Windows 7: One huge C: drive or system on C: and data on D:?

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billbennett

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#74878 9-Jan-2011 13:36

Since Windows 95 I've partitioned my main drive into two virtual drives c: and d:. I put Windows and applications on the C: drive and store documents on the D: drive.

It's not perfect, but the separation has meant I'm left with completely intact data following a system or software meltdown.

I was going to write the word 'always' in that last sentence, but some apps insist on storing data in tucked away corners of the C: drive. In fact, this is even more common with Windows 7 than it was in earlier years.

Another advantage of my approach is my data backups are simple mirrors. No stuffing around with sorting files or compression, straight one-for-one copies.

In the next couple of days I'm upgrading to new Windows 7 system with a 1Tb hard drive.

My question is, do I stick with my tried and tested disk strategy or is it time to dump this approach and put everything on a single C: drive?

Bill Bennett www.billbennett.co.nz @billbennettnz

xpd

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#425452 9-Jan-2011 15:49

Personally Id still stick with the 2 drives - I tend to give my OS drive approx 60GB which holds all my installed stuff and My Documents folder and everything else goes onto the other drive/s. My Documents gets backed up occasionally.

Obviously this setup is only useful if its just software failure causing issues, but if the whole drive physically dies, then you lose everything anyway.

XPD / Gavin

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rvangelder

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#425464 9-Jan-2011 16:18

Store documents on d drive. With windows 7 libraries you can link d drive folders to the windows ones. I have D:\Music\ which is the windows "music" folder.
it pays to record instructions about how these are configured since if you reinstall windows, you'll need to set up the links again.

thorax

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#425471 9-Jan-2011 16:24

Hard drives are so cheap theses days, I mean $60 gets you 250GB. It really comes down to how much you value your data you have to think that hardware failures are inevitable.

Anyway more on topic,
If you really wanted to you could deploy a customized install and move default install/ programdata locations to your second partition but that is a lot more work than just running setup from media.

If you are interested, have a look at vlite, Windows Automated Installation Kit.

dirty hack
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933700

billbennett

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#425477 9-Jan-2011 16:59

Thanks for the advice.

My inclination is to stick with the two drive approach. It's worked for the past decade or so.

Bill Bennett www.billbennett.co.nz @billbennettnz

technicaljoe

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#426688 12-Jan-2011 23:43

Might be a bit late to add my 2 cents, but here it is anyway! :)

I found 3 partitions served me quite well:
- C: for system - 60GB works well.
- D: for data.
- Z: for swap file - 1-2 times the amount of memory size.

Slight improvement to performance and maintenance.