HDD space required for full XP installation?

[Alex]

I am getting a 120 Gig HDD on tuesday and want to
partition the drive into several partitions but dont know
how much space I should leave for the OS partition.
Any idea how much space I should leave for a full XP Pro
installation?
I want to make the partitions for several things (XP Pro
on one, swap file on another, data on another, etc)
Thanks for the help

"LX"

[Chris Lanier]

Microosft says about 1.5GB, but in my experience it's more like 2GB. if you
want a partition just for Windows i would make it 5GB. b/c also need to
leave room for temp files, paging files, etc.

"Alex" > wrote in message
...
> I am getting a 120 Gig HDD on tuesday and want to
> partition the drive into several partitions but dont know
> how much space I should leave for the OS partition.
> Any idea how much space I should leave for a full XP Pro
> installation?
> I want to make the partitions for several things (XP Pro
> on one, swap file on another, data on another, etc)
> Thanks for the help
>
> "LX"

[Alex]

Hi
Im planning on placing the xp paging file on a seperate
partition of 1 gig, you think 2 gig would be fine for os
only then?
Thanks for the help


>-----Original Message-----
>Microosft says about 1.5GB, but in my experience it's
more like 2GB. if you
>want a partition just for Windows i would make it 5GB.
b/c also need to
>leave room for temp files, paging files, etc.
>
>"Alex" > wrote in message
...
>> I am getting a 120 Gig HDD on tuesday and want to
>> partition the drive into several partitions but dont
know
>> how much space I should leave for the OS partition.
>> Any idea how much space I should leave for a full XP Pro
>> installation?
>> I want to make the partitions for several things (XP Pro
>> on one, swap file on another, data on another, etc)
>> Thanks for the help
>>
>> "LX"
>
>
>.
>

[Alex]

i will be putting the swap/page file on a seperate 2 gig
partition, will 2 or 3 gig not be enough fot the os only
then?



>-----Original Message-----
>Microosft says about 1.5GB, but in my experience it's
more like 2GB. if you
>want a partition just for Windows i would make it 5GB.
b/c also need to
>leave room for temp files, paging files, etc.
>
>"Alex" > wrote in message
...
>> I am getting a 120 Gig HDD on tuesday and want to
>> partition the drive into several partitions but dont
know
>> how much space I should leave for the OS partition.
>> Any idea how much space I should leave for a full XP Pro
>> installation?
>> I want to make the partitions for several things (XP Pro
>> on one, swap file on another, data on another, etc)
>> Thanks for the help
>>
>> "LX"
>
>
>.
>

[me]

How much Ram do you have? I have a gig of ram and my swap file rarely
goes over 400 mb if I'm pushing the system.
I'd settle for AT LEAST 5 gig for the system partition.
Windows XP like a lot of space for restore points, uninstall
files, patches, etc.
You'd run out of space fairly quickly with 2 or 3 gig.

[mrtee]

The swap file on a seperate partition on the same HDD isn't going to =
help speed up the PC. See; Configure Paging Files for Optimization and =
Recovery in Windows XP =
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=3Dkb;en-us;Q314482&ID=3Dkb=
;en-us;Q314482. I have 2 page files set up, 1 on my system drive and =
the other on a seperate HDD.

--=20
Just my =A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Alex" > wrote in message =
...
| i will be putting the swap/page file on a seperate 2 gig=20
| partition, will 2 or 3 gig not be enough fot the os only=20
| then?
|=20



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date: 8/28/2003

[Chris Lanier]

still i would be 5GB. if you do any less you might end up running into
problems. you have to remember updates and addition to XP take up space.
you need to leave room to grow.

"Alex" > wrote in message
...
> i will be putting the swap/page file on a seperate 2 gig
> partition, will 2 or 3 gig not be enough fot the os only
> then?
>
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Microosft says about 1.5GB, but in my experience it's
> more like 2GB. if you
> >want a partition just for Windows i would make it 5GB.
> b/c also need to
> >leave room for temp files, paging files, etc.
> >
> >"Alex" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> I am getting a 120 Gig HDD on tuesday and want to
> >> partition the drive into several partitions but dont
> know
> >> how much space I should leave for the OS partition.
> >> Any idea how much space I should leave for a full XP Pro
> >> installation?
> >> I want to make the partitions for several things (XP Pro
> >> on one, swap file on another, data on another, etc)
> >> Thanks for the help
> >>
> >> "LX"
> >
> >
> >.
> >

[Alex]

quote from microsoft website you suggested :=20

To enhance performance, move the paging file to a=20
different partition. When the paging file is on the boot=20
partition, Windows must perform disk reading and writing=20
requests on both the system folder and the paging file.=20
When the paging file is moved to a different partition,=20
there is less competition between reading and writing=20
requests

>-----Original Message-----
>The swap file on a seperate partition on the same HDD=20
isn't going to help speed up the PC. See; Configure=20
Paging Files for Optimization and Recovery in Windows XP=20
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=3Dkb;en-
us;Q314482&ID=3Dkb;en-us;Q314482. I have 2 page files set=20
up, 1 on my system drive and the other on a seperate HDD.
>
>--=20
>Just my =A2 worth
> Jeff
>__________in response to__________
>"Alex" > wrote in message=20
...
>| i will be putting the swap/page file on a seperate 2=20
gig=20
>| partition, will 2 or 3 gig not be enough fot the os=20
only=20
>| then?
>|=20
>
>
>
>---
>Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date:=20
8/28/2003
>.
>

[mrtee]

And another quote, (same page) "The optimal solution is to create one =
paging file that is, by default, stored on the boot partition, and then =
create one paging file on another, less frequently accessed partition. =
Additionally, it is optimal to create the second paging file so that it =
exists on its own partition, with no data or operating-system-specific =
files. By design, Windows uses the paging file on the less frequently =
accessed partition over the paging file on the more heavily accessed =
boot partition. An internal algorithm is used to determine which paging =
file to use for virtual memory management."

Read the whole article. =20

--=20
Just my =A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Alex" > wrote in message =
...
quote from microsoft website you suggested :=20

To enhance performance, move the paging file to a=20
different partition. When the paging file is on the boot=20
partition, Windows must perform disk reading and writing=20
requests on both the system folder and the paging file.=20
When the paging file is moved to a different partition,=20
there is less competition between reading and writing=20
requests

>-----Original Message-----
>The swap file on a seperate partition on the same HDD=20
isn't going to help speed up the PC. See; Configure=20
Paging Files for Optimization and Recovery in Windows XP=20
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=3Dkb;en-
us;Q314482&ID=3Dkb;en-us;Q314482. I have 2 page files set=20
up, 1 on my system drive and the other on a seperate HDD.
>
>--=20
>Just my =A2 worth
> Jeff
>__________in response to__________
>"Alex" > wrote in message=20
...
>| i will be putting the swap/page file on a seperate 2=20
gig=20
>| partition, will 2 or 3 gig not be enough fot the os=20
only=20
>| then?
>|=20
>
>
>
>---
>Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date:=20
8/28/2003
>.
>

[LVTravel]

Another voice here. If you place the paging file in the same partition as
the OS the R/W heads do not have to travel as far on the platter than if you
have the paging file in a separate partition on the same drive. This access
delay with separate partitions will slow Windows (although you will need
benchmarking software to prove it). I believe the partition the article is
mentioning is to have the partition/page file on a different hard drive.
Here the computer can access the OS and the paging file in almost
simultaneous operations, i.e., reading the OS and writing the page file at
the same time and the R/W heads don't have to travel searching between the
two partitions.

"Alex" > wrote in message
...
quote from microsoft website you suggested :

To enhance performance, move the paging file to a
different partition. When the paging file is on the boot
partition, Windows must perform disk reading and writing
requests on both the system folder and the paging file.
When the paging file is moved to a different partition,
there is less competition between reading and writing
requests

>-----Original Message-----
>The swap file on a seperate partition on the same HDD
isn't going to help speed up the PC. See; Configure
Paging Files for Optimization and Recovery in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;Q314482&ID=kb;en-us;Q314482. I have 2 page files set
up, 1 on my system drive and the other on a seperate HDD.
>
>--
>Just my ¢ worth
> Jeff
>__________in response to__________
>"Alex" > wrote in message
...
>| i will be putting the swap/page file on a seperate 2
gig
>| partition, will 2 or 3 gig not be enough fot the os
only
>| then?
>|
>
>
>
>---
>Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
>Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
>Version: 6.0.514 / Virus Database: 312 - Release Date:
8/28/2003
>.
>

[Les Herrman]

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 16:49:06 -0700, "Alex" >
wrote:

>I am getting a 120 Gig HDD on tuesday and want to
>partition the drive into several partitions but dont know
>how much space I should leave for the OS partition.
>Any idea how much space I should leave for a full XP Pro
>installation?
>I want to make the partitions for several things (XP Pro
>on one, swap file on another, data on another, etc)
>Thanks for the help
>
>"LX"


Even though you are going to put the pagefile on a separate partition,
you should still use at least 5 GIG for the XP partition.

Reason...1.5 to 2 GIG just for the Windows folder
Then you also have the following that must be on the boot drive.

System Volume Information folder which contains your restore points.
Hiberfil.sys (the hibernation file if you use hibernation)
The Documents and settings hierarchy of folders (which will include
the Temp Internet Files folder for each user on the system)

In XP the OS could run out of space very quickly on a small partition.