Optimal partitioning for a fresh Win install?

D

Dimitri

Member
I have a 640 GB Western Digital SATA drive and I'm wondering what is the best way to partition it for best performance of a new Windows install.

Now, ages ago when I last reinstalled Windows I followed this scheme which I read somewhere:

You make it three partitions.

FIRST PARTITION: Used for Windows and programs

The reasoning for keeping this on a separate partition, IIRC, was that this is the stuff the HDD has to access most often and keeping it on a separate partition will make sure it stays towards the center of the disc and stuff that's there runs quicker.

I should note here that from what I understand this HDD has two 320 GB discs rather than one 640 GB.

SECOND PARTITION: Used for swap file and temp files

It was recommended to make the swap file 2x the amount of your RAM.

The reasoning for putting it on separate partition is the same.

THIRD PARTITION: Data


Now, does this stuff make sense to you guys and should I bother doing this or just keep it all as one partition?

If I should go through with this, how much GB do I need for Win7 or Win10?
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
Dimitri said:
towards the center of the disc and stuff that's there runs quicker.
Click to expand...
You probably meant to say the outer edge of the platter, which moves at a higher rate of speed at the same 7200 RPM.

Either or, the 3 partition scheme keeps the OS and swap on the edge of the drive. Having one partition is easier to manage data. It's really up to you.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
I partition big drives into 2 partitions. A small 150gb or so for OS and programs and balance for personal data. I feel keeping a swap partition is stupid.
 
Agent Smith

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
Partitioning a drive like that was done years ago. Now a days with SATA III you really don't have to do that and in fact I've seen partitions go POOF! gone, adios. So it would be wise just to use the whole partition. If you want speed, then just get a well rated and reputable SSD. Make sure you partition it with Windows which should align the drive properly, use SATA III and the AHCI option in BIOS before you install the OS. Then run ASSSD and make sure everything is fine, that AHCI is on and the SSD is aligned.

Pro tip. Don't install the OS with two HDDs installed at once. You could inadvertently install the boot loader to the second disk and not know it.
 
D

Dimitri

Member
johnb35 said:
I partition big drives into 2 partitions. A small 150gb or so for OS and programs and balance for personal data. I feel keeping a swap partition is stupid.
Click to expand...

2 partitions it is then.

If I'll be using win10 can I make the partition smaller? Say 50 gb or 100 gb? I've not used a new version of win since xp, so I don't know how much the new ones take up, I understand it can be quite a bit.

What I have currently is:

c: (Windows) 17,8 GB
e: (Swap) 7,79 GB
f: (data) 570 GB

Now, could I use a program to merge c: and e: and then allocate some space from f: to c:+e: rather than deleting all the partitions and repartitioning, would this newly created partition then be located at the outer edge of the disc, given that I'm taking some GBs from the data partition?

I'd like to avoid, if possible, the deleting of partitions because of the hassle of data migration.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Windows itself needs usually 30 gb alone. Frankly I wouldn't go less then 125-150 gb for os and programs. As long as free space is next to the partition that you want to add it to you can merge/extend space. Commenting from my phone so can't really go step by step process here. If others don't comment I'll reply back when I get home on my pc.
 
D

Dimitri

Member
johnb35 said:
Windows itself needs usually 30 gb alone. Frankly I wouldn't go less then 125-150 gb for os and programs. As long as free space is next to the partition that you want to add it to you can merge/extend space. Commenting from my phone so can't really go step by step process here. If others don't comment I'll reply back when I get home on my pc.
Click to expand...

IIRC I've done this before IN Windows using some program. So I'll look for something online and I'll merge e: and c: and then take a chunk out of f: and add it to e+c. Hopefully that stuff from f: will be the edge of disc area.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
I wouldn't merge them, might screw something up. You would have to change location of the swap file before merging.
 
D

Dimitri

Member
I see. I also seem to have told windows somehow to put temporary files onto that SWAP partition. Will those being there be a problem?
 
D

Dimitri

Member
Turns out Minitool doesn't allow merging in the free version so I installed Partition Assistant and it will let me merge the swap and data partition, but not swap and the windows partition, what gives? Is it not possible to screw with the windows partition while in windows?

EDIT: I guess I have to delete the swap partition and then extend the windows partition.
 
Last edited:
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Dimitri said:
EDIT: I guess I have to delete the swap partition and then extend the windows partition.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can't merge partitions with data on it. You have to delete/move data and then delete partition to merge it with one next to it.
 
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