partition magic

[shazam]

This weekend i will be putting together my first build. Someone suggested i install partition magic. That it is very helpfull for a newbe. I know nothing of this software and any thing would be helpfull to me.But is it worth it.Also is it for new builds only. Would you install it before you install the os or after.I am installing a 80g hard drive an am not certain on just how i should partition it. thanks

[Kubie]

shazam,
Partition Magic is not a "must have", but in your case where you don't know what partitions you want, it may be a good idea.
If you are going to use W2K or a XP O/S, put some thought into what you want to do and then partition with the O/S.
The real advantage with PM is that you can repartition with data already on the drive.
Carl

[Statica]

Ok, partition magic is a very useful tool, no doubt about it, but the quesiton is do you really need it?
What is partition magic?
Partition magic is a software whose central use (yes there are some other related uses to it) is to resize an existing partition without losing any data from the drive. This is particularly useful if you realize that you are running short of space on a particular partition and want to allocate some more space to it. Or perhaps you want to dabble in another operating system. For most people, this isnt something that they really use.

Why you probably wouldnt need it.
As you said, this is a new build - this is for a fresh clean hard drive that you are going to partition and format with a new operating system, correct? Every operating system out there (I have no idea what you intend to use for your computer) has its own partition program to allow you to create partitions & logical drives and then format it to a filesystem of your choice. As you can see, when you have the functionality of being able to partition and format a drive to your liking, you really dont need another piece of software to do things that you probably will never need to do. Would recommend you spend the money on an antivirus, if you havent already budgetted for it.

What you could do is post back with the type of operating system you are using, and someone will help you out on how to get the OS installed and an ideal partitioning schema.
Personally for an 80GB drive, this is what I would recommend (again the assumption is you are using a Microsoft OS, say XP or 2000) -
C drive : 10GB : contents - Windows and related service packs etc, that Windows needs
D drive : 40GB : contents - Programs, all 3rd party software, for example Microsoft Office or a DVD player reside here
E drive : 20GB : contents - documents, and other important data files
F drive : 10GB : contents - files with a short lifecycle, for example mp3 files or images that are temporarily there on your computer before you burn it onto a CD/DVD

Of course that is just a recommendation, you could partition it as and how you would like - the important things I would recommend are
(a) use a separate partition for your Windows OS and give it at least 10GB - lets call it the system partition
(b) do not install 3rd party software to the system partition Of course, every piece of software likes to ask that they be installed to C:\Program Files\ take the extra effort during installation of these programs and install it to another partition- like D:\Office\

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However if you are insistent on getting Partition Magic, then to answer your question - it has to be installed after your Windows is set up. Which brings me back to why you dont need it - as and when you need it you can always buy it later .. you would stand to benefit from having a newer version at that time, with better features and less bugs.

HTH

[bailey]

from my experience:
you really do not install it at all.
its use will have you create two floppy disks and you will run it from the flopy disk, one is a boot disk and the other is a program disk, its operations are usally done in dos mode.

at least this is the way I have alwys used it

[homer15]

yea, it's a program that runs completely from a cd or disk. you would use it before you install anything on the computer, to create partitions on your harddrive. like statica said, though, if you're going with a newer OS, you can boot up straight from the cd and during the install it'll instruct you to create partitions.

[shazam]

Thanks to all. I have a better understading of what it does. I think I can do with out it. I appreciate the quick responce. Also saved some $$$$.Thanks to statca for detailed explanation very help full.

[homer15]

he has that description saved on his computer sompelace so he could look really smart when it's needed.

[shazam]

Good shot homer15. I am installing xp home.I will use this comp mostly for photos that i want to burn to give to my grandkids.Ihave over 50 years of photos that i would like to give them so they will have something to remember us by. I will probably never get them all copyed but will try.So basicly that is what i will be useing for.

[Statica]

Originally posted by homer15 he has that description saved on his computer sompelace so he could look really smart when it's needed.

Yeah I saved it from powerquest's website, its under the section : Why you really dont need to spend money to buy our products.

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50 yrs worth of photographs makes for very invaluable data. I wish you the best at keeping them archived.
You can get XP installed without even a blink, however, I would urge you to look into protecting all that data. Keep a copy of a real nice updated antivirus running, get yourself a router if you dont have one. That will prevent you from getting critters into your system forcing your hand into cleaning out the system and start afresh. Those are controllable factors in keeping your data safe.

For protection against the uncontrollable factors - like for example, random hard drive crashes cos of mfger defects etc I'd suggest this -
I have no idea about the system specs and all that, but I thought I'd also point this out - a lot of motherboards out there come with onboard RAID controllers; for the price of partionmagic, you could get another 80GB drive and run it as a mirrored drive.

These are just some of the options out there.

[shazam]

thanks again to all and thanks for the fast replys.Have a good super bowl week end.

[bailey]

I have done the same thing basicly, and then burned all ther photos to a cd, and made several copies of the cd.
all the photos for 3 generations and all there families are saved that way, now there is no need to keep them on the hard drive

[shazam]

That is what i want to do.So with that in mine,and not doing tomuch more than surfing the web, what are some good examples on partitioning.Would 8g for os and the rest for photos?

[shazam]

Boy my last statement was prity stupid. Wrote with out thinking. I think i will go with your suggestion statica. I must be getting old.

[LarryC]

Burn wo copies of the photos on CD's, keep one and leave the other one with a family member just in case of a disaster at home.

[bailey]

heck I burned a bunch of copies and sent one to everyone in the family for christmas.

[shazam]

Do you suggest a better software than the one that will come with my liteon burner.

[shazam]

statica I should have gotten back to you sooner. My last reply should have read a good but not to expensive editing s/o for what I want to do.You will have to excuse some one old enough to be your granfather I dont allways get things right. These are my spec,s They (parts) should be coming feb 2.win xp home,cpu p2.4c ghz800m 475p/512k ht,intel,ddram 256x2 ddr400 ce pc3200 (2) kingston,hd 80gb/wd 7200 8 mb wd800jb,fd 1.44 panasonic, cdrw/dvd liteon.mb,p4 intel 865g,case antec slk3700-bqe 350w.I hope I did fair to middlin. Thanks again for the info.