Arguments for/against HD Partitioning
 

My old 6.4 GB drive isn't gonna cut it when I finally upgrade to Windows XP. I'm looking at something 60+ GB.

However, it seems that in recent times people have been moving away from partitioning, seeing no good reason for it.

I always split my drive into 3 in all past installations.

Is there any logical reason not to partition? Do you lose space in any appreciable degree? Degrade HD performance? Or is just a matter of personal preference?

I know some do it to dual-boot different OS's but that's not gonna be my scenario.

no real reason to partition a 6 gb hd. i'd just keep it as one.

Already is. I'm talking about the scenario when I upgrade to a much larger drive.

But so many threads can't be responded to if one has to actually read and understand them. ;)

I tend to partition for a couple of reasons. I'll put the OS on a 4-8 GB partition which allows me to back the whole thing up more easily. And I use different partitions for different OSs so that naturally gives me a couple of partitions just for that. Then I might leave the rest of the space for a large storage area. It kind of depends on whether you tend to have huge amounts of data or huge amounts of programs. And your backup strategy should play a part too. Maybe partition areas depending on the frequency you want to back them up and your backup method.

The system is potentially faster with several partitions because you can control where the swap or page file goes. If you put it with the OS in a smaller partition the disk won't have to thrash around so much to handle normal OS duties.

reading? what's that? certainly, it's not important since i didn't do any in college ;)

it's basically personal preference. i don't think it'd go that much faster putting the page file on a smaller partition (i'd love to see some data on this, if anyone has some)

make a small one for windows and one for data and programs, then when you have to wipe out windows and start over you only have to format the win drive and not lose data

... or if you do the smart thing and use a program like Drive Image you can reinstall a perfect backup with one, maybe two cdr/w's on a small OS partition ... if you have to of course.

Just remember that most programs integrate into Windows in a way that that they would have to be reinstalled if you replaced the OS.

that's true, but with a second partition I can usually rename their directory, reinstal using the original directory name, copy the files back overtop of the new ones and all my old settings and, in the case of games, saved games are intact
I mainly did 2 partitions for the data aspects though, less backing up is needed before reinstalling windows

I keep 2 partitions. On the C: I install the O/S and programs. On the D: I keep all my mp3s, video files, pictures, etc. I can wipe the C: partition and start from scratch and then still access all my D: partition stuff once I get back up and running. I also keep a folder of driver files, software updates, and other downloaded software programs (winamp, etc.) in a folder on the D:.

I'll often do a three partition setup myself. It keeps things organized and helps to protect data in the case of needing to reinstall windows.

I've got a quick question...

I just did a clean install of Windows XP, and just realized that I want to partition my 40 GB Hard Drive, because I liked the idea of putting my OS and Apps on my C drive, and putting my MP3s and other junk on the D drive.

So how do I partition my hard drive without having to reformat my system again, and without having to buy another program (Partition Magic).

thanks