What's a good size for a Vista Partition?

I want to install the OS and all my progs on one partition, then store all my files seperately.
What's a good size for the OS partition?

 

30 to 50 GB should be a good size.

Not sure what programs you will be using, but you will know more than us. My current Vista partition is 30 GB and I still have a lot of free space. My pagefile is on another partition though.

 

Well it really depends on a a couple things: how big is your hard drive? what kinds of programs are you going to be installing?

I partitioned mine with 40 gigs of 300 (320 on the base ten) for Vista Ultimate and my programs. Alongside the OS, I have the entire Adobe CS3, all of Office 2007, and then all of the basic programs (firefox, aim lite, MPC, winamp, Eset Nod32 etc.). And I have about 9 gigs left so I find that it has worked quite well for me. If I ever get more into gaming, I'd likely just install my games on my file partition.

 

Yeah, that looks about right.
Firefox, AVG, Gimp messenger etc, some music production stuff (reaper/audacity) and an office suite of some description (Either MS or OpenOffice).
So, I should just install everything and then maybe add 5 - 10 gig?

Cheers.

 

10 GB free space in a 40 GB partition would be good to have for the defrag process.

 

Sweet.
Repped

 

I apologize to the OP if I'm hijacking the thread, but what are the advantages and/or disadvantages of partitioning? Why do so many people do it? I have everything on one partition. I'm good about backing things up. Other than a possible OS failure or something like that, are there any advantages to partitioning and keeping my files on a separate partition? If I have everything backed up, should it matter?

 

Just like you said, if the OS gets corrupted then you can just install your OS back onto the partition for the OS and leave your data files alone. You won't have to reload them from Disc.

 

Just like TheFireSnake said, it is a lot easier to reinstall the OS if you have your hard drive partitioned. It really quells any fears I have about loosing important data or having to worry about backing everything up on an external or on the net. Aside from a hard drive malfunction, I can feel pretty secure. But other than that, I find that having my hard drive partitioned helps me organize files a bit better. I have all of my major files stored on my D drive in the basic folders (Pictures, Documents) etc, and it keeps them from getting lost in the original Windows file organization. I like knowing where everything is, and having more control over it. I highly recommend making a speerate partition if you're thinking about reinstalling the OS anytime soon.

 

Thank you both for answering my questions. I appreciate it.