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macgyver655
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 8508
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| Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| akajester wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: | | akajester wrote: | Unless you mean for backup reasons, than yes two partitions can help.
Dale |
Save loss in case of operating system failure. Anyone not having at least 2 partitions, 1 with the OS and software and the other for personal stuff now a days makes no sense. Shortcut to additional drive partitions on desktop.
This situation in this thread is also a perfect example. PC running slow and crashing and dont know why. All important data is on additional drive partitions, just format C: and install fresh OS. Simple and sweet and your back running full steam in no time. And all data in intact. |
why would you lose data if the OS fails? You just copy your files off the drive, reinstall windows and copy your stuff back. You won't lost any data unless the physical drive fails or you carelessly wipe the partition or drive. Two partitions doesn't save you from a hard drive failure, nor does it speed anything up. If you want to protect your files AND speed up your computer you need at least 2 physical drives to spread the load. One for the OS and one for rendering the files, scratch disk, file storage or whatever. Then backup whatever you want to an external drive. Two partitions creates more drive thrashing. The only reason you'd do it is to keep files organized or make backup or reinstalling the OS easier.
I doubt he'll get IT to reinstall his machine with separate partitions or drives, so this is all moot anyways. On our campus we've run dual drives many times for professors that have rendering or other situations that make sense. I can't say the same for corporate situations though.
Dale |
How can you copy your files off the drive?
If your operating system fails and it wont load up, how are you going to get your file, pics, music, videos and what else off of it? Sure you can try to repair the windows but that doesn't always work. Or you can remove the drive and hook it up to another computer as a slave but that doesn't always work. Plus its a lot of extra work to try.
Or maybe you can use $800.00 software to load up a virtual OS, which I have, and that doesn't always work either.
AND ALL YOUR STUFF IS GONE!
Not if its on another partition. And the cpu and HD doesn't have to work any harder to access it.
ITS A SAVE YOUR STUFF WAY!
I've seen this stuff hundreds of times and I thought maybe you have to, but apparently not.
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km987654
Joined: 25 Jul 2007
Posts: 2874
Location: Australia
TV/Projector: Barco BG809s
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:00 am Post subject: |
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| macgyver655 wrote: | | akajester wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: | | akajester wrote: | Unless you mean for backup reasons, than yes two partitions can help.
Dale |
Save loss in case of operating system failure. Anyone not having at least 2 partitions, 1 with the OS and software and the other for personal stuff now a days makes no sense. Shortcut to additional drive partitions on desktop.
This situation in this thread is also a perfect example. PC running slow and crashing and dont know why. All important data is on additional drive partitions, just format C: and install fresh OS. Simple and sweet and your back running full steam in no time. And all data in intact. |
why would you lose data if the OS fails? You just copy your files off the drive, reinstall windows and copy your stuff back. You won't lost any data unless the physical drive fails or you carelessly wipe the partition or drive. Two partitions doesn't save you from a hard drive failure, nor does it speed anything up. If you want to protect your files AND speed up your computer you need at least 2 physical drives to spread the load. One for the OS and one for rendering the files, scratch disk, file storage or whatever. Then backup whatever you want to an external drive. Two partitions creates more drive thrashing. The only reason you'd do it is to keep files organized or make backup or reinstalling the OS easier.
I doubt he'll get IT to reinstall his machine with separate partitions or drives, so this is all moot anyways. On our campus we've run dual drives many times for professors that have rendering or other situations that make sense. I can't say the same for corporate situations though.
Dale |
How can you copy your files off the drive?
If your operating system fails and it wont load up, how are you going to get your file, pics, music, videos and what else off of it? Sure you can try to repair the windows but that doesn't always work. Or you can remove the drive and hook it up to another computer as a slave but that doesn't always work. Plus its a lot of extra work to try.
Or maybe you can use $800.00 software to load up a virtual OS, which I have, and that doesn't always work either.
AND ALL YOUR STUFF IS GONE!
Not if its on another partition. And the cpu and HD doesn't have to work any harder to access it.
ITS A SAVE YOUR STUFF WAY!
I've seen this stuff hundreds of times and I thought maybe you have to, but apparently not. |
Its good advice to use a partition for the operating system and one for all your data. The idea is to minimise the risk of loosing your data. Restore from a backup has its own risks particularly when you consider most people never really know if the backup has worked until they need to restore somthing important from it.
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12088
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:08 am Post subject: |
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Unfortunately systems with pre-installed OSs -- like laptops -- generally put everything in one partition. And they don't provide a full-install CD to re-install it yourself. And Windoze is too braindead to have a decent partition manager. Sheesh.
You can get Linux-based partition managers that let you split the original partition, but it shouldn't be that hard...
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km987654
Joined: 25 Jul 2007
Posts: 2874
Location: Australia
TV/Projector: Barco BG809s
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:09 am Post subject: Re: Does having files on the Desktop slow down a computer? |
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| greg_mitch wrote: | I have several project folders on my desktop at work with links to several network drives. I end up throwing a lot of files in these folders because I need to keep them temporarily or I don't feel they warrant a network save so my Desktop is getting rather large in file size.
My computer has been remarkably slow since I received it and crashes all the time when using multiple drawings in CAD.
My IT support has suggested that all of the files on my desktop are causing the issues. I have 6gig of RAM but they are telling me that the size of my Desktop files is eating up all the available memory. They want me to move all of the files to "My Documents" and then put back just links on the desktop to this folder.
I have never heard of this and have always saved things to the Desktop. Why would it matter anyway since the Desktop is just an image of a folder (c:users/username/desktop)?
Anyone provide any help here regarding the storing files on the Desktop?
Thanks. |
When your PC starts it does a number of things amonst them is to process your desktop and of course everything on it. You may have noticed when you plug a flash drive into a windows computer it reads all the files on the flash drive before opening a window to it, processing the files on your desktop is much the same. So if you have a large number or large files on your desktop it will probably slow down your PC at least at start up. There can be newtork issues but thats hard to say with the information provided.
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greg_mitch
Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5320
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:20 am Post subject: Re: Does having files on the Desktop slow down a computer? |
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| km987654 wrote: | | greg_mitch wrote: | I have several project folders on my desktop at work with links to several network drives. I end up throwing a lot of files in these folders because I need to keep them temporarily or I don't feel they warrant a network save so my Desktop is getting rather large in file size.
My computer has been remarkably slow since I received it and crashes all the time when using multiple drawings in CAD.
My IT support has suggested that all of the files on my desktop are causing the issues. I have 6gig of RAM but they are telling me that the size of my Desktop files is eating up all the available memory. They want me to move all of the files to "My Documents" and then put back just links on the desktop to this folder.
I have never heard of this and have always saved things to the Desktop. Why would it matter anyway since the Desktop is just an image of a folder (c:users/username/desktop)?
Anyone provide any help here regarding the storing files on the Desktop?
Thanks. |
When your PC starts it does a number of things amonst them is to process your desktop and of course everything on it. You may have noticed when you plug a flash drive into a windows computer it reads all the files on the flash drive before opening a window to it, processing the files on your desktop is much the same. So if you have a large number or large files on your desktop it will probably slow down your PC at least at start up. There can be newtork issues but thats hard to say with the information provided. |
I have no problems at startup.
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greg_mitch
Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5320
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:23 am Post subject: |
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| macgyver655 wrote: | | akajester wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: | | akajester wrote: | Unless you mean for backup reasons, than yes two partitions can help.
Dale |
Save loss in case of operating system failure. Anyone not having at least 2 partitions, 1 with the OS and software and the other for personal stuff now a days makes no sense. Shortcut to additional drive partitions on desktop.
This situation in this thread is also a perfect example. PC running slow and crashing and dont know why. All important data is on additional drive partitions, just format C: and install fresh OS. Simple and sweet and your back running full steam in no time. And all data in intact. |
why would you lose data if the OS fails? You just copy your files off the drive, reinstall windows and copy your stuff back. You won't lost any data unless the physical drive fails or you carelessly wipe the partition or drive. Two partitions doesn't save you from a hard drive failure, nor does it speed anything up. If you want to protect your files AND speed up your computer you need at least 2 physical drives to spread the load. One for the OS and one for rendering the files, scratch disk, file storage or whatever. Then backup whatever you want to an external drive. Two partitions creates more drive thrashing. The only reason you'd do it is to keep files organized or make backup or reinstalling the OS easier.
I doubt he'll get IT to reinstall his machine with separate partitions or drives, so this is all moot anyways. On our campus we've run dual drives many times for professors that have rendering or other situations that make sense. I can't say the same for corporate situations though.
Dale |
How can you copy your files off the drive?
If your operating system fails and it wont load up, how are you going to get your file, pics, music, videos and what else off of it? Sure you can try to repair the windows but that doesn't always work. Or you can remove the drive and hook it up to another computer as a slave but that doesn't always work. Plus its a lot of extra work to try.
Or maybe you can use $800.00 software to load up a virtual OS, which I have, and that doesn't always work either.
AND ALL YOUR STUFF IS GONE!
Not if its on another partition. And the cpu and HD doesn't have to work any harder to access it.
ITS A SAVE YOUR STUFF WAY!
I've seen this stuff hundreds of times and I thought maybe you have to, but apparently not. |
You can use Ubuntu which is free to do just this...I have done this several times.
Pop in USB, boot up Ubuntu, copy files from My Documents to external drive, reformat crashed drive.
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akajester
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:06 am Post subject: |
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| macgyver655 wrote: |
How can you copy your files off the drive?
If your operating system fails and it wont load up, how are you going to get your file, pics, music, videos and what else off of it? Sure you can try to repair the windows but that doesn't always work. Or you can remove the drive and hook it up to another computer as a slave but that doesn't always work. Plus its a lot of extra work to try.
Or maybe you can use $800.00 software to load up a virtual OS, which I have, and that doesn't always work either.
AND ALL YOUR STUFF IS GONE!
Not if its on another partition. And the cpu and HD doesn't have to work any harder to access it.
ITS A SAVE YOUR STUFF WAY!
I've seen this stuff hundreds of times and I thought maybe you have to, but apparently not. |
Macgyver, of course I've seen this before. You're clearly not getting what I'm writing. Let me try again. Yes, it's easier to reinstall windows and recover a system with multiple partitions (or multiple drives), I'm pretty sure I covered that twice now. but... it does not IN ANY WAY make your computer perform faster. You have one physical drive, you can't write simultaneously to both partitions, it's physically not possible. This is called hard drive thrashing. It's when you sit and wait and the hard drive grinds away.
Yes, if Windows or any OS fails and you have files on the drive, you can pull out the drive, stick it on a usb adapter ($15?) and copy your files off it, AS LONG AS the physical drive didn't fail. I personally never recommend saving user data on the c: drive regardless of whether it's physical or virtual. YES, it is easier to recover and reinstall windows IF YOU HAVE TWO Partitions or TWO physical drives. Pretty sure I said that. And no, if windows is corrupt your files ARE NOT gone. Only if the partition table is corrupt, or if you have a physical drive failure, both of which could happen if you partition or not. Although if you have two physical drives your chances of failure goes down significantly. 50% if my math is correct. 
$800 software? no idea what you're talking about. Most Virtual OS software is free (hyper-v, ESXI server, Virtual Box, etc). I wouldn't even consider that an option, nor would I bother recovering windows, it's a waste of time. Two drives (physical or virtual) is a better way to go, and you need to backup your user files frequently. drives are cheap.
I'm not here to argue with you. I completely understand where you're coming from. For years other computer professionals have said "partition your drive", I get that. But it's completely unnecessary now that drives are so damn cheap! For years I've setup my machines with multiple partitions so I could easily reinstall windows. Not any more. When I can buy another 1TB drive for $50, partitioning is obsolete! I buy a dell and it comes with a 320gb sata drive, I pop in a 1tb or 2tb secondary and good to go.
If you want to make your computer faster AND you happen to do intensive work, like autocad, rendering, photoshop, etc... For instance one of the reasons this thread was started in the first place! It is HIGHLY recommended that you use multiple drives!
Like I said, I'm not here to piss anyone off and just trying to help. I've set up hundreds of machines for DJ's, VJ's, graphics professionals, CSI's, CAD professionals, research faculty, you name it. If you want to partition a drive more power to you. I myself prefer to label my drives and unplug my secondary drive when I reinstall windows so I don't wipe it accidentally. I've seen it happen to someone at least every year. It's a hard lesson to learn. To each his own. That same function can be nearly achieved with partitioning, but don't argue that it's physically faster than two drives. That just isn't possible.
I think I've made my point and I don't need to type it a fourth time. If the OP has any questions for me let me know and I'll do my best to respond.
Have a great day!
Dale
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greg_mitch
Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5320
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:23 am Post subject: |
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Jester...I do have a spare drive laying around and maybe could argue with my IT to get me another 74gb drive but I am not sure how much faster it is going to make my computer.
As it is I work off of network drives when ACAD is installed on my C drive.
The files I store on my desktop are not CAD files normally but spreadsheets, PDFs of CAD files, various other product selection outputs, etc.
I might have to see if I can swap RAM out as well...are there any free RAM testing software kits that I could download and let run overnight?
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wallace123456
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Northwest VA area
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:26 am Post subject: |
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Except for 2 out of about 25 hard drives I have been thru, I have been able to recover all data (including .pst files)when the OS crashed. The 2 I could not get the info off, the little controller board on the bottom got fried by a high voltage spike.
I have also lost (deleted by accident  ) partions. I used Active Partition Recovery and been able to get the OS working again.
I also use a little Sharkoon USB device. I had some HDs that I could not read when plugged into the EIDE cable. When I tried it on the Sharkoon, it took about 30 minutes to be able to see the files on a 160gb western digital, but I was able to recover all the date. Almost all video. Until then, I thought the data was lost.
wallace
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Life Is Good, But BBQ Is Better! BBQ Competition Team
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akajester
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:04 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Greg, I was thinking about this a little more. I learned years ago with hard drives that even though they're "new" that doesn't mean they're all good. When I get them I run the Western Digital Diag tool on them to write zeroes to the whole drive. This will find any errors that haven't been discovered yet, before you write data to it and have issues. What I found out is that drive manufacturers only do a quick test, they don't have the time with consumer drives to fully test the platters, so they send them out "as-is". About 5% (or more) of the drives go out with bad sectors that aren't marked. The OS will try to use these sectors which can cause slow performance, crashes, etc. If they'll be reformatting your drive perhaps mention doing a full write zeros check on it. Another great tool to check drives is Spinrite. It's very inexpensive and is one of the best drive checking utilities out there. heck, if you can boot off a cd, you can run it in "check" mode and IT won't need to know.
Have you checked the Windows event logs for any warning flags? Just curious. You might find something interesting there too. I hope you get it figured out.
Dale
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WanMan
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 10270
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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It shouldn't make any difference, really. My desktops are nothing but black voids. No icons, wallpapers, etc. and I have slow work laptop, slow laptop that belongs to the wife, etc.
_________________
Trust no one. Absolutely no one. Advice of the board.
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macgyver655
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 8508
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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| akajester wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: |
How can you copy your files off the drive?
If your operating system fails and it wont load up, how are you going to get your file, pics, music, videos and what else off of it? Sure you can try to repair the windows but that doesn't always work. Or you can remove the drive and hook it up to another computer as a slave but that doesn't always work. Plus its a lot of extra work to try.
Or maybe you can use $800.00 software to load up a virtual OS, which I have, and that doesn't always work either.
AND ALL YOUR STUFF IS GONE!
Not if its on another partition. And the cpu and HD doesn't have to work any harder to access it.
ITS A SAVE YOUR STUFF WAY!
I've seen this stuff hundreds of times and I thought maybe you have to, but apparently not. |
Macgyver, of course I've seen this before. You're clearly not getting what I'm writing. Let me try again. Yes, it's easier to reinstall windows and recover a system with multiple partitions (or multiple drives), I'm pretty sure I covered that twice now. but... it does not IN ANY WAY make your computer perform faster. You have one physical drive, you can't write simultaneously to both partitions, it's physically not possible. This is called hard drive thrashing. It's when you sit and wait and the hard drive grinds away.
Yes, if Windows or any OS fails and you have files on the drive, you can pull out the drive, stick it on a usb adapter ($15?) and copy your files off it, AS LONG AS the physical drive didn't fail. I personally never recommend saving user data on the c: drive regardless of whether it's physical or virtual. YES, it is easier to recover and reinstall windows IF YOU HAVE TWO Partitions or TWO physical drives. Pretty sure I said that. And no, if windows is corrupt your files ARE NOT gone. Only if the partition table is corrupt, or if you have a physical drive failure, both of which could happen if you partition or not. Although if you have two physical drives your chances of failure goes down significantly. 50% if my math is correct.
$800 software? no idea what you're talking about. Most Virtual OS software is free (hyper-v, ESXI server, Virtual Box, etc). I wouldn't even consider that an option, nor would I bother recovering windows, it's a waste of time. Two drives (physical or virtual) is a better way to go, and you need to backup your user files frequently. drives are cheap.
I'm not here to argue with you. I completely understand where you're coming from. For years other computer professionals have said "partition your drive", I get that. But it's completely unnecessary now that drives are so damn cheap! For years I've setup my machines with multiple partitions so I could easily reinstall windows. Not any more. When I can buy another 1TB drive for $50, partitioning is obsolete! I buy a dell and it comes with a 320gb sata drive, I pop in a 1tb or 2tb secondary and good to go.
If you want to make your computer faster AND you happen to do intensive work, like autocad, rendering, photoshop, etc... For instance one of the reasons this thread was started in the first place! It is HIGHLY recommended that you use multiple drives!
Like I said, I'm not here to piss anyone off and just trying to help. I've set up hundreds of machines for DJ's, VJ's, graphics professionals, CSI's, CAD professionals, research faculty, you name it. If you want to partition a drive more power to you. I myself prefer to label my drives and unplug my secondary drive when I reinstall windows so I don't wipe it accidentally. I've seen it happen to someone at least every year. It's a hard lesson to learn. To each his own. That same function can be nearly achieved with partitioning, but don't argue that it's physically faster than two drives. That just isn't possible.
I think I've made my point and I don't need to type it a fourth time. If the OP has any questions for me let me know and I'll do my best to respond.
Have a great day!
Dale |
You've got to be kidding me. You say that what I'm saying is valid. But then you say its not needed. Well lets see.
You say its better to have a second drive to save to. I can't say that its not a good idea because your still saving to a place other then your C:/ drive. But most people are not teckie people, dont konw what your talking about and wont spend the extra money for another drive, especially when that just bought a PC with more then enough size for what they need. Plus they dont want you messin with there PC.
And what if that second drive fails?
And where you going to put that second drive in your laptop? ANd more and more people are buying laptop then desktops these days. Your going to pull that laptop drive, buy an adapter, hook it to another desktop, providing the laptop ins't your only PC. Oh wait, that is most people. Just one PC, and its a laptop. Or even if its a desktop, where's the second PC. Or now you have to buy another drive, load the OS, hookup the other drive and try to get your stuff off. "Wish I just had another partition with my stuff on it." Would of been so easy to fix the problem.
And trying to get a non teckie person to load a virtual OS to get their files..... HA
And I never said a second partition would help his pc run faster but I said when you have a performance problem its easier to just reload your OS if your stuff is on another partition and get back your performance without loosing data. Pay attention!
And your not pissing me off. I know what I'm saying is correct..
I have also in the past and also just recently had a OS failure and would not repair. Hooked the drive up to another PC and C was not there. To corrupt. So there was not a hardware failure but was also not accessible.
Fortunately is was a drive that I had set up before and I just reinstalled the OS and the other partitions were in tact and data was safe. Simple and easy. But if stuff was on that C, it was gone.
Oh, and even the virtual OS didn't recognize. And dont down play my 800.00 software if you dont know what it is. It does way more then attempt to repair an OS.
And the only HD's that I have seen that "thrash" like you say is one that is beginning to fail. I have never seen a HD with multiple partitions thrash. And I personally save very large files on other partitions. ANd have setup hundreds of multiple partition drives. And still have a current customer base. No complaints on drive noise yet, after 12 years.
So where do we stand? Your way works? Sure. But not for laptops.
My way works? Sure. And simpler for most people. And works on laptops too.
And if you dont get the OS disc when you purchase your PC you can request one. You paid for it. And yes, I've done it before. Restore disks dont count.
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garyfritz
Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 12088
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| macgyver655 wrote: | | Fortunately is was a drive that I had set up before and I just reinstalled the OS and the other partitions were in tact and data was safe. Simple and easy. |
Of course you DO have to re-install and re-configure all your applications, which makes it much more of a pain.
| Quote: | | And where you going to put that second drive in your laptop? ANd more and more people are buying laptop then desktops these days. |
So instead you have the problem of splitting the laptop's single drive into two partitions. Which can't be done without loading another OS which you said is a no-go for the non-techie person.
| Quote: | | And if you dont get the OS disc when you purchase your PC you can request one. You paid for it. And yes, I've done it before. Restore disks dont count. |
No kidding!? A full standalone install disk? I thought vendors were only allowed to ship restore disks with pre-installed Windows systems. That's sure what most (all?) of them do. I assumed you had NOT paid for rights to a full install disk.
Using the vendor restore disk does buy you most of the benefits of a full clean install, but of course you still get all the vendor crapware that originally came with your system.
So I should be able to ring up HP and say "send me a full install disk for my laptop" and they will? Coolness. I'll have to figure out where in HP I should call.
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macgyver655
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 8508
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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A little sarcasism with that shake... Alright!..LOL
Read in red.
| garyfritz wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: | | Fortunately is was a drive that I had set up before and I just reinstalled the OS and the other partitions were in tact and data was safe. Simple and easy. |
Of course you DO have to re-install and re-configure all your applications, which makes it much more of a pain.
If you had a failure you would have to do it anyways. If your just doing a reinstall because its running slow....here' what I do. When I'm first setting up the PC with 2 partitions I make a folder in the second partitions and name it software and drivers. In there I put copies of such and then after I do my reinstall I just go to that folder and everything is there, ready and waiting. A few more clicks, depending on how much software I normally use and I'm done. Still quick and easy.
| Quote: | | And where you going to put that second drive in your laptop? ANd more and more people are buying laptop then desktops these days. |
So instead you have the problem of splitting the laptop's single drive into two partitions. Which can't be done without loading another OS which you said is a no-go for the non-techie person.
If you set up the second partition in the beginning its no problem. If your PC has already been in use I tell people before they bring it to me to make a folder on their desktop with all the stuff they want to keep. Then when I get it I burn or save the folder to an external drive. Then I wipe, make 2 partitions, install OS then copy their stuff back to the second partition. Then make my software folder. At this point even non teckie people can be shown how to reinstall a crashed OS but most just bring it back to me. And its a lot cheaper for them now because there is little work for me to do. I dont have to spend time try to find and recover their important stuff.
Hey, I have many customers that bring me their brand new laptops or desktops to setup right out of the box. Before they even use it.
| Quote: | | And if you dont get the OS disc when you purchase your PC you can request one. You paid for it. And yes, I've done it before. Restore disks dont count. |
No kidding!? A full standalone install disk? I thought vendors were only allowed to ship restore disks with pre-installed Windows systems. That's sure what most (all?) of them do. I assumed you had NOT paid for rights to a full install disk.
Using the vendor restore disk does buy you most of the benefits of a full clean install, but of course you still get all the vendor crapware that originally came with your system.
So I should be able to ring up HP and say "send me a full install disk for my laptop" and they will? Coolness. I'll have to figure out where in HP I should call.
Give it a try sometime.....
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You guys can debate this all you want but its a nice simple security of your stuff way. And as I said earlier, I also do and recommend to burn really important stuff.
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Spanky Ham
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 5643
Location: Comedy Central
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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Mac,
It sounds like you would rather run your OS in RAM. I am actually considering going this route. I like Puppy Linux, but I hate the JWM. If I can get around to setting up Gnome, then I will probably just do this. You don't know fast till you run an OS in RAM.
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macgyver655
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 8508
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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| greg_mitch wrote: |
You can use Ubuntu which is free to do just this...I have done this several times.
Pop in USB, boot up Ubuntu, copy files from My Documents to external drive, reformat crashed drive. |
What if your C drive is corrupt (which I have seen on many, many, many occasions) and not even recognized?
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greg_mitch
Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 5320
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| macgyver655 wrote: | | greg_mitch wrote: |
You can use Ubuntu which is free to do just this...I have done this several times.
Pop in USB, boot up Ubuntu, copy files from My Documents to external drive, reformat crashed drive. |
What if your C drive is corrupt (which I have seen on many, many, many occasions) and not even recognized? |
If it is corrupt beyond repair...you can still just format it and reinstall the OS?
I agree that having multiple partitions will help to prevent data loss, but I haven't run into a situation yet where I couldn't pull the files I needed from the drive that failed.
It would be nice if Windows did this automatically...separated OS and software from documents. That is how Ubuntu does it I thought...been awhile since I booted it up.
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macgyver655
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 8508
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| greg_mitch wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: | | greg_mitch wrote: |
You can use Ubuntu which is free to do just this...I have done this several times.
Pop in USB, boot up Ubuntu, copy files from My Documents to external drive, reformat crashed drive. |
What if your C drive is corrupt (which I have seen on many, many, many occasions) and not even recognized? |
If it is corrupt beyond repair...you can still just format it and reinstall the OS?
Right, but all your stuff that was on there is then gone too.
I agree that having multiple partitions will help to prevent data loss, but I haven't run into a situation yet where I couldn't pull the files I needed from the drive that failed.
Exactly, yet!
It would be nice if Windows did this automatically...separated OS and software from documents. That is how Ubuntu does it I thought...been awhile since I booted it up. |
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ecrabb
Forum Moderator
Joined: 13 Mar 2006
Posts: 15909
Location: Utah
TV/Projector: JVC RS40, Epson 5010
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| macgyver655 wrote: | | What if your C drive is corrupt (which I have seen on many, many, many occasions) and not even recognized? |
Mac, are you suggesting that it's much more likely that Windows will corrupt it's own boot partition, and unlikely it will corrupt other mounted non-boot partitions?
To use your favorite utterance, hmmmmmm....
SC
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macgyver655
Joined: 22 Aug 2007
Posts: 8508
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| Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| ecrabb wrote: | | macgyver655 wrote: | | What if your C drive is corrupt (which I have seen on many, many, many occasions) and not even recognized? |
Mac, are you suggesting that it's much more likely that Windows will corrupt it's own boot partition, and unlikely it will corrupt other mounted non-boot partitions?
To use your favorite utterance, hmmmmmm....
SC |
I'm not suggesting it.... I'm saying it!!!!!!! Well not more then likely........ more like..It is possible.
As I said, I even had a HD recently (about 3 months ago)where it would not load up. Tried a repair with the disk....no go. Pulled the drive and connected to another PC...would not show C. E and F were there as I had partitioned this drive originally. Put drive back in original PC and loaded up a virtual windows....no C.
Restarted PC to do a reinstall. Partitions showed a blank where C was and showed E and F.
Repartitioned the blank, formatted and installed a fresh copy. When it was all said and done I had a fresh OS and all the stuff that was on E and F was fully intact. And that folder in the E drive that was drivers and software was just sitting there waiting for me to install. 
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