Advantages to partitioning Windows XP?

November 15, 2004 12:45 PM

Are there any real advantages to running Windows XP on a partitioned hard drive, with a different partition each for Windows, programs, and files?
posted by tranquileye to computers & internet (6 comments total)

You can reinstall the OS every once in a while without having to move your data around too.
posted by yerfatma at 1:06 PM on November 15, 2004

Yup. I partition my HD so that my Windows + Programs is on one partition, and my files are on another. That way, I can ruthlessly format C anytime I want, and reinstall everything without data loss.

(Except for the Fonts folder -- I always forget to back that up.)
posted by Jairus at 1:42 PM on November 15, 2004

The big problem is that, without careful attention to detail, you'll be storing a lot of data on the Windows partition, in the XP equivalent of the "Documents and Settings" folder hierarchy. Otherwise, I think it's a sensible strategy.
posted by lodurr at 2:09 PM on November 15, 2004

Applications are generally static; data are generally volatile. Separating the data volume from the apps volume simplifies performing back-ups and defragging.
posted by SPrintF at 7:35 PM on November 15, 2004

There'd be no performance benefit as there could well be if you were to use multiple disks instead of multiple partitions on one disk. But it's still a good idea for the reasons mentioned above.

Jairus: it's possible in Win2k to use something other than the default location for the Fonts folder. I assume it'd still work in XP. You need to edit the registry or use a program that'd make the appropriate changes for you. I did it ages ago mostly to save space on my system partition (I have a lot of fonts)
posted by TimeFactor at 8:47 PM on November 15, 2004

Microsoft's TweakUI for XP (free!) will allow your to set many system data folders including fonts, my documents, my pictures, etc. to any location you want (some can't be on network drives) without having to dive into the registery
posted by Mitheral at 2:55 PM on November 17, 2004