Need installing OS info

[polkcountyguy24]

Hi i was wanting to know does it matter what size hdd you install windows os too i have a 750gb hdd or does windows work better on a smaller hdd

[rwest]

Not really any performance better. But it's a little better if your OS is on a diiferent drive or partition, just in case the OS gets infected, hacked , hosed or whatever. You can reinstall without losing data.
XP should get about 30-50 gig to leave a little room.
I'm not sure with Vista or Win 7

The disadavantage is, all default install locations are set for the 'C' drive. When installing programs you'll need to customize the install to access the other drive.

HDD Size
Depends on the OS and file system:

There was a size limitation with early versions of XP(137gig), but I 'm pretty sure it got fixed with SP2. This I believe is for an OS installed on a Fat32 file system, I think if XP was installed over NTFS there's not a limit.

Info on the size limit for a FAT32 file system, it's quite techy. Here's a link if you need it:
Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP

For the most part if your using Vista or newer, I think you shouldn't have any problems.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Just make sure that at least 15% of the OS partition will always be free space, so that you don't experience slow downs.

[rwest]

NK what's the acceptable amount a space for Vista and 7, do you know?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Well, Windows 7 takes about 15 GB, plus applications. Plus it'll get fatter as you install those endless upgrades.

[polkcountyguy24]

so if i wanted to install say pc games to a 2nd hdd and keep windows 7 of my first drive what do i need to do to set the other drive up to install games?

[rwest]

Well 750gig is a pretty good size drive. Do you have a smaller drive to load the OS to? Or do you want to purchase one?

If you want to purchase one you could get a small drive for a nominal cost. Or you could go with one of the newest deals offered, and get like a terabyte or two, and have a drive that supports 6gig/s. Then you could use your 750 as the primary and alot space to work with.

You also have the option to parition the 750gig hdd drive to create two seperate locations. When in Windows, it will appear as two different drives.

You could seperate the 750gig into just enough for the OS and have one partition about 25-30gig at least, and the rest partitioned for apps. Or you may want to have a bit more on the primary. When I set up this way I usually leave quite a bit of room on my primary. I personally would do like 70-90gig for the primary, and leave the rest for apps. No real reason, just more of a security net for me, in case I wish to installl an application or two on the primary.

My current set up is partitioned with 32bit XP on the first 240gig and 64bit Win7 on the second with just under 400gig. Then I have another 640gig drive for saved files. The apps are saved to the partition for which OS I plan to use it with.

[Nuclear Krusader]

You could partition that 750 gigger into a 200 GB partition for the OS and apps, and the rest (which will be ~500 GB) for your games and personal data.

[rwest]

I actually like Nk's suggestion, and it's probably the best choice and cost effective too. When loading apps you can use the default settings with no problems and you can save a backup to the second partition, in case the OS gets nailed. You'd have to reload the apps if that happens but the data can be saved to the second partiton also.