Partitioning a Drive - Pros & Cons

[JackR]

Quote from CPTrader:1. Using Windows 7 Disk Management tool my 700GB HDD can only be shrunk to 336GB...which is strange for a brand new drive. Also 336GB is too much for the OS drive. Any ideas on why W7 Disk Management is giving me this restriction. Any tips?

2. Do I really need to partition? What are pros and cons?

CP Trader:

Q1) Many vendors put a hidden partition on your drive and that becomes the system backup. They do not provide a backup DVD for your operating system. In the event of corruption in the working area of your C drive (the operating system portions,drivers, and possibly other programs) the vendor has a utility that allows you to copy from the hidden partition and overwrite the bad stuff. Of course you must then download a very large number of patches to get back to where you were.

Windows also creates a number of hidden areas such as the "Restore" files. They can take up a lot of room depending on how you told Windows to use the Restore feature (or the default if you did not get involved).

Q2) With just one hard disk the only advantage, in my opinion, is the ease in backing up data files without using a backup program. By storing all data in the D partition you can copy the entire partition easily without using a backup utility. However, the Windows backup utility in Win 7 is pretty good and lets you select what you wish. Type "Backup" in the start box and then get help inside the backup program to see if it will serve your needs.

Jack

 

[HurricaneUS]

Quote from oraclewizard77:

A hard drive failure will kill some sectors or a hard drive. So if the hard drive is partitioned, its possible to copy data from the other partition of the same hard drive that was not corrupted. However, once a hard drive goes bad, you need to replace it anyway, and so this is not a good solution.

Instead the best solution is to buy an external backup hard drive that you can connect using an USB cable. After that you have 2 options.

1) Backup just you important data manually every so often. (If you are just backing up data and photos, you don't need a big external hard drive.

2) Buy an application called Norton Ghost and backup your entire hard drive including applications. It really depends how many applications you have and if you have copies on CD to reinstall. (Norton Ghost is better if you are running a small business.) [For a medium to large business I would recommend getting a file server with a tape backup and store the tapes in a fire proof box].

+1

Good advice

 

[justrading]

Quote from oraclewizard77:

A hard drive failure will kill some sectors or a hard drive. So if the hard drive is partitioned, its possible to copy data from the other partition of the same hard drive that was not corrupted. However, once a hard drive goes bad, you need to replace it anyway, and so this is not a good solution.

Instead the best solution is to buy an external backup hard drive that you can connect using an USB cable. After that you have 2 options.

1) Backup just you important data manually every so often. (If you are just backing up data and photos, you don't need a big external hard drive.

2) Buy an application called Norton Ghost and backup your entire hard drive including applications. It really depends how many applications you have and if you have copies on CD to reinstall. (Norton Ghost is better if you are running a small business.) [For a medium to large business I would recommend getting a file server with a tape backup and store the tapes in a fire proof box].

Thank you.

 

[mgookin]

OS drives are notorious for failure due to corrupt files, virus, etc. Having the partition at least may limit the damage to the OS. Having your data on that other partition can be a benefit. But another physical drive is preferred.