Re: To Partition, or not........

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 08:02:12 GMT, "pmj" <post@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>"David C." <DC@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:3au5q1hcfj5du4gdk49q6r0jqppcr86d19@xxxxxxxxxx
><snip>
>> I've copies of each 0/S ( legally purchased XP's!) & I' am needing
>> advice on:-
>> 1. Which O/S to choose? ( I'm used to XP & W98, never used W2K.)
>
>Like the others say - WinXP is based on WinNT, (like W2K is)
>& as such is *far* better (more stable) than w9x.
>WinXP is also aimed at Home/Domestic Users (& Gamers etc,) whereas
>W2K wasn't, so WinXP has more features & facilities that suit
>Home/Domestic Users (as opposed to Corporate Users)
>
>W98 only Reads & Writes (from & to) FAT32 Partitions.
>WinXP (& W2K) will handle FAT32 & also the more efficient & more
>Secure NTFS Filing System.
>
>FAT32 is *very* wasteful of space & inefficient, when used with
>Partitions larger than 32GB.
>So (as Ali mentioned), you basically *have* to Partition any Hard Disk
>larger than 32GB, if you're using FAT32 on it.
>
>> 2. How large a hard drive to buy? ( I'm thinking 160 GB, I have music
>> & pix stored on portable drives, but I'm not using more than 41GB on
>> any of my other PC's. H/D's.)
>
>Buy as big a Hard Disk as you can afford, bearing in mind that (up to
>a point) the Price per GB gets less, the Bigger the Hard disk.
>
>> 3. Partitioning. Good idea on a 160 GB drive?
>
>Yes, definitely!!!
>It's a good idea on *any* Hard Disk!!!
> :-)
>
>It's *always* better to have the Operating System Installed on a
>separate Partition (&/or better still on a separate Physical Hard
>Disk), from the Partition/Drive/Disk with your Data on it.
>
>The idea being that you can quickly & easily Wipe the Operating System
>& Re-Install it if & when you need to (as often as you want/need to),
>without having to worry about the Data.
>
>Obviously you should *also* keep *separate* Copies of any stuff that
>you *really* don't want to (or can't afford to) lose, just in case of
>other probs, such as Hard Disk Failure or accidents
>
>>... Would XP do it for me as part of the formatting process?
>
>Yes.
>Well, actually the Partitioning has to be done *before* the Formatting!
> :-)
>
>But yes, the WinXP Install Routine has a Partitioning thingy in it.
>WinXP itself also has a Partitioning thingy - in the GUI (Graphical
>User Interface). The Disk Management Utility (RightClick My Computer>
>Manage to get to it) - or use Start Menu/Control Panel>Administrative
>Tools>Computer Management
>Or get straight to it by using...
>
>Start>Run diskmgmt.msc [OK]
>
>Or you can do it using:
>
>Start>Run diskpart [OK]
>
>But that's a Command Line thingy & many people don't like using
>Command Line things, when they can do it using a GUI
>
>Either way, you can Partition (& Format) the New Hard Disk before you
>do the Installing, or as part of the Installing.
>
>Or you can even (so long as you Set up at least one Partition before
>or during the Installation) do the other Partitions *after* the
>Installation of WinXP.
>
>> Partition sizes?
>> (I'd thought maybe 10 GB for software,
>
>Well, if by "Software", you mean the Operating System & all the
>various Applications that you want to Install, then yep, that sounds
>reasonable.
>
>Obviously you *can* if you wanted/needed to, get away with less, but
>there's really no point, with the Size of most Hard Disk these days.
>It *might* even be worthwhile allocating even more than 10GB?
>
>But I find that even on a machine that has umpteen Pre-Installed
>Applications & loads of Added Applications, that 10 GB is more than
>enough, for the (WinXP) Operating System & all Applications.
>
>That's with the Data (My Documents etc,) on a separate Partition.
>
>>... 50GB for music,
>
>That depends on how much Music you want to store on it!!!
>& also on what Format (& amount of Compression) that you use.
>
>50 GB is...
>51,200 MB, which is...
>52,428,800 KB !
>
>So, using typical MP3 Compression Rates of 128 KB/Sec, 50 GB will give
>you about 409,600 Seconds (52428800/128)
>So, that works out at about 6,826.666 Minutes, which is about 113 Hours
>
>Hang on!...
>
>I think I've worked that out wrong!!!
>It should be a *lot* more than that!
>
>(p'raps someone can tell me where I have gone wrong with that
>calculation?)
>
>Ahhh...
>Maybe it should be 128kbps (Kilo *bits* per Second? (& not Kilo *Bytes*
>per Second), for the typical MP3 BitRate?
>
>If so, then you can multiply that Figure by 8!!! (8 bits per Byte)
>
>You can also work it out, by assuming that a typical (128KB/Sec) MP3
>takes about 1 MB per Minute (60 MB per Hour)
>That's about 2 or 3 MB per Track (50 - 60 MB per CD)
>
>So that way, it works out that in 50 GB you can get about 853 Hours
>of Music (51200/60) or about 1,000 CDs (which is much more like the
>figure I was expecting)!
>
>>... & the remainder for "other stuff".
>
>Well, since Music is likely to be the sort of "stuff" which actually
>takes up the most Space (apart from Video/Recorded TV etc), it *may*
>be worth while Allocating more room for MP3 (& Video)?
>
>Pictures - JPEG (Photos) Are typically only about 2 or 3 MB each
>(unless you have a really High Resolution Camera & want to save them
>all at the highest Quality & Resolution.
>
>So, that means a typical JPEG Photo takes about (very roughly)
>the same Space as a single Track from a CD, so you can get about
>17,066 - 25,600 Photos (or CD Tracks!) into 50 GB (51200/3 - 51200/2)
>
>Other things such as Word processor Documents & SpreadSheets & Text
>Files & HTML Web Pages take up next to no space, in comparison to
>Music &/or Video Files (or Picture Files) - so you can fit *all* the
>Word Processed stuff & SpreadSheets etc that you will *ever* be able
>to write, in prolly a couple of GB, Max. (& that's allowing for multiple
>Revisions & Backups etc.
>
>> Apps.
>
>Apps (Applications) would normally be Installed on the same Partition
>as the Operating System - though *some* Applications (& lots of/most
>Utilities) can happily be Installed on other Partitions (or in the case
>of many Utilities, don't actually need to be Installed, just stored &
>Run when needed.
>
>Oh! - Also make sure to allocate (in your "stuff") Room for the
>Downloaded Install Files of your Applications & Utilities (& Drivers
>for Hardware)
>
>& allow a little space (a few (Hundred?) MB!) for things like your
>Address Book & Favorites & eMails etc, if you want to keep them.
>
>>... for long post, but it does set the background re. what I'm
>> trying to acheive.
>
>Yep - It's a *very* good idea to (at least try to) be reasonably
>clear about what you expect!!!
>
>Then you can relate what you find out from other peoples suggestions
>to that. (& how it affects your expectations/desires)
>
>> Advice, as always gratefully received.
>
>See above!
> :-)
>
>> All will be read, some will be understood, but I'm sure that I'll
>> beneifit from the S/F knowledge-base!
>
>S/F?
>Wassat then?
> :-)
>
>HTH


I know I should snip your post just to save space bit I'd not know
where to begin.

Ta ever so, all good advice & worth printing out for when the new
(250GB) drive is installed, especially the partitioning & formating
commands.
Since the NEC has ( probably ) enough memory & pleanty of disk space I
will use XP SP2.

Since I have no other plannd use for the 40 GB drive it might be fun
to install W2K on it, whilst it's still in the machine, get all the
updates, load whatever other software, (Nero, Internet Security, etc.)
I'd need to run the machine & then store it somewhere as an emergency
backup operating system should I have any prob. with the new drive.

S/F = SilversurFers ???

Probably wrong there too.

Cheers & thanks again., David C.

.

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