Understanding partitions

I recently posted a question about formatting my drive and partitioning was mentioned quite a lot so I looked into PartitionMagic. It looks like a really good software and I have ordered it.

What I would like to achieve is:
1 primary partition for new OS (XP pro)
1 logical partition for data files
1 logical partiton to install all my software; Office, Photoshop etc.


The things I don't understand are:
When I get the software aren't I going to have to install the software onto my current C: drive to set all this up? If so then this defeats the object of trying to have a seperate partition for software.

I always thought that most software enters things into the registry so how will it be possible to switch between OS and still use all the programmes on the partition with all the software?

If I decide to keep XP pro and get rid of ME, how am I going to be able to do that if PartitionMagic is installed on the ME OS?

Hopefully, someone will understand what I am trying to say. I may have understood the process completly wrong and someone could make me understand it a bit better

Many thanks
CP

 

I'm not sure where you're going with the ME/XP bit, but you say you want the primary to be XP. Great, install it, then install PM, and partition as you like.
You can install ANY program to ANY partition, providing it's available...so...to install PM to a different partition, it needs to be created in fdisk first.
There's no harm in having PM installed on C, and everything else somewhere else...
If you're installing ME first, then partition using fdisk beforehand, so you have at least 1 other partition for XP, then once you decide to rid yourself of ME, you can delete it, and have PM move XP to C, including path updates...or...
Install ME, then PM, make partitions, and install XP.
To share applications between OS's, they need to be installed in both OS's, but they can share the install in most cases...eg:
You have ME on C, XP on D, and programs on E.
Boot to ME, install the program to E, and it runs.
Boot to XP, install the same program, to the same place on E, and it should run in both OS's.
Some programs won't, and there's not much you can do about it because of version differences between ME and XP.
It doesn't matter where PM is installed. Once it's job is done, you can uninstall it. It does NOT need to be on the system for the partitioning scheme to work.

 

how am I going to be able to do that if PartitionMagic is installed on the ME OS?

Ist off make the Partition Magic Bootable floppys and then run PM from the Floppys.

Once the floppys are made PM can actiually be uninstalled from the HD.

PM runs and works more reliable when run from the floppys anyway. Then the OS has nothing to do with it.

I installed PM years ago. Made the floppy and have not had PM installed since.

BillyBob

 

I can understand the benifit of having a seperate data partition but what is the point of having a seperate partition for software if I am going to have to reinstall all the software everytime I reinstall the OS (which in the past has been every 6-9 months)

CP

 

With one partition just for the OS, and another for installed programs and another for data files, defragging takes less time. Suppose you have a major system crash, and need to format, only the OS partition is formatted.
Another reason is to prevent wasted hard drive space due to Slack. With a smaller partition, you have smaller Cluster Sizes. Say you have a 1024 byte file saved to the hard drive, and you have it on a partition with a size of 8gb. This would give you a cluster size of 4096 bytes. Since the file size is smaller than the cluster size, it is not using the rest of the cluster. No other file can use this extra space. Two files cannot share a cluster. So you would have 3068 bytes going to waste. If the file size was 4097 bytes, it would be occupying two clusters, the second cluster just to hold 1 byte of data.
Multiply this by thousands of files, and you will see that it quickly adds up. If the partition is 40 gb, the cluster size will be increased to 32kb. Instead of wasting 3kb, you would be wasting 31kb. But, if one partition is used for only saving large files, you would not be harmed so much having a larger partition, but the OS has hundreds of small files.
If you installed 98SE on a 40gb partition, you could be wasting up close to 110mb. While 110mb is not much compared to 40gb, it is something to think of.

 

Where could I find info as to how much space to allocate for various OS?

If I have a seperate partition for programs and OS and the OS has a major crash, would I bnot have to install all my programs again anyway?

Many thanks
CP

 

I can tell you that 2gb is more than enough for 98SE. Search this forum, I believe there are other opinions on this.
Yes, you would have to install them again. But, if you had something you considered important saved on one of the logical drives, they would still be there. It is something I learned years ago, when a 286 was cutting edge, and a window was something you put an air conditioner in.
Backup, backup, backup.
If you think it all pointless, put everything on one partition. Your computer and your choice. Whatever floats your boat.

 

If you're looking for an easy way out when it comes time to reformat, then get Norton Ghost, and make an image of the boot drive. If it crashes and you need to format/reinstall, you can install the image, and it will be identical to what you had before the crash.
XP also has the System Restore function, which I have never had problems with, although others have cursed it's existence more than once.
Depending on size of drive, I always partition at minimum 2 drives, usually 3, and sometimes as many as 5. Far less time spent defragging and things are just easier to find on a big drive.
Windows 9x will run nicely in 2 gig, you don't really need more.
Windows 2k will want about 3 gig, and XP about 4. YMMV