didn't understand y you would want to do it for one OS like how the OP explained it.

 

I am a big proponent of multiple partitions. I don't see any performance difference but functionally there are some real benefits.

I keep three partitions. One for the OS and all programs, one for data and a third that is just big enough to hold a ghost image of my C: partition.

Any time I want to install a new app, or some major updates, I create a ghost image of the C: partition on the third partition. Then if anything goes awry I can restore back to a known state from the third partition in a matter of minutes. All the while my data (including my Favorites folder and Outlook PST files) are safely stored on my second partition, out of harms way.

Gary

 

So... just like using System Restore?

 

LoL. That does seem to be what he's doing

 

Useful link for the OP

Resize a Partition for Free in Windows Vista
Fast result and easy to use, but has some serious limitations: explanation & workaround.

Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition
What Gregory has suggested, also what I used, it works like a charm but takes much longer time.

 

Thanks or the link

I'm starting to think this isn't worth the hassle though. I've been looking at ways to move the c:\users directory to another drive but this doesn't seem to be a feature of Vista. I've tried a few different hacked work arounds but all seem to have various problems associated with them and of the couple i've tried, both have not worked 100% on my system.

Some links for those that are interested:
http://caskater4.blogspot.com/2007/09/moving-your-data-where-you-want-in.html
http://joshmouch.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/change-user-profile-folder-location-in-vista/

Shame, because both of those options sound good in theory.

Guess I'll stick with just having the individual c:\users folders on a data drive. I'm getting tired of reloading vista today

 

Hmmm, the recovery disk that came with my laptop would be able to repair Vista if I used GParted right? The Vista partition on my disk is current 135 GB, and has 47 GB of music I want to move over to the data side.

 

Yep, just like system restore actually. I know, I know. It's a bit of overkill. But it does allow me to recover from ANYTHING that happens. Even in situations where System Restore can't. Like an unbootable machine etc.

I don't make the image for every update or install I do. But for large updates or installs where I am a bit suspicious, I do this as the ultimate "way out" if things go totally fubar.

Gary

 

can you form partitions on a drive that already has an OS on it?

 

The short answer is yes. But you may have to jump through a bunch of hoops. If you use a third party app and boot from a CD, it is pretty simple. I use BootIT NG, for all sorts of partitioning scenarios. Shrinking, sliding, creation, expansion etc. It is a bit cryptic to use, but it works well.

If you try to use the tools built into the OS to do this it can be a problem. You have to defrag first and get all of the free space at the top of the partition before you can shrink it. But there are certain files that can't be moved during a defrag. Like the pagefile. This is the one instance where I recommend turning off the pagefile, but ONLY while you defrag and resize the partition. There is one other file that is marked as unmovable in Vista. I forget what it is, but a search here will turn it up as this has been discussed before.

Bottom line you are better off using a bootable CD with a partition app on it as you then run into none of these "unmovable" files issues. And the partition apps won't require a defrag to consolidate the unused space, they do so automatically,

Gary

 

With Asus recovery disk you can't repair Vista. There's no System Recovery Options screen to be shown.