moving Temp Folders

[bobby-jo]

Hi. I have jut got my new hard drive today and needed some advice on partitions etc.

Heres the plan...
Disk 1, 80 Gb
C: OS only, 65Gb
Swap File, 5 Gb
Temp/Internet files etc. 10 Gb

Disk 2, 320 Gb
Programs, 70 Gb
My Docs, 50Gb
Music, 50Gb
Games, 50Gb
Photos/Pics, 50Gb
Backups/Excess space, 50Gb

I know some of these sizes may seem a bit excessive so any advice would be good!

How or is it possiblet to move windows temp folder, Internet temp, cookies etc. All or any of them. Thanks!

[AnotherMuggle]

Hi, I have some views on these partitions and I don't know if they will conflict with those of other people but we will soon see.

Firstly I would create a partition that stores both the OS and the programs in a single location. The reason for this is because when you install programs they create files and make changes to files critital for both the programs and the OS. As far as I know there is no real advantage of seperating the two onto different partitions.

Again...I don't see a reason to seperate the temporary internet files and likewise to another location. Personally I delete all these files on a regular basis anyway as they can contain person information and can pass on information about your browsing habbits to others on the internet...often spammers etc.

I would make the My Docs, Music and Games partions a lot larger as they will be your primary locations for storage.

Finally, I would have the Backups partion on a drive seperate to the physical drive that stores the originals, disk 2 in this case, or else it defeats the object of a backup.

I hope this helps

[Statica]

The thought of separating programs and core OS installations is a very good idea. There are tons of advantages to doing it. A lot of programs dont necessarily use system files or any of the designated areas for applications (\Program Files\; \Program Files\Common Files\; or even \Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\ etc)... these programs use their own proprietary trees to store their data and configurations. Usually the most vulnerable piece of a system is the OS itself, should the OS partition go bad - you'd still have a way to recover your program data and configurations.

With Windows, I also dont see the point of a swap partition, simply because a lot of Windows files are of a very low lifecycle anyway - frequent updates etc. There is really no advantage to moving the swap file away in terms of reducing disk fragmentation. I'd definitely move it back to the original system partition unless you have very specific needs.

Internet cache is another very subjective area, given the number of browsers that you may use. Again, having it with the system partition isn't all that bad an idea.

Personally, I'd reduce your Windows partition from 65GB to something in the 15-20gb range. If you're not installing programs to it then 65GB is a tad large.
I also dont like the partitioning of drives for Photos, Music, etc etc. The advantage of using one partition and multiple directories allows you to be more fluid. For example, you may have only about 20 GB worth of pix but might end up collecting 70 GB worth of music. By forcing such partitions, you paint yourself in a corner.

Personally this is what I'd do:
Disk 1:
System partition : 20 GB (no programs other than those shipping with XP, inclusive of pagefile and cache)
Program partition: 60 GB

Disk 2: 320GB
Games: 100GB
Documents (Docs, Images, JPGs): 180 GB
Generic: 40GB - for miscellaneous (this would be optional)

[bobby-jo]

Iv just installed the drive, but windows only 'sees' 130 Gb of the drive.

Is there a way to get it to 'see' the rest of it? I have installed seagates disk wizard software but i still only have 130 Gb of the 320 Gb!

I also have partition magic to partition my drives with, this only 'sees' the 130 Gb that windows does.

Any help would be great! thanks!

[jayb1234]

See this.

Most likely is that you don't have SP2 installed.

One option to avoid resizing the partitions is to make a disk with SP2 slipstreamed with XP.

Here is one guide, or google XP slipstream SP2 for a bunch of others.

[glc]

You need 2 things to see over 130gb. You need a compliant bios, and you need a compliant OS. XP with SP1 or SP2 is compliant.

[bobby-jo]

My BIOS says the drive is 320 Gb, although it does not say anything about the cylinders etc. that it does about my original drive.

LBA is enabled in the BIOS, i do not know what this means, but it was like it by default and the seagate website says to have it enabled so i have left it as it is.

[glc]

Okay - now what version of Windows do you have with which service pack level?

[bobby-jo]

Its XP PRO, service pack 1. If I was to in stall SP 2 might that solve the problem?

I have it on a CD (from a magazene I think) but have been avoiding installing it untill some of the original 'bugs' had been rectified. I did hear that a lot of games and programs would not work with SP 2

Edit: Iv just been looking at this article on the microsoft knoledge base...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303013/en-us
I checked on the system properties (right click my computer/prperties) IT stys I have XP Pro, but does not say about which service pack, does this mean it is not SP 1?

[glc]

Yep. You have NO service packs.

[bobby-jo]

Thats the problem I take it then? So SP 2 Will solve this?

Sorry its taken so long to get you all the info you needed, but thanks for the help!

[doubledragon5]

After any installation of Windows whether sp1 or sp2 you should go to the Windows update page and download any fixes that came out before you installed the OS.. Then you should proceed with any installation of programs...

[bobby-jo]

Right, finally got SP 2 Installed. iv started moving things around, my docs etc. but wondered, I have all my games on one partition but want to move them to the new drive, can i jus 'drag and drop' or is it more difficult?

cheers!

[TPM]

Hello Bobbi-Jo I have two 80 gig drives with the first drive having 2 partitions, One being my operating system with programs and the second partition on the first drive being my personal Docs and such. I orinially had my docs on my 2nd hard drive but found I couldn't password protect it unless it was an "extended partition". On the 2nd drive I made 2 partitions one being for photos and music and the 2nd partition being for misc. with a backup folder as well.
My paging file is on the 2nd partition of my 1st hard drive, set at 3X my memory. Also have the min and max size set the same so as it will not fragment. But that's just me.

Good luck

[glc]

Originally Posted by bobby-jo I have all my games on one partition but want to move them to the new drive, can i jus 'drag and drop' or is it more difficult? cheers!

They will all need to be uninstalled and reinstalled.

This is why I go against what a lot of people recommend here. I do not partition my drives. I just put everything on C. That's called keeping it simple. I use Acronis True Image to do backups of the whole mess.

[Statica]

You could just drag and drop the games into the new drive's partition and simply exchange the drive letters..

[glc]

That's assuming you are not talking about a system partition.