To partition or not to partition?

[yankeegolf3 51]

hello,

 

All the guys that I know who  partionned their HHDs have regreted it because eventually there was not enough space where needed while there was plenty of space where not needed and then you cannot adjust the size of the partitions (except with  dedicated payware software).  Besides, if the HDD fails, your paritions are lost.  In my opinion partitions were useful years ago when HDD were costly and of small capacity.Buy several HDDs instead, you will have more flexibility.

[spirit_66 2]

Of course 2 SSD at 512 GB are easier to handle then one SSD/HDD with 1 TB. But I would always partitioning any disk, because it makes things better to handle. It also forces you not to keep each rubbish till a 512 GB or whatever sized disk is full.

It's like trowing stuff in a storage room without system.

Spirit

[Dave_YVR 968]

There's just no need to partition these days. It's a leftover from days gone by. If you want your FS or P3d on a different drive than your OS then get a different drive.

[Guest]

 

 

If one like to live in a mess, well then don't make partitions.

 

 

 

because it makes things better to handle

 

Using one disk for everything doesn't mean it will become a mess, of course. That's all up to the user. Windows gives you the option to create folders! My 1 TB HD is quite full but very tidy and well organised. I rather organise my stuff using folders than using partitions. No waste of space and no waste of performance.

[spirit_66 2]

Using one disk for everything doesn't mean it will become a mess, of course. That's all up to the user. Windows gives you the option to create folders! My 1 TB HD is quite full but very tidy and well organised. I rather organise my stuff using folders than using partitions. No waste of space and no waste of performance.

Hi Jeroen,

as the Term PC = Personal Computer says it's solely your own decision what to do because it's your PC. Be happy and enjoy what you have and I do the same. :rolleyes:

Spirit

[vololiberista 205]

There's one small problem with having absolutely 'everything' on a single partition. If you get hit by a virus, worm et all you risk loosing eveything. Absolutely 'everything'. Any performance loss can be measured in milli-seconds or at best micro-seconds. Some years ago I had a virus that attacked my then spyware programme and Windows. Thus preventing me access to my machine. The local computer shop were all for reformatting everything. I resisted and found a way to kill windows and re-install it over the top. Had that not worked I still would have been able to recover all my personal data because it was on other partitions. All my sim stuff was secure.

[n4gix 4,947]

Using one disk for everything doesn't mean it will become a mess, of course. That's all up to the user. Windows gives you the option to create folders!

I am a great fan of folders and sub-folders...

 

A true 'horror story' from decades ago, the dark and ancient time of DOS operating systems. I earned quite a bit of money "fixing messes" customers had made of their expensive desktop paperweights. :wacko:

 

I lost count of how many times when on first examination I found that the owner had saved literally everything in the C:\ root! Absolutely no directory/sub-directory* structure at all. :Shocked:

 

It would take me hours to create some order out of such chaos... but then... :Money Eyes:

 

* I suspect that changing those terms to folder/sub-folder has been somewhat of a help since it more closely resembles the paradigm of a filing cabinet drawer.

[mseelbinder 0]

First,

     Thanks for all who have contributed ... a lot to digest (especially on a now-flattened budget.)

 

     To add to the fray:  Window 8.1 apparently allows one to adjust partition sizes.  My inclination is to put all the executables down in the same partition as the OS, and leave the upper partition for static-type files - downloads, zips, etc.

 

     I haven't tried to resize the partitions yet ... not quite sure I want to play with that right now.

 

Mark

[GHD 21]

No one has mentioned fragmentation. Over time, a single file may have fragments scattered all over a partition. If there is only one partition, the heads will be continuously seeking.

 

[Guest]

No one has mentioned fragmentation. Over time, a single file may have fragments scattered all over a partition. If there is only one partition, the heads will be continuously seeking.

 

But that's also true when you use partitions. Even worse, with partitions that same head has so seek over various partitions also.

[GHD 21]

But that's also true when you use partitions. Even worse, with partitions that same head has so seek over various partitions also.

No, fragmentation is confined to the partition in which the file resides.

[spirit_66 2]

But that's also true when you use partitions. Even worse, with partitions that same head has so seek over various partitions also.

Use a SSD and you need not to think about fragmentation anymore. HDD is out!!

Spirit

[SteveW 1,792]

As drives became very large capacity with very high data densities, new software strategies have been employed to cope with problems such as failing sectors and these drives can be found reorganising data day to day. Enhancements to this kind of software led to the present day systems employed on SSDs. Most large drives now have virtualised file layouts so defragging makes no sense since only the allocation table is reorganised. All files are split into 4k chunks on Windows anyway meaning the drive has already to pick from millions of multiple parts. Defragging is a good example of modern snake oil, but maybe your hair will grow back. Partitioning really does make the heads move to an entirely other location on the disk all the time and it's always been bad news for the life of the drive. By the way, don't defrag an SSD.

[Guest]

No, fragmentation is confined to the partition in which the file resides.

 

LOL That's rather obvious. But that's exactly my point: you get defragmentation with partitions too.

 

 

 

Use a SSD and you need not to think about fragmentation anymore. HDD is out!!

 

Amen to that! I'be got three SSD's for everything that matters and only 1 HDD for my downloads, backups, data, etc. I can't imagine NOT using SSD's!

[SteveW 1,792]

I'm using an Intel RAID10 setup with 4 2TB drives and that's not far off the read speed of a good SSD, writes are fast and it's constantly auto-backed up