Re: New year, clean install, any advantage to having applications on D: instead of C:?

In article
news:<4fd53f64-15dc-4b1c-b474-0a326d24f8e9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
, Jameshanley39@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
You seem to be referring to when the OS partition "borks itself", so
this is just an OS issue rather than a HDD issue

We weren't talking about "HDD issues", we were talking about the
usefulness or otherwise of setting up separate data partitions on an HDD
when installing.

As I was saying: it is useful to keep Windows on a partition that is
separate from user data, because Windows may need to be reinstalled (for
various reasons, not least the fact that Windows itself isn't perfect)
and it is convenient to be able to do this without having to destroy and
restore the data as well.

There is little point in keeping most applications in a separate
partition from Windows, as most of them rely on entries in the registry
for their correct operation, and the registry is stored by Windows on
the Windows partition.

(unless you are talking about one partition getting corrupted, but
another being fine. I have not seen that, but I don`t mess with that.
And when I say corrupted, I mean HDD issue - causing corruption).

One partition getting corrupted, or Windows itself getting corrupted
(not necessarily because of any disk hardware error) and the Windows
partition having to be wiped and reinstalled.

These are not common occurrences, IME (though others seem to report them
as being somewhat common) but are serious enough when they do occur that
it may be worth protecting against them by keeping user data on a
separate partition.

So let`s get this straight.. Now you are referring to the data
partition going, right?

And Why aren`t you restoring all the data? Why is it nice not
restoring all the data. What are you talking about?

<sigh>

Pay attention at the back, what I wrote is clear on this point.

I'm referring to the OS partition "going".

If the data are in a separate partition they will not be wiped when you
wipe the OS partition to restore Windows, so you will not have to
restore them.

That doesn't mean that you shouldn't back up the data partition. It just
means that you can safely wipe the OS partition without needing to
restore the data (because they're on a separate partition).

But that is scary.. What if you remove the wrong one, then you lose
your data.

<smile>


That requires that you screw up twice.

No more so than the possibility that you might format the wrong
partition.

And the big problem with having one HDD with 2 separate partitions, is
that when it comes to deleting them, the darn partition "management"
programs don`t show you the data on them - which would of course be a
good, clear way to identify the partitions.

They generally show you the volume label (for Windows partitions, which
have labels, anyway) which should be sufficient.

It wouldn`t be so bad if a program displayed the data on the partition
when you select it for deletion.

That would require that the program be able to read the partition. If
the partition is corrupt that's clearly not possible, and also can't be
done if the partition is formatted with a filesystem that the disk tool
doesn't recognize. I do agree that showing at least the directory
structure of the disk, where possible, from within partitioning tools
would be an aid to the user ... but it's also a lot of work.
Partitioning tools are traditionally quite lightweight, as they need to
be used from recovery disks (i.e. floppies).

It is less tense if you remove the drive with your data on it so it
doesn`t get smashed when you restore your OS partition.

Most people (present company excepted) aren't competent to remove a
physical hard drive ... and you still have to know which is which.

Cheers,
Daniel.






.

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