* Windows does not let you split partitions, only delete and create from unallocated space, so something along the lines of Partition Magic is indeed needed.
* You will need at least two partitions, one for Windows and one for the Linux distro. The size depends on which flavor of Linux you plan on installing and how much you plan on using it...will you install a lot of programs and use it heavily or just lightly once in a while?
* A third partition for your multimedia is optional. It's nice to set it up this way in case Windows becomes corrupt, slightly reducing the risk of data loss while repairing the OS, but isn't necessary. It would also enable easier access to the files from both Windows and Linux. The size should depend on how much you plan on storing there, leaving a couple extra GBs for a buffer zone.
* NTFS is best for the Windows installation as it supports EFS encryption, enhanced data compression, etc. Linux will recommend its own while FAT32 would be appropriate for the multimedia partition, if you create it, reducing the chances of compatibility issues while accessing the data from outside Windows.
* The swap file (paging file) is used as virtual RAM, regardless of how much physical RAM you actually have. Some create a separate partition to house it, but that's unnecessary and provides no noticeable benefit.
* You could set aside unallocated (free) space or split existing partitions into new ones down the road...it's up to you. Splitting partitions has some risk of data loss, so it''s a judgment call.
* Extended logical partitions are not what you'd be looking for at that point.
* If that's a retail copy of XP then you can run a repair installation with very little chance of data loss. OEM installations, on the other hand, are trickier, and if it's a manufacturer's recovery system it could wipe all partitions. Thus, as a general rule, always backup what you can't afford to lose.
* Yes, anything that infects your computer can spread between partitions or affect files on other partitions if it's designed to. There is absolutely no protection there, and is another reason for maintaining backups.
* You just need to defragment the individual partitions as necessary. The Windows partition would likely need it the most, and the Linux partition the least.
* Yes, you really do need to scan your entire hard drive, not just the local partition. As stated above, it can spread, so if you only scan C: you're leaving yourself at risk.
* The above mentioned partitioning scheme is fine for both fragmentation and scanning situations.
* Partition Magic has a nice guide available for download from the product website. That will get you started.
* Ghosting your hard drive is a good idea, but you need to store the image on CD/DVDs or an external hard drive, otherwise it defeats the purpose. As to the FAT32 issue, I honestly can't remember for that version, but the user manual can sort that out.
Hope this helps,
John
Hi Editor,
I have a new Dell Dimension 9100 computer, 3GHz dual core intel processor, 1GB RAM, Windows XP Professional Operating System with SP2, 160GB hard disk, etc. It has been left untouched for half a year just because I do not know how to partition my hard disk. The new computer comes with only 1 partition for the whole 160GB hard disk. I do not know how to manually partition my hard disk so I plan to use PartitionMagic 8.0 to partition my hard disk. I need to know what is the best way to partition my 160GB of hard disk like for example, the number and type of partitions to create, what's the partition created for and how to do it using PartitionMagic 8.0?
Currently my new computer is running Windows XP Professional operating system. I want to use my computer mainly to surf the Internet, play and store thousands of MP3s songs, watch and store videos, photos and programs. In near future, I would also like to install Linux operating system in it. Sometimes I will also be using my computer for editing videos and photos. I will also use it to play games but not very often. In view of what I mentioned above, how do I partition my 160GB hard disk? How many partitions do I need, for example, is it better to have a separate partition, each for video files, music files, and photo files? Is it better to have a separate partition for programs/applications or should programs and applications be stored in same partition as my Windows XP Professional operating system? How should I partition my hard disk so that programs and music files and video files, etc, can open up and run efficiently and reasonably fast? What is a swap file partition and do I need one for it? What type of partition for each of the above-mentioned storage purpose, such as FAT32, NTFS, etc? What do I need to do if in future I want to add additional partitions to my hard disk - should I reserve some free space in my hard disk for future partition needs and how do I go about doing this..... as in extended logical partition or what...hope you know what I mean?
Another question that is hanging in my mind for a long time and is important to me is what is the best partition strategy for say, when my Windows XP Professional operating system crashes and I need to reinstall or install a new one, how should I partition my hard disk in such a way that I can simply put in my operating system disk into my DVD ROM and do the job while my video, mp3, photo files and other data files will not be lost? In other words, just simply reinstall my operating system and all my other files are not lost or affected. Hope you do know what I mean. This is important to me because I surf the net often and there will often be times my computer would be infected with trojans and viruses and spywares and times my registry or system files could be corrupted and thus I would need to reinstall my operating system. So I hope there could be a simple way to do this (reinstall my operating system) and not lose my other files and data in my hard disk. How should I partition my hard disk for my operating system, programs/applications, video, mp3, photo, data files for this purpose? BTW, just curious, when surfing the net and you caught a virus or a trojan or a spyware, will that particular virus, trojan or spyware be spread to the other partitions in the hard disk?? When I defragment my hard disk, do I really need to defragment my whole entire 160GB of hard disk or could I just defragment the necessary partitions? is there a faster and yet effective way to defragment my 160GB hard disk as such would take a very very long time. Will having
the right partition strategy help in this matter? And if it does help, what partition strategy should I use? Also, do I really have to do a virus scan on my entire 160GB hard disk (that would take ages to complete). Do people have to scan their entire hard disk for viruses or is there a better and faster way to do our virus scan?
Lastly, I would be using PartitionMagic to do the partitioning. Is there any drawbacks using PartitionMagic? I am new to PartitionMagic, could someone guide me to how to use it? BTW, any idea where can I find online resources to understand about how to partition my hard disk in such a way that my computer can function at its optimal efficiency and performance? I have searched Google and am overwhelmed by the millions of topics it has found. I have read some but some of it is not relevant to my questions or my particular usage and storage purposes.
As you can see, I know nothing about partitioning strategies. There are so many ways but what is best for my computer in terms of my usage and storage purposes? I hope someone knowledgeable can give me his/her expert guidance and advice. It has been half a year and nothing is done and I am tired. PLEASE HELP ME OUT. PLEASE! THANK YOU.
P.S. I will use Ghost 2003 to create an image of my system partition so that I could easily restore this partition when Windows crashed or when I want a clean slate of my operating system just as it was on the very first day because as time passes, windows registry tends to get bloated and causing system to run slow. I read that Ghost images can only be stored in a FAT32 partition, is this true? Do I need to create a FAT32 partition to store Ghost images. Also, how do u do a restore of the system partition from its Ghost image? Thank you.

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