Hi All,

I have a question about hard disk partitioning that I wanted to get some feedback from some of the very knowledgable group here.

I built a new computer. I have a 80GB drive installed in there. What I would like to do is install the OS and Apps in a primary partition on their own and use the remaining for data and perhaps one additional partition for a dual boot in the future.

I was planning on using 20GB for the primary partition for Win2K and various apps. Do you think that this is using too much space? Would say 10GB be a better choice. Also, if I went with the 20GB and then later changed my mind can a third party partitioning app let me subdivide the original 20GB primary into (2) 10GB partitions or whatever.

Thanks for any tips/suggestions that you may have....

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As I understand it, if you want to dual boot, say with Win 98, you'll need to load that first, then install Windows 2000 last. Also install Win2k on its own partition so you can format that section with NTFS to play and learn about NTFS rights and permissions.

As for the partitioning, I split a large drive up and allocated 10GB to C:\ for the OS and standard apps (such as Office). I know it's more than it needs, but my theory is that these MS Service Packs aren't getting any smaller I gave D:\ 30GB for my "Data" - all my files are saved there. I left the remaining space unformatted for now figuring I'll use it when I need it and leaving the free space allowed me to play with converting from basic to dynamic.

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Actually, what you did is very similar to what I have in mind. I want to have Win2K and the apps on one partition and perhaps WinXP, or Win2K Server, later(not sure)on another, the rest I want for data.

I was a little paranoid that 10GB for C: might be a little too small, that is why I thought about 20GB. Now, I am wondering.

You are right about MS accepted policy with dual booting, meaning install the earlier OS first. I think that only really applies up until Win98. From Win98 upwards it really doesn't matter.

That really is not my concern anyway right now. I was more concerned with figuring out how much to use for the primary partition at C:. I guess if I went with the 20GB, I could change that later with 3rd party stuff?

Anyway, thanks again for the input.

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Since you can have up to 4 primary partitions in the windows environment I always like to setup each OS on its own primary. Then I can make and an extended for each primary and create logical partitions for my applications and my data. It seems to keep thing neatly organized. For W2K products and XP I would recommend a 3G partition. It seems to work well without wasting space. For the older OSs 1G is more than sufficient. Hope this helps.

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One more thing. I have been using Partition Magic since version 2. Partition Magic can be your friend it has never let me down. (In case you have to change partion sizes).

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I have done what you wanted to do but on a 40 GB Hdd. I started with 5 partitions, win98 first, xp, applications, games then mp3's, all roughly the same size. XP is a hungry OS, so I had to make a few changes, and used partition magic 7. It worked fine, I didnt have any troubles but it took a while. I installed partition magic in win98 as it is my boot OS. The only trouble I could see happening is if one OS is NTFS, as both my OS are fat32, but partition magic is supposed to work on both. Hope this helps.

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Turn it on it's head. Instead of thinking about 10 or 20Gb for apps, consider how much you need for data. Do you envisage using as much as 60 or 70Gb? Probably not unless you are downloading movies or something.

You are right about 3rd party products for resizing partitions but there aren't too many good shareware ones (not that I know of anyway) so it might end up costing you.

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Wow, all really great suggestions. I want to thank you all for taking the time to give me your perspective on this. Sounds like no matter what I do, Partition Magic 7, will be a good investment.

Thanks again so much for your help!

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You don't need partition magic for what you are trying to do. You really shouldn't be changing your mind about the size of partitions because you would have worked out appropriate sizes before install. What you must do however is research a dual boot of XP and Win 2000/Server if that is your intention. With 80GB of space I don't really see that space is an issue and your paranoia as you put it is unfounded. If you plan to install multiple operating systems it is important to get the correct procedure. Run a search to find appropriate articles that deal with this issue. By the way, a typical partition division is three fold for a single operating system comprising the O/S, applications and then data.

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Ok,

Well not sure if I am making myself clear. First off, the dual boot idea is not a certainty, yet. I just wanted to give myself the flexibilty to do it should I decide.

Most people I have been talking to say that they usually make a small partition for the OS and Apps alone and then create an extended and perhaps logicals within that for data. Some say as little as 3GB.

I was a little concerned that my original idea of 10GB might be too little, so I made it 20GB. Now I realize that there is probably alot of space on that 20GB partition that will be somewhat wasted and could be used as either the extended partition or perhaps another primary for a dual boot.

That is why I was asking about Partition Magic. Anyway thanks and I appreciate your response and tips!

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