partition this! (aka, i have a question..ha!)

  • Thread starter Thread starter shackrock
  • Start date Start date
S

shackrock

New member
so partition partition partition. That's all I ever really hear.

I got 2 drives:
60 gig (C)
160 gig (F)

C:\ = all of my programs, immediate audio files i'm using/recording...windows files, etc.
F:\ anything else..a lot of times I put all my DV video that I'm editing onto this drive, as well as DVD files and things like that - old AUDIO projects, etc. etc.


My question: what's the point of partitioning besides organization? Does it ACTUALLY make the computer run faster? Or is it just all in our heads? I mean, i dont want to partition anything unless I know it'll do something, i think it's a pain! haha.

SCOTT
 
Scott

I have 2 120GB Barracudas each split into 30GB & 90GB partitions.

So it's like
Drive 1 C: 30GB
Drive 1 D: 90GB
Drive 2 E: 30GB
Drive 2 F: 90GB

XP & apps are loaded on the C partition. This is then ghosted to the E partition. This means both drives are bootable, so if I lose one I'm still good to go on the other.
Partition F holds all my audio. I backup this onto partition D. This keeps the audio away from the OS drive, while maintaining full redundancy
 
Learning from personal bad experience I always keep the partition size within the limits of the operating system. With FAT32 under Windows that would be 32 gigs. Every large hard disk comes with a proprietary (to this manufacturer) software allowing you to create partitions larger then that. If you go this route it would put a special driver on your disk, which translates actual partition size into something acceptable by the OS. Everything is fine most of the time. But if this driver gets corrupted, your OS would consider the disk unformatted and all information will be lost. I had that happen one time for no obvious reasons.
Now, my secondary 200 gigs drive is split into 6 logical drives. For compatibility reasons I use FAT32. If my system goes down, I can stick this drive into any Windows box, and everything will be readable just fine.
Since you are planning to work with video, considering that maximum files size allowed by FAT32 is 4 gigs, NTFS may be a better choice for you.
 
oh yes, i am already NTFS because of the video file sizes.

but, does that still mean that partitioning is useful? I see the use of backing up, etc. but to be honest, it doesnt bother me that much. HAHA.
 
Scott,

> what's the point of partitioning besides organization? Does it ACTUALLY make the computer run faster? <

Yes, it can. For the complete story (and I mean complete - maybe more than you bargained for), see my three-part series from Keyboard Magazine. It's fifth in the list on my Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

The first part explains partitioning, but I'm sure you'll find the rest of the series valuable too.

--Ethan
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top