OT : That's it I'm finally building my own system Questions?

OK this weekend I'm finally going to build my own system. My first question (of many probably) is that I have a 80 gig HD. I'm going to start out by running WIN 98SE, I'll upgrade later. Any way, I take it I should run it as FAT32, or is there a newer better File Allocation standard? And do I really need to partition the HD? Or put an other way how much benefit do you get by partitioning an 80 gig drive? TIA

If you are gonna stick with 98se then FAT 32 is your only choice. As far partitioning the hard drive goes you don't have to do it, but I would. First I'd make a FAT32 partion for Win98se, Then I'd leave a second partion for NTFS and a newer OS like XP or Win2k. Then I would have a third partion to save all the crap I download to. If you keep all your drivers, patches, and extras on a separate partion its no big deal to back and redo your o/s because you have all the stuff handy for a reinstall. Of course its your system and you can do it anyway you please. MadDAWG

But if you don't have a newer OS (like Win2k, NT or XP) a NTFS partition is a waste of space since Win98 can see NTFS partitions. "MadDAWG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > If you are gonna stick with 98se then FAT 32 is your only choice. > > As far partitioning the hard drive goes you don't have to do it, but I > would. > > First I'd make a FAT32 partion for Win98se, Then I'd leave a secondpartion > for NTFS and a newer OS like XP or Win2k. Then I would have a thirdpartion

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> to save all the crap I download to. If you keep all your drivers, patches, > and extras on a separate partion its no big deal to back and redo your o/s > because you have all the stuff handy for a reinstall. > > Of course its your system and you can do it anyway you please. > > MadDAWG > >

"Rudeboy" <Rudeboy@hotmail*NoSpam*.ca> wrote in message news:I7O7a.101317$[email hidden]... > OK this weekend I'm finally going to build my own system. My firstquestion > (of many probably) is that I have a 80 gig HD. I'm going to start out by > running WIN 98SE, I'll upgrade later. Any way, I take it I should run itas > FAT32, or is there a newer better File Allocation standard? > > And do I really need to partition the HD? Or put an other way how much > benefit do you get by partitioning an 80 gig drive? > Partition in something like 40/40 or 50/30 - so that you have a large space to store your 'stuff' The other partition is for Windows and apps etc. This way - when you come to reinstall windows ( at least every 6 months for me - windows gets slower with age ) - you have all your stuff on the other partition ready to copy back across and backed up Doug

You can download a utility so that Windows9X can read NTFS. I don't remember the name of it, but I ran it at work on a dual boot Win98 / Win2k system that I had. It worked well for me, "Michael Basden" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:PpW7a.126072$Zr%[email hidden]... But if you don't have a newer OS (like Win2k, NT or XP) a NTFS partition is a waste of space since Win98 can see NTFS partitions. "MadDAWG" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > If you are gonna stick with 98se then FAT 32 is your only choice. > > As far partitioning the hard drive goes you don't have to do it, but I > would. > > First I'd make a FAT32 partion for Win98se, Then I'd leave a secondpartion > for NTFS and a newer OS like XP or Win2k. Then I would have a thirdpartion

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> to save all the crap I download to. If you keep all your drivers, patches, > and extras on a separate partion its no big deal to back and redo your o/s > because you have all the stuff handy for a reinstall. > > Of course its your system and you can do it anyway you please. > > MadDAWG > >

"Rudeboy" <Rudeboy@hotmail*NoSpam*.ca> wrote in > > And do I really need to partition the HD? Or put an other way how much > benefit do you get by partitioning an 80 gig drive? > > TI The biggest advantage to partioning is, at least with Fat32, you reduce the size of individual clusters. So a one word text file consumes the same amount of hd space as a much larger file. The smaller your partitions, the smaller each cluster becomes. The second advantage to partitons is when you defrag your hard drive. Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzz dave henrie

"Dave Henrie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? > > dave henrie > Yes I do, or should I say, I will.... IF IT EVER FREAKIN GETS DONE :)

Dave Henrie wrote: > > The second advantage to partitons is when you defrag your hard drive. > Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? zzzzz zzzzzz > zzzzzzz > dave henrie I don't know, the first HD I owned was 120meg, the PC's I worked on before that only had 20 meg drives but we had IT people to deal with things like that Beers and cheers (uncle) Goy "goyl at nettx dot no" http://www.theuspits.com "A man is only as old as the woman he feels........" --Groucho Marx--

Dave Henrie <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

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> "Rudeboy" <Rudeboy@hotmail*NoSpam*.ca> wrote in > > > > And do I really need to partition the HD? Or put an other way how much > > benefit do you get by partitioning an 80 gig drive? > > > > TI > > The biggest advantage to partioning is, at least with Fat32, you reduce > the size of individual clusters. So a one word text file consumes the same > amount of hd space as a much larger file. The smaller your partitions, the > smaller each cluster becomes.

This only really matters if you have a lot of small files. Sure there's some overhead with any file, but the percentage of wasted space decreases dramatically as the average file size increases. With 80GB of space, you can afford to waste some of it if you don't want to partition your space. Some of the Windows disk utilities struggle with large drives (not sure how big is "large"), but there is a MS update for these. > The second advantage to partitons is when you defrag your hard drive. > Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? zzzzz zzzzzz > zzzzzzz Yep, it takes a while, as does simply formatting it, thorough scandisk runs, etc. I usually just let it start at bedtime and by morning it is done. If you anticipate running these tools freqently and during otherwise productive times, you probably should create at least one small partition for the OS to live in. Gerald

In article <[email hidden]>, Dave Henrie <[email hidden]> writes:

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> The biggest advantage to partioning is, at least with Fat32, you reduce >the size of individual clusters. So a one word text file consumes the same >amount of hd space as a much larger file. The smaller your partitions, the >smaller each cluster becomes. > The second advantage to partitons is when you defrag your hard drive. >Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? zzzzz zzzzzz >zzzzzzz >dave henrie

So? Let it run overnight... Eldred -- Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank:-1.680 MonsterRank: +334.169 N2002 Rank:+17.59 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

EldredP wrote:

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> In article <[email hidden]>, Dave Henrie > <[email hidden]> writes: > > >> The biggest advantage to partioning is, at least with Fat32, you reduce >>the size of individual clusters. So a one word text file consumes the same >>amount of hd space as a much larger file. The smaller your partitions, the >>smaller each cluster becomes. >> The second advantage to partitons is when you defrag your hard drive. >>Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? zzzzz zzzzzz >>zzzzzzz >>dave henrie > > > So? Let it run overnight... > > Eldred

For only 80 megs? -- Fester Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

In article <[email hidden]>, Uncle Fester <[email hidden]> writes:

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>>> The second advantage to partitons is when you defrag your hard drive. >>>Do you know how LONG it takes to defrag an 80meg drive? zzzzz zzzzzz >>>zzzzzzz >>>dave henrie >> >> >> So? Let it run overnight... >> >> Eldred > > >For only 80 megs?

Well, if you haven't run it in a while... :-) I have two 120's, but I've never timed how long a defrag takes. Too bad the utility doesn't come with a timer - I'm curious. Eldred -- Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank:-1.680 MonsterRank: +334.169 N2002 Rank:+17.59 Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.