System disk partitioning question

My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.

I'd like to cut it in two partitions :

- Can I do this from within Vista ?
- What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB) ?

My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :

- Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and "Users"
independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
- Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to aother
disk or partition ?

Thanks on beforehand for your help.
Geo

Hi Geo,

Provided it's not already fully allotted to the system partition, then you
can use disk manager (diskmgmt.msc) to create a second partition. If it is,
you will have to first shrink it, then create the additional volume. As
programs tend to install to the system volume, I'd leave enough space so
that you have room to expand as needed, and that includes the paging and
hibernate files. No less than 30GB at a minimum, you want lots of room.

User file folders can be migrated over, you will find options in the
properties of them to change the target path. You may find, however, that
the extra time that the drive head uses to seek the files requested as it
jumps back and forth between the system and user volumes can actually cause
performance to diminish. Not that creating a separate data storage volume is
a bad thing, but I would use it mainly to store files and backups, and not
for user profiles and programs.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Geo" <> wrote in message
news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
> My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
>
> I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
>
> - Can I do this from within Vista ?
> - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB) ?
>
> My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
>
> - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and "Users"
> independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
> - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to aother
> disk or partition ?
>
> Thanks on beforehand for your help.
> Geo
>
>

Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
From another post:
--
Ronald Sommer

The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size till
it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.

If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party Disk
Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create the
emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User


"Geo" <> wrote in message
news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
: My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
:
: I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
:
: - Can I do this from within Vista ?
: - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB) ?
:
: My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
:
: - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and "Users"
: independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
: - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to aother
: disk or partition ?
:
: Thanks on beforehand for your help.
: Geo
:
:

Good luck making an emergency CD with Acronis TrueImage Workstation. It
doesn't work on my Vista64.

"Ron Sommer" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
> It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
> From another post:
> --
> Ronald Sommer
>
> The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size
> till
> it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.
>
> If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party
> Disk
> Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
> version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create the
> emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
> partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban MVP
> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Geo" <> wrote in message
> news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
> : My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
> :
> : I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
> :
> : - Can I do this from within Vista ?
> : - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB)
> ?
> :
> : My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
> :
> : - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and
> "Users"
> : independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
> : - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to
> aother
> : disk or partition ?
> :
> : Thanks on beforehand for your help.
> : Geo
> :
> :
>

OK, thanks for this reply.

I have a total of 3 hard disk drives on my system : 1x320 GB, 1x80 GB and 1x
160GB.
And I use them as follows :
320 GB = C: = Vista + all the user files & documents
160 GB = D: = Images of the other hard disks
80 GB = Setup/Install files of programs, applications etc

And I would like to cut the C: drive in 2, as follows :
80 GB For the Vista OS
240 GB for the folder C:\ which is now part of the Vista system disk.
That would allow me to make images of my system-drive with Vista +programs
only, without having to take care of my actual user documents and files.

Suppose that I want to shrink my Vista partition to the above mentioned 80 GB:
- How do I do this please ?
- How do I get to the built-in shrink-utility ?

Does the above seem to be a good idea or is it total rubish ?

I am using Acronis True Image Home for making drive/partition images.

I don't know if I have been able to make clear what I am looking for
(English is not my mother tongue), please ask if you need more info.

Thanks
Geo



"Ron Sommer" wrote:

> Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
> It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
> From another post:
> --
> Ronald Sommer
>
> The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size till
> it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.
>
> If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party Disk
> Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
> version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create the
> emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
> partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.
>
> --
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban MVP
> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Geo" <> wrote in message
> news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
> : My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
> :
> : I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
> :
> : - Can I do this from within Vista ?
> : - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB) ?
> :
> : My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
> :
> : - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and "Users"
> : independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
> : - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to aother
> : disk or partition ?
> :
> : Thanks on beforehand for your help.
> : Geo
> :
> :
>
>

Your best bet is to first defrag the drive, delete the hibernation file and
turn off System Restore if you don't need them (after you make one of your
system backups). Reboot. This will eliminate many of the unmovable file
fragments. Start\Administrative Tools\Computer Management\Disk Management
then right click on the drive you want to shrink and select shrink and
follow the instructions. You will be told what the smallest size that Vista
will let you make and then you can decide if you want to purchase a
partition manager (or use one of the free ones - BootItNg has a 30 day trial
which would allow you to do your one activity free). As to whether you want
to do it is up to you. Rick pointed out a consideration you should think
about.

"Geo" <> wrote in message
news:0E7BF0EB-E0DF-4DA5-B145-...
> OK, thanks for this reply.
>
> I have a total of 3 hard disk drives on my system : 1x320 GB, 1x80 GB and
> 1x
> 160GB.
> And I use them as follows :
> 320 GB = C: = Vista + all the user files & documents
> 160 GB = D: = Images of the other hard disks
> 80 GB = Setup/Install files of programs, applications etc
>
> And I would like to cut the C: drive in 2, as follows :
> 80 GB For the Vista OS
> 240 GB for the folder C:\ which is now part of the Vista system disk.
> That would allow me to make images of my system-drive with Vista +programs
> only, without having to take care of my actual user documents and files.
>
> Suppose that I want to shrink my Vista partition to the above mentioned 80
> GB:
> - How do I do this please ?
> - How do I get to the built-in shrink-utility ?
>
> Does the above seem to be a good idea or is it total rubish ?
>
> I am using Acronis True Image Home for making drive/partition images.
>
> I don't know if I have been able to make clear what I am looking for
> (English is not my mother tongue), please ask if you need more info.
>
> Thanks
> Geo
>
>
>
> "Ron Sommer" wrote:
>
>> Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
>> It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
>> From another post:
>> --
>> Ronald Sommer
>>
>> The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size
>> till
>> it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.
>>
>> If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party
>> Disk
>> Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
>> version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create
>> the
>> emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
>> partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Urban MVP
>> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>>
>>
>> "Geo" <> wrote in message
>> news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
>> : My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
>> :
>> : I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
>> :
>> : - Can I do this from within Vista ?
>> : - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100
>> GB) ?
>> :
>> : My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
>> :
>> : - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and
>> "Users"
>> : independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images,
>> etc.
>> : - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to
>> aother
>> : disk or partition ?
>> :
>> : Thanks on beforehand for your help.
>> : Geo
>> :
>> :
>>
>>

"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi Geo,
>
> Provided it's not already fully allotted to the system partition, then you
> can use disk manager (diskmgmt.msc) to create a second partition. If it is,
> you will have to first shrink it, then create the additional volume. As
> programs tend to install to the system volume, I'd leave enough space so
> that you have room to expand as needed, and that includes the paging and
> hibernate files. No less than 30GB at a minimum, you want lots of room.
>
> User file folders can be migrated over, you will find options in the
> properties of them to change the target path. You may find, however, that
> the extra time that the drive head uses to seek the files requested as it
> jumps back and forth between the system and user volumes can actually cause
> performance to diminish. Not that creating a separate data storage volume is
> a bad thing, but I would use it mainly to store files and backups, and not
> for user profiles and programs.

It's not going to slow anything down or jump around any more than a single
partition. It's still one drive and they are still just files that could be
splatted all over the place anyways. Even if there is a slow down it would be
so small you would NEVER notice it and would be caused be fragmentation which
would also accure on a single partition system.

I do what you are thinking of also for backup reason. I can backup the
system partition without all the other junk I could re install if I needed
to. It keeps the system backup smaller and the system disk clean. I also like
to keep word and productivity software on the system disk (mine is faster
than my other drives) so that if I have to restore I at least have a good
working system. Games and crap apps and misc. stuff goes on one of my
other drives or partition and the backup goes on a different drive than the
system drive.

You can backup to the other partition but remember it is the same drive an
might go bad if the disk itself fails.

>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>
> "Geo" <> wrote in message
> news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
> > My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
> >
> > I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
> >
> > - Can I do this from within Vista ?
> > - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB) ?
> >
> > My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
> >
> > - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and "Users"
> > independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
> > - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to aother
> > disk or partition ?
> >
> > Thanks on beforehand for your help.
> > Geo
> >
> >
>
>

"John Barnes" wrote:

> Good luck making an emergency CD with Acronis TrueImage Workstation. It
> doesn't work on my Vista64.

works on mine
You may need to use safe mode.
I'm not using RAID though and I believe when I was their emergency disk
didn't work. I had more trouble with RAID and restores than RAID was worth so
that's why I don't use RAID any longer.


>
> "Ron Sommer" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
> > It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
> > From another post:
> > --
> > Ronald Sommer
> >
> > The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size
> > till
> > it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.
> >
> > If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party
> > Disk
> > Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
> > version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create the
> > emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
> > partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Richard Urban MVP
> > Microsoft Windows Shell/User
> >
> >
> > "Geo" <> wrote in message
> > news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
> > : My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
> > :
> > : I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
> > :
> > : - Can I do this from within Vista ?
> > : - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100 GB)
> > ?
> > :
> > : My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
> > :
> > : - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and
> > "Users"
> > : independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images, etc.
> > : - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to
> > aother
> > : disk or partition ?
> > :
> > : Thanks on beforehand for your help.
> > : Geo
> > :
> > :
> >
>
>

All I get are constant error messages about being busy (none of my cd
writers will work with it) and processing to about 95% then stops. NO CD is
written, not even a byte as the disk is still blank after it gets to 95% and
quits.

"bp" <> wrote in message
news:4C5467BD-ADDB-4340-8B83-...
>
>
> "John Barnes" wrote:
>
>> Good luck making an emergency CD with Acronis TrueImage Workstation. It
>> doesn't work on my Vista64.
>
> works on mine
> You may need to use safe mode.
> I'm not using RAID though and I believe when I was their emergency disk
> didn't work. I had more trouble with RAID and restores than RAID was worth
> so
> that's why I don't use RAID any longer.
>
>
>>
>> "Ron Sommer" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>> > Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
>> > It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
>> > From another post:
>> > --
>> > Ronald Sommer
>> >
>> > The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size
>> > till
>> > it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.
>> >
>> > If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party
>> > Disk
>> > Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
>> > version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create
>> > the
>> > emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
>> > partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.
>> >
>> > --
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Richard Urban MVP
>> > Microsoft Windows Shell/User
>> >
>> >
>> > "Geo" <> wrote in message
>> > news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
>> > : My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
>> > :
>> > : I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
>> > :
>> > : - Can I do this from within Vista ?
>> > : - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100
>> > GB)
>> > ?
>> > :
>> > : My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
>> > :
>> > : - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and
>> > "Users"
>> > : independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images,
>> > etc.
>> > : - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to
>> > aother
>> > : disk or partition ?
>> > :
>> > : Thanks on beforehand for your help.
>> > : Geo
>> > :
>> > :
>> >
>>
>>

Many thanks to all of you for the help.
I will give things a serious thoughts and then maybe .... we'll see.

Geo

"John Barnes" wrote:

> Your best bet is to first defrag the drive, delete the hibernation file and
> turn off System Restore if you don't need them (after you make one of your
> system backups). Reboot. This will eliminate many of the unmovable file
> fragments. Start\Administrative Tools\Computer Management\Disk Management
> then right click on the drive you want to shrink and select shrink and
> follow the instructions. You will be told what the smallest size that Vista
> will let you make and then you can decide if you want to purchase a
> partition manager (or use one of the free ones - BootItNg has a 30 day trial
> which would allow you to do your one activity free). As to whether you want
> to do it is up to you. Rick pointed out a consideration you should think
> about.
>
> "Geo" <> wrote in message
> news:0E7BF0EB-E0DF-4DA5-B145-...
> > OK, thanks for this reply.
> >
> > I have a total of 3 hard disk drives on my system : 1x320 GB, 1x80 GB and
> > 1x
> > 160GB.
> > And I use them as follows :
> > 320 GB = C: = Vista + all the user files & documents
> > 160 GB = D: = Images of the other hard disks
> > 80 GB = Setup/Install files of programs, applications etc
> >
> > And I would like to cut the C: drive in 2, as follows :
> > 80 GB For the Vista OS
> > 240 GB for the folder C:\ which is now part of the Vista system disk.
> > That would allow me to make images of my system-drive with Vista +programs
> > only, without having to take care of my actual user documents and files.
> >
> > Suppose that I want to shrink my Vista partition to the above mentioned 80
> > GB:
> > - How do I do this please ?
> > - How do I get to the built-in shrink-utility ?
> >
> > Does the above seem to be a good idea or is it total rubish ?
> >
> > I am using Acronis True Image Home for making drive/partition images.
> >
> > I don't know if I have been able to make clear what I am looking for
> > (English is not my mother tongue), please ask if you need more info.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Geo
> >
> >
> >
> > "Ron Sommer" wrote:
> >
> >> Vista can shrink the partition that it is installed on.
> >> It is hard to say how much the partition can be shrunk.
> >> From another post:
> >> --
> >> Ronald Sommer
> >>
> >> The built-in shrink utility will be able to decrease the partition size
> >> till
> >> it bumps against the first unmovable/locked system file.
> >>
> >> If you want to decrease the partition further you will need a 3rd party
> >> Disk
> >> Management tool. I use Acronis Disk Director suite. The latest posted
> >> version is 100% Vista compatible. After installing the program, create
> >> the
> >> emergency CD. Reboot the computer and boot up with this CD. Do your
> >> partition work from there. You will not be hampered with locked files.
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Richard Urban MVP
> >> Microsoft Windows Shell/User
> >>
> >>
> >> "Geo" <> wrote in message
> >> news:F13DCEF7-B5EC-4F24-A349-...
> >> : My Vista Home Premium machine has a 320 GB Sata Hard Disk.
> >> :
> >> : I'd like to cut it in two partitions :
> >> :
> >> : - Can I do this from within Vista ?
> >> : - What comfortable size should I give to Vista itself (20 - 50 - 100
> >> GB) ?
> >> :
> >> : My idea is to move all my user files to that new partition :
> >> :
> >> : - Is that a good idea ? It would allow me to keep my "system" and
> >> "Users"
> >> : independant from one another when it comes to backups, disk-images,
> >> etc.
> >> : - Will my "System" remember that the user files have been moved to
> >> aother
> >> : disk or partition ?
> >> :
> >> : Thanks on beforehand for your help.
> >> : Geo
> >> :
> >> :
> >>
> >>
>
>