Newbie help for partitioning

[TerpCJ]

Hi
I just got a new laptop, the OS is Windows XP Pro, 1 GB of memory and it has an 80GB HD. Never used partitioning software before. I bought Disk Director (yesterday-downloaded latest build) and want to partition the C drive into -
C:/ for Windows and Program files
D:/ for Data
E:/for backup images and maybe virtual memory
I am following advice given by Steve Gibson of GRC.com
[URL=http://www.grc.com/sn/notes-007.htm]
(Scroll down to Removal to see what I want to do)

After removing some unwanted Windows stuff, like Messenger and MSN, then running the Scan Disk and Defrag programs, I will:
1)Image the drive before partitioning, probably using True Image to do it.
2) Partition the drive into 3 segments. C: will be 20GB D: will be 40GB and E: will be 20GB*
*is that too big for what I want to do? I would need 2 GB for virtual memory swap file and how much for images?

I see on the True Image forum that True Image can create a Secure Zone. Would that negate the need for a Drive E? It seems to make a hidden drive of it's own.

3) Finally, I will image the whole drive again so I can have a restore CD with the partitions intact and not have to go through this again :)

I have downloaded and read the manual for Disk Director. I read the FAQs. I am a registered user of DD and this forum. I have also seen numerous posts about failed attempts. Any advice as to selections I should make during the Create a New Partition Wizard? I am assuming I should choose #1 Make a new partion since this is one big C drive currently...so I am not going to use unallocated disk space right?

I wish there was a simple tutorial (with screenshots) for newbies who just want to change a big C drive into C:, D:, E: and not mess with booting other operating systems.

I would appreciate some input/advice on my plans - before I proceed.
Thanks,
Cindy

[Acronis Support]

Hello Cindy,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Management Software (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/).

Concerning your questions:

Acronis Secure Zone is a special partition which is unaccessible by means of Windows. It is recommended to use it in case you don't have any additional storage devices (i.e. external drives, DVDs, CDs etc.).

I recommend you the following strategy on repartitioning:

1) Image the drive before partitioning.
2) Decrease the size of your C: partition to 20Gb.
3) Create two new partitions using the unallocated space obtained in the first step.

However you can omit the first step safely in most cases by using the free space of C: partition instead of unallocated space.

Thank you.
--
Semyonov Vasily

[TerpCJ]

Thank-you for the response Semyonov.

Can you give me an estimate of how much space a "full image" of an 80GB drive will take? I know there is compression used...but don't know how much smaller it will become.

I think it would be safe to say I will fill up 10 GB of Drive C: with my OS and Program Files and 20 GB of Drive D: data right from the start. .. which means 30 GB will be used initially on my 80 GB drive.

Cindy

[Acronis Support]

Hello Cindy,

The compression quality mostly depends on the type of information that you store on your hard disk drive. For example .avi and .mpg files are already compressed and would occupy about the same space no matter what compression type you use during imaging while .txt .doc would be compressed to about 1/3(may be even less) of its normal size. So 30Gb of information would be compressed to about 10-20Gb. However the exact size you will know only when you create an image.

Thank you.
--
Semyonov Vasily

[TerpCJ]

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know I followed your instructions and it worked flawlessly.
I used manual settings instead of wizard.
First, I clicked on C drive ( my whole hard disk was C)
I clicked on Operations and clicked on resize.
I told DD to make it 20GB.
Next I clicked on Manual, Create Partition.
I said I wanted Logical Drive D: Size 40GB using Unallocated space
Next, I said I wanted Create Partition, logical drive E, Size 18GB (whatever space was left), using Unallocated Space.

Ran the operation and it did the whole procedure (meaning it changed an 80GB hard drive into 3 partitions of 20, 40 and 18 GB each) at one time and it worked flawlessly. Took about 5 minutes to actually use the program, and 1 hour to read the manual and be sure I was doing it right.

(I did have an image in case it blew up :-)

Cindy