Seperate hard drive for OS?

SslagleZ28

SslagleZ28

New Member
I hear about people doing this, buying a smaller faster hard drive just for Windows. Why do they do this, what are the advantages? Also how big would I need for Windows 7 and should I go with a SSD for this idea?
 
There are a few reasons why you want to keep a small partition for your OS and apps/games. The main reason is you separate your personal data from the OS so that when you reinstall windows all your data is already on a different partition, therefore no need to backup unless you need game saves.

Getting a SSD drive will greatly reduce your boot times and also the time it takes to open apps and games( as long as the ap is installed to the ssd drive)
 
Other reasons to do it that way are :
1) The smaller the "C" partition, the faster Windopes runs, given that there is enough free space there for it to operate properly.
2) I make it a point to locate as much as I possibly can OFF of "C" drive, because that is where "Windopes" resides, and if there is any partition on the machine that is going to get screwed up, it is the one where "Windopes" lives. And for the safety of other things, it is best they be elsewhere.
 
JHM said:
Other reasons to do it that way are :
1) The smaller the "C" partition, the faster Windopes runs, given that there is enough free space there for it to operate properly.
2) I make it a point to locate as much as I possibly can OFF of "C" drive, because that is where "Windopes" resides, and if there is any partition on the machine that is going to get screwed up, it is the one where "Windopes" lives. And for the safety of other things, it is best they be elsewhere.
Click to expand...

:confused::confused:
 
Generally speaking with respect of HDDs, (as opposed to SSDs), the bigger they are, the faster they are in terms of data tranfer rates and read speed. Thing is, if you got a big fattie, partition the sucker, giving "C" enough space to run "Windopes" but not too much or it starts running slower.

Ideally, have several HDDs, wherein the front partition on one drive is "C', (Front partitions run faster than succeeding ones, and rear partitions are the slowest of all).

The front partition on another drive is your swap file partition, (This is for two reasons, - 1. Being you can get a much better defrag of "C" if the swap file is elsewhere, = faster running; and 2. Doing it this way means you are using 2 sets of read heads instead of 1 jumping back and forth between Windopes and the swap file, = Faster)

The front partition on a third drive is your "Software" partition, (as opposed to the "Program Files" folder on "C", because 1. Some programs don't need to be reinstalled when you have to format "C" and reinstall "Windopes" because of some problem or other, if they are on a separate partition; = less work during total reinstalls. 2. You now have one set of read heads reading "Windopes", another set of read heads reading the swap file, and a third set reading the software you are running, = much faster than just having the "C" drive heads chasing all over the place.
 
JHM said:
Generally speaking with respect of HDDs, (as opposed to SSDs), the bigger they are, the faster they are in terms of data tranfer rates and read speed. Thing is, if you got a big fattie, partition the sucker, giving "C" enough space to run "Windopes" but not too much or it starts running slower.

Ideally, have several HDDs, wherein the front partition on one drive is "C', (Front partitions run faster than succeeding ones, and rear partitions are the slowest of all).

The front partition on another drive is your swap file partition, (This is for two reasons, - 1. Being you can get a much better defrag of "C" if the swap file is elsewhere, = faster running; and 2. Doing it this way means you are using 2 sets of read heads instead of 1 jumping back and forth between Windopes and the swap file, = Faster)

The front partition on a third drive is your "Software" partition, (as opposed to the "Program Files" folder on "C", because 1. Some programs don't need to be reinstalled when you have to format "C" and reinstall "Windopes" because of some problem or other, if they are on a separate partition; = less work during total reinstalls. 2. You now have one set of read heads reading "Windopes", another set of read heads reading the swap file, and a third set reading the software you are running, = much faster than just having the "C" drive heads chasing all over the place.
Click to expand...


I understand what your getting at but i dont think i can execute it lol
 
You use the operating system install cd to create whatever partitions you want before you install.

Using 3 hard drives is costly for most people. So basically get one big drive and partition it into 2 or more partitions.

And most programs do require you to reinstall them after a fresh install because most require registry entries and other system files to be installed before the program will work correctly.
 
Hmm, to begin with, I am not a fan of HUGE drives. Too much data lost when they die. I prefer to use a number of somewhat smaller cheaper drives, though admittedly they are a bit slower. This is much safer re having data in safe locations when the "C" drive ultimately fails.

Re most software must be reinstalled when you have to reinstall Windopes, that is true; but not ALL software must be reinstalled, I have about a half dozen programs which don't have to be reinstalled, which does save work.

Additionally the setup runs faster for reasons already explained.
 
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