Partitoning HDD

tanusgreystar · 01-25-2009, 05:25 PM

Hi. I am runnning XP home on a 750gb HDD. I want to partition it so that the os is separate from my data files (mostly music). What would be a good partition size for the os? Also, what would be a good size for backup purposes? I'm using Partition magic. Thanks.

**raptor_pa** · 01-25-2009, 05:55 PM

Backing up to a partition on the same drive is not advisable, if the drive fails physically, or the partition table gets damaged, your backup is toast. There is no appreciable speed improvement in partitioning a drive. Organization could be a bit easier... The question becomes do you want a partition strictly for data files, or for data and apps> Or are you going to install the apps to the OS partition? Why use partition magic, just partition during windows setup, i've always used the OS tools unless there is good reason to use third party tools..

tanusgreystar · 01-25-2009, 06:23 PM

I'm using the 3rd party app because I've already installed the os. I want to keep my data separate in case something happens to the os, which has happened before. Then I can just slave the HDD and get the data off of it if I can't get the pc to boot.

**raptor_pa** · 01-25-2009, 07:15 PM

You should still have a backup plan, not just a recovery plan, a physical failure of the drive will result in a loss of both partitions. If the OS fails you could still slave the drive and copy your data even if there is only one partition. If the partition table or MBR get corrupted, the second partition will also be lost. If you are running OS only in the first partition 30 - 50 GB would be plaenty, if you are loading or have loaded your games and apps to that partition, then the size will depend on what you have loaded. I just don't want you to have a false sense of security in recovering your data, partitioning one big drive does nothing to truly protect or simplify recovery....

tanusgreystar · 01-25-2009, 07:27 PM

Well I was thinking of using another pc as a file server. Perhaps I could use that to back things up.

**raptor_pa** · 01-25-2009, 07:38 PM

That would be preferrable, or another physical drive dedicated to backups would work too.

martinjamming · 01-25-2009, 07:54 PM

As a follow up...

Just today I started reading about RAID levels... there's a function which "mirrors" data from one HD to the other. Does it mean that I can have two HDs and use one of them as a backup only with the system automatically "mirroring" the data?

Or, in simpler words, would this function copy the data from one device to the other?

**raptor_pa** · 01-25-2009, 08:12 PM

A mirrored raid will have two disks, which must be the same capacity ( not just in GB but with same max LBA ) acting as one logical drive. The mirror is not a backup so much as a redundant disk. If one HD fails, the system can continue to function until the failed drive can be replaced and the mirror restored. This protects against physical failure of a disk. However if you write corrupted data to one drive, you also write it to the second in the mirror since both discs are basically updated simultaneously. Any RAID configuration that provides redundancy 9 commonly RAID 1 and RAID 5 ) will only protect against physical failure. Raids are NOT a replacement for regular backups! I run SCSI mirrors on all my servers at work, but still do two different nightly backups. One to another hard Drive for 'quick' recoveries if someone deletes a file or a file gets corrupted and one to tape so that the last backup can be taken off site each night.
The basic answer to your question is no, a mirror is not a backup strategy - it is designed to allow the system to continue with a failed drive, uptime is what it primarily provides....

Edgedev · 01-25-2009, 08:20 PM

Easus partitioning program is awesome when it comes to doing any type of shrinking, or reformatting. It's free, and it works quick and realible.

**linderman** · 01-26-2009, 04:10 PM

shadow protect is the tool for back-ups

if you prefer a less featured but freebie ............. Driveimage XML

they have a youtube video how to use driveimagexml ....... its easy and gives you multiple chances at making drive data image copies which is far better than a one shot approach

dont be one of the recovery software victims .................. back up your data to another hard drive and then you will have safe data redundancy

01-25-2009, 05:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
tanusgreystar Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Augusta, ME Posts: 141 OS: XP	Partitoning HDD Hi. I am runnning XP home on a 750gb HDD. I want to partition it so that the os is separate from my data files (mostly music). What would be a good partition size for the os? Also, what would be a good size for backup purposes? I'm using Partition magic. Thanks.

01-25-2009, 05:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,924 OS: XP	Re: Partitoning HDD Backing up to a partition on the same drive is not advisable, if the drive fails physically, or the partition table gets damaged, your backup is toast. There is no appreciable speed improvement in partitioning a drive. Organization could be a bit easier... The question becomes do you want a partition strictly for data files, or for data and apps> Or are you going to install the apps to the OS partition? Why use partition magic, just partition during windows setup, i've always used the OS tools unless there is good reason to use third party tools.. __________________

01-25-2009, 06:23 PM	#3 (permalink)
tanusgreystar Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Augusta, ME Posts: 141 OS: XP	Re: Partitoning HDD I'm using the 3rd party app because I've already installed the os. I want to keep my data separate in case something happens to the os, which has happened before. Then I can just slave the HDD and get the data off of it if I can't get the pc to boot.

01-25-2009, 07:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,924 OS: XP	Re: Partitoning HDD You should still have a backup plan, not just a recovery plan, a physical failure of the drive will result in a loss of both partitions. If the OS fails you could still slave the drive and copy your data even if there is only one partition. If the partition table or MBR get corrupted, the second partition will also be lost. If you are running OS only in the first partition 30 - 50 GB would be plaenty, if you are loading or have loaded your games and apps to that partition, then the size will depend on what you have loaded. I just don't want you to have a false sense of security in recovering your data, partitioning one big drive does nothing to truly protect or simplify recovery.... __________________

01-25-2009, 07:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
tanusgreystar Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Augusta, ME Posts: 141 OS: XP	Re: Partitoning HDD Well I was thinking of using another pc as a file server. Perhaps I could use that to back things up.

01-25-2009, 07:38 PM	#6 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,924 OS: XP	Re: Partitoning HDD That would be preferrable, or another physical drive dedicated to backups would work too. __________________

01-25-2009, 07:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
martinjamming Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3 OS: MS Windows XP SP2	Re: Partitoning HDD As a follow up... Just today I started reading about RAID levels... there's a function which "mirrors" data from one HD to the other. Does it mean that I can have two HDs and use one of them as a backup only with the system automatically "mirroring" the data? Or, in simpler words, would this function copy the data from one device to the other?

01-25-2009, 08:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,924 OS: XP	Re: Partitoning HDD A mirrored raid will have two disks, which must be the same capacity ( not just in GB but with same max LBA ) acting as one logical drive. The mirror is not a backup so much as a redundant disk. If one HD fails, the system can continue to function until the failed drive can be replaced and the mirror restored. This protects against physical failure of a disk. However if you write corrupted data to one drive, you also write it to the second in the mirror since both discs are basically updated simultaneously. Any RAID configuration that provides redundancy 9 commonly RAID 1 and RAID 5 ) will only protect against physical failure. Raids are NOT a replacement for regular backups! I run SCSI mirrors on all my servers at work, but still do two different nightly backups. One to another hard Drive for 'quick' recoveries if someone deletes a file or a file gets corrupted and one to tape so that the last backup can be taken off site each night. The basic answer to your question is no, a mirror is not a backup strategy - it is designed to allow the system to continue with a failed drive, uptime is what it primarily provides.... __________________

01-25-2009, 08:20 PM	#9 (permalink)
Edgedev Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 81 OS: Windows XP Pro	Re: Partitoning HDD Easus partitioning program is awesome when it comes to doing any type of shrinking, or reformatting. It's free, and it works quick and realible.

01-26-2009, 04:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,441 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: Partitoning HDD shadow protect is the tool for back-ups if you prefer a less featured but freebie ............. Driveimage XML they have a youtube video how to use driveimagexml ....... its easy and gives you multiple chances at making drive data image copies which is far better than a one shot approach dont be one of the recovery software victims .................. back up your data to another hard drive and then you will have safe data redundancy __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial