HD Space & Installing a clean OS

R

.:RoKsTaR:.

New Member
I have 3 questions:

1) How much space would I need to partition for Windows 7 and my apps with some room to expand? Right now on my old xp office computer, I only have 20g and I'm running out of space. I plan to use the other partition for my files and such.


2) So I've heard about people partitioning their drive twice to create 3 sections. One for the OS, another for programs, and the last for files. Anyone have any experience doing this with Windows 7?

I want to easily be able to have a clean version of windows running if needed. With my current knowledge, I'd probably just install OS and apps to one partition. First install the OS and backup with the windows backup function and then I'd install the rest of my programs sandboxed to prevent wear and tear..

Maybe there's a better way though?
 
OS and programs on one partition, your personal data such as music, pictures, office documents on the second partition. Depending on what programs you need, you could probably get by with a 30-40 gb paritition for OS and programs and the balance for data. If you need to install a lot of programs that take up a lot of space you may want to increase that size.
 
.:RoKsTaR:. said:
2) So I've heard about people partitioning their drive twice to create 3 sections. One for the OS, another for programs, and the last for files. Anyone have any experience doing this with Windows 7?
Click to expand...

I don't understand what the point of that would be. Whenever you install programs, they make entries into the Windows registry in order for them to work correctly, so it's not like one is separate from the other. And then having another partition for files? Why?

The only time I use different partitions is whenever I have different OSes running. Some systems come from the manufacturer with two partitions, one being a read-only recovery partition (contains OS and System Files for a "Factory Restore").

Unless you plan to use more than one type of file system, I can't see any point in having more than one partition.

That being said, Windows 7 requires 16GB and 20GB of space for 32 bit and 64 bit installations, respectively. I would allow at least 40GB for program files, etc. So, I'll say 60GB would be comfortable for a Windows 7 PC.

.:RoKsTaR:. said:
I want to easily be able to have a clean version of windows running if needed. With my current knowledge, I'd probably just install OS and apps to one partition. First install the OS and backup with the windows backup function...
Click to expand...

In that case, I would create a back-up image and keep it on a seperate HDD/USB drive/DVD. Once you get your OS installed and updated and fully functional, I would create an image of your installation using Clonezilla or something to make an image of the HDD, and save it to some other media. Remember, if the HDD fails, then it's very possible that you won't be able to access any partition on the drive. :eek:

.:RoKsTaR:. said:
and then I'd install the rest of my programs sandboxed to prevent wear and tear...
Click to expand...
I don't know what "sandboxing" programs to prevent wear and tear means, but HDD are meant for storing and accessing data. I don't think it really matters if you put it on one partition or the other, the data will still be read and wrote... :confused:

Anyway, hope that helps you out a little? Please post back w/ any questions, comments or things you'd like to think about... ;)

[edit]
johnb35 - always beat me to the punch... :P
[/edit]
 
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Cool those are all good comments :)

I see your point about partitioning programs. The sandbox prevents installs from making permanent registry changes and it also protects from malicious code. Whatever you run in the box, can't get out and affect other parts of windows ;) I use sandboxie and it's great for general internet use and testing new software :)

I'll probably try using clonezilla and see how that goes.

Cheers!
 
Ok, I just checked out clonezilla and it seems over my head maybe. Can you explain it a bi simpler than the website does? what exactly do i do to create an image and how do I use the image?
 
It's a Linux live CD. You just download the ISO file, burn it to a CD, and then boot from the CD. From there you just follow the directions, basically:

To create image:

Select work w/ images from CD Menu
Choose to create an image
Choose media where you want to save the image
Choose the image you want to save (can choose to create an image of a directory, partition or entire HDD)
Execute

To restore disk from image:

Select work w/ images from CD Menu
Choose to restore an image
Choose the image file from stored location
Choose partition where you wish to restore the image to
Execute

Here's a couple of videos - the second one is much more comprehensive than the first: http://www.ilovefreesoftware.com/16/videos/video-tutorial-how-to-clone-disks-using-clonezilla.html

Hope that helps. Happy cloning! :D
 
Thanks :) Yes I did, but I read somewhere that you should partition it before starting the windows install to avoid the system recovery partition. It doesn't bother me since I can't see it, so I'll leave it as is.


Now I'm just trying to figure out how to relocate all the user files and my documents to my other partition :)
 
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