Partitioning large Hard Drives

[Krynn72]

I just purchased a 300 gig hard drive, so that I could replace my two 40 gig hard drive I have currently. I never created more partitions on a disk before so I really have no idea on how big or how many I should create. Obviously this time around I will have a partition just for the OS, but how big is that partition typically?

Also, should I just make one large partition for the rest of my programs, or would splitting it up make it faster/more stable? Also I'm learning how to model and animate with maya, so Im thinking that I would have large files to be handling, so maybe I should make a partition just for that? If I do, what size should that one be? Also, are there any complications with having such a large drive? I was reading somewhere that I need to have the newest verion of Fdisk to be able to use it on this size drive, and that I have to format it a certain way so that I can create larger partitions than 2gb or whatever (I probably know how to avoid that since I have formated before, but its been awhile).

Also, for my other two 40 giggers, im going to give them away so i want to do a zero fill on them before I hand em over. I unfortunately have two different brand drives, one Seagate, one Western Digital. The Seagate one is the primary, and I have downloaded the diskwizard image from seagate and made the bootable disk so I can format that drive, but since my WD drive doesnt have an OS on it, how do I zero fill that one (if its any different). Would I have to create a bootable disk with WD's zero fill utility?

So yeah, thats all the questions I can think of now, in the meantime I will be backing up my files and what not. Thanks in advance for your help.

Edit: gah, thought of another question when I hit submit heheh. Will I have a problem re-activating my Win XP Pro? I dont think I did last time around, but just to be sure.

 

[Asus]

Depends on how many programs/files you are going to put on your OS drive. If you run in minimal operation with not a lot of games on that drive, then maybe do a 40gb partition. Otherwise maybe something like an 80gb.

2 partitions would be enough unless you have a need for 3. Splitting a drive up with different partitions will help preventing slow down from fragmentation since all the files that you will be creating/deleting will probably be on the second partition and will not be mixed in with your primary drive's files (OS/Games etc).

Windows XP allows for 3 reactivations before you have to call to confirm. Then they reset the counter for ya so you get another 3 times before you have to call.
For non-OEM versions anyway.

 

[Krynn72]

I have a *lot* of games. I pretty much have all 80 gigs full right now with my two drives, most of it is games and I have to keep uninstalling some to make room for more But your saying my games and OS should be on the same partition?

 

[The Dark Elf]

I'm happy with 10gb for the C drive, then I split whats left up, one for apps and one for misc stuff, downloads, artwork and so on. It's a little easier to manage when it comes to backing up, since you don't really need to backup games so its best not to mix them in with things your gonna backup.

 

[Revisedsoul]

i have 2 drives each with 2 partitions

Drive 1
os/small programs
big programs

Drive 2
Storeage/temp folder
swap file

 

[The Dark Elf]

i have 2 drives each with 2 partitions

Drive 1
os/small programs
big programs

Drive 2
Storeage/temp folder
swap file

ahh yeah good point, another drive just for the swap file.

 

[Asus]

You could put games on the other drive.

The reason I don't is because if i reinstall myr OS then I reinstall the games anyway (registry info lost). Putting the things I want to load quick, OS and Games, away from my random MP3's, Videos or project files which are constantly deleted and and created means they won't be in the fragmented mess. You don't have to backup the games, just the OS if you want.

I always put he swap file on the 2nd drive too.

 

[Krynn72]

Ok thanks guys. So with the info you guys gave me I decided to give it a whirl. (I left the zero fill deal for later). Now I ran into a problem.

I put the drive in, set the jumper to cable select making it the master on that IDE cable, plugged everything in, then powered it on. Now it doesnt complete the POST check. If I hit del to get into bios it just stops after mentioning the mem frequency or whatever. If I dont try to get into the Bios then it will go one step further (to "Detecting IDE drive") then get stuck there. Whats more strange is that I tried opening my two disk drives (a cd/rw and a dvd) and neither would open or make any sort of response when I hit the eject button. However, for some reason, if I take out the ide cables connecting the two drives (leaving just the power cables) then they will open. When replacing the hard drives, I didnt even touch the cables from my cd drives. Any idea whats going on?

 

[WhiteZero]

Also, you want to put your OS on a primary partition by itself. Then create extended/logical partitions for all your other stuff.
Other wise creating multi-partitions are usless.

 

[Krynn72]

Ok, im an idiot.

I somehow managed to plug the IDE cable upside down into the drive. That fixed both my previous problems, but gave rise to another one. Now the Bios wont detect the hard drive. When I select the "Primary Master" drive, and choose auto detect, it comes up with nothing. It still shows my two cd/dvd drives on the secondary cable, and the floppy drive, but I will not find the Hard drive.

 

[WhiteZero]

Ok, im an idiot.

I somehow managed to plug the IDE cable upside down into the drive. That fixed both my previous problems, but gave rise to another one. Now the Bios wont detect the hard drive. When I select the "Primary Master" drive, and choose auto detect, it comes up with nothing. It still shows my two cd/dvd drives on the secondary cable, and the floppy drive, but I will not find the Hard drive.

Make sure the jumper on the back of the hard drive is set to either Master or Cable Select.

 

[Asus]

How old is your machine?

 

[VirusType2]

You could put games on the other drive.

The reason I don't is because if i reinstall myr OS then I reinstall the games anyway (registry info lost). Putting the things I want to load quick, OS and Games, away from my random MP3's, Videos or project files which are constantly deleted and and created means they won't be in the fragmented mess. You don't have to backup the games, just the OS if you want.

I always put he swap file on the 2nd drive too.

Asus -
The reason I bought a 2nd drive today was so that when I re-install windows or format my boot/OS drive, I won't have to re-install my games.

I was going to put all my games on there.(new hard drive)

The problem about the registry info lost...
That pretty much ruins my plans.
-Can't I export my registry with regedit then back it up , then format/re-install - then import my saved registry ?

will that work?

otherwise I just bought a drive that I don't need.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Ok, im an idiot.

I somehow managed to plug the IDE cable upside down into the drive. That fixed both my previous problems, but gave rise to another one. Now the Bios wont detect the hard drive. When I select the "Primary Master" drive, and choose auto detect, it comes up with nothing. It still shows my two cd/dvd drives on the secondary cable, and the floppy drive, but I will not find the Hard drive.

set them up manually.. oh and don't forget to tell it which is the active partition otherwise it'll play dead whatever you do or put on it.

 

[Krynn72]

Umm... nevermind. Im a double idiot. When I fixed the IDE cable, I took out the power cable so I could easily reach the IDE. But... well... I forgot to plug the power back in. So yeah, everything is fine and dandy now. In fact im replying using the computer, and am about to play some full spectrum warrior

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[SidewinderX]

As for cleaning up your other harddrives.... download "Darik's Boot 'n Nuke"
put it on a bootable floppy, unplug your OS harddrive (power/ide) and then boot from the floppy. It'll clean up your other disks