partitioning 250gb

[GameManK]

we bought my brother a new 250gb hard drive ($130 at comp usa ) because he thinks he can rap and he needs space to record stuff.

so, im thinking it probably isnt the best idea to have it be one big drive? so i'm wondering if and how much it matters how big partitions are and what fs is best to use.
the OS will be winxp pro.
i'm thinking have 40-60gb for the windows partition in ntfs, and have the rest for documents but in what fs? and is it ok to have partitions that large? is there a fs (mostly im talking about fat32 v. ntfs ) that's better for storing large files? i'm also thinking he'll never use all that space so i'll make a seperate partition just for "shared". there the question is does it matter what fs a samba share is in (1 computer i'm going to have linux on and would like to have access to my files)?

basically, i'm looking for any recommendations on how it is best to partition a 250gb drive.

EDIT: also, is there a way to move "my documents" completely to a different partition (as in so thats where windows will think it is by default)??

[originel]

if you're not going to dual boot with windows 9x you should use NTFS. it's not nearly as succesptible (sp?) to corruption.

There are a couple of ways to move it. If i remember right there is a place that you can change the folder, or you can also mount the drive to the my documents folder location.

EDIT: as for sizes you don't need much for windows. I usually run with a 10gb partition for windows, a 5gb partition for linux, a 25gb partition for games, and the rest (120gb) i set for files.

[FatalException]

I'd do what our friend originel said above. Perhaps I would allow about 50G for the Windows partition and program files, 100GB for shared stuff, and 100GB for your brother's stored info. Go with NTFS on all partitions. Since the Samba server is running within Windows XP, it will have native support for NTFS. NTFS is more stable and easier to recover data from if something goes wrong, so it's the best choice.

As for changing the my documents folder in WinXP... that's easy. Go into your start menu, then right click on "My Documents" and choose properties. Change the target listed there, and you're set!

[LeftCoast]

Ten gigs is plenty for windows, especially if moving My Docs (one of the first things I do after loading the OS). Many times people begin running out of space on C, and can't understand why. It's usually cause they have My Pictures and My Music loaded to the gills, as well as Kazaa (or some other p2p) installed on C, with a huge "My Shared Folder".

I was always told to keep only the OS on C, and install programs on D along with storage files (on a two partition HDD). That way, if you lose C and need to format/reinstall the OS, your data loss is mitigated.(Obviously, you still need to reinstall all programs.) I figured out moving My Docs the hard way, losing some important pictures back when CD burners were a luxury.

[muno]

I'd go for 5gb windows partition (or more if he installs loads of programs) and 245gb stuff partition.

I prefer folder nesting to partitioning.

[LeftCoast]

OT here, but as Robin said to Batman at the Grateful Dead concert,"Holy hallucinations!!!"

FatalException must be on track for the "most posts in the first month as a member" here at TechIMO! And they're really useful posts as well, from what I've read. Nice job FE (not that you need any pats on the back from me).

[FatalException]

Thanks for the props, LeftCoast! I've been looking for a forum like this to help people out in a "come and go as you please" environment. I find it much easier than dealing with this in Yahoo chat rooms and stuff. Plus, it teaches me some new tricks from other peoples' suggestions.

Back to the topic at hand... The reason I suggest a larger C drive than just 10GB is for more programs and such. Unless this person is going to start installing program files onto other drives (I don't like doing that, personally, since those programs often copy some stuff to the Windows system folder anyway consuming space on the C drive even though they are installed on a different partition), it doesn't make sense to have such a small partition.

I, too, prefer folder nesting, as another poster above said. It makes little sense to partition off the drive with the data recovery tools available today. Windows is rock-solid stable, for the most part and damages partitions can usually be fixed either in safe mode or by booting to the recovery console from a WinXP install CD.

I admit, I still backup my critical files on a nightly basis (I have a Microsoft Backup task set to backup the Documents and Settings folder, minus temporary internet files) to a different physical drive at 4:00 AM every day, but that is because I have two drives available. If I did not, I would not partition off the drive - if it fails, the whole thing will fail, not just one partition, so having the stuff split onto 2 partitions will provide little, if any safety.

[GameManK]

thanks

one reason i was thinking it may be best to split it up is cluster size? or is that not an issue with ntfs?

also, i'm probably not going to do that, but i'm curious. is there a way to move Program Files by default to another drive as well?

[FatalException]

There is no way to move program files over, sorry. Since Windows installs quite a few system utilities in there when it installs itself, the computer is expecting to look on the same drive as Windows in the Program Files directory and find them. There is no problem with telling other programs to install on other drives, but the essential windows programs in the program files directory must be on the same drive as the windows XP directory.

Cluster size is not an issue with NTFS. It was only an issue with FAT16. It was remedied in FAT32 and NTFS.

[GameManK]

thanks. i knew it was fixed but i didnt know it was fixed completely. i thought just the size limits got a lot bigger.