Tech advice

[Kadayi]

I'm getting a new hard drive next week (1TB), and I'm thinking that I'd give windows 7 RC a look see (presently on Vista). Traditionally I've been fairly lazy with my system setup in the past with respect to things like keeping the OS on a separate partition from the Program files etc, but I'm thinking this time it would be a good idea to go down that route (as the defragging takes forever). I'm thinking that I'd split the 1TB drive into a 50 GB for the OS and then use the rest as media storage (Music/Films/TV/Pictures partitioned 150/250/250/300) whilst utilising my present drive (a 750 GB) split between program files (& games) & active documents (partitioned say 400/350).

My question are (for the tech heads amongst you): -

(1) is 50 GB for the OS a sensible size, esp for future proofing? I'm aware that invariably I'll need to reinstall again once W7 is released, but I want to make it as painless a reinstall as possible if I can.

(2) would you keep the pagefile on the OS partition or set it on a separate drive (I do have a couple of smaller SATA physical drives I can use)?

(3) would it make sense to put the program files onto a separate physical drive or should I instead put them on a partition on the same drive as the OS (and use the 750 for documents & split media storage across them both)?

(4) For those of you who do keep the OS on its own partition, do you install your graphic drivers on the partition as well, or do you keep it separate?


I'm basically wanting to squeeze as much performance as I can out of my present system in terms of running efficiency, and this is one area where my personal expertise is lacking tbh.

Hope you can clarify

Kad

 

[VirusType2]

I can see giving the OS its own partition, because if you need to reinstall it, you won't have to worry about all your other stuff off the drive. Beyond that though, there is no reason to partition anything, and you will regret it. So don't.

As for what to include on the OS partition, it all depends if you plan to keep your registry backed up. I put free software like Firefox on the drive with the OS. Generally this software is very small and updated frequently so reinstalling it is like installing updates.

But, for performance reasons, you should put program files (particularly large ones) on a separate hard drive from the OS. This way, both drives can be doing intensive drive operations simultaneously.


I can't help with the other questions.