partitioning question

hi all

curentley i have everything on my comp on 1 partition however iv been told that this isnt a good idea a for security resions but also for storage resions

and i was advised that i should repartition my hd having my os on 1 partition my programs on another partition and games on a 3rd partition how ever i dont really understand all the partitioning bisness and i was wondering of some could explain it to me

also i know that 98 runs on fat 32 format but iv been told that NTFS is more secure and efficent and im wondering how if it is actualt possable to update my drives format

 

win 98 has to run on fat32. I use partition magic to create and manage partitions. It is easy to use and I have never had a problem with it yet. You can create partitions for whatever you need them for. There are other programs out there but I have always prefered PM. Your other partitions can be linux if you want another OS or just fat32 or you can create a partition to keep a backup of your OS. There are quite a few options to partitioning your HDD. You can have a partition just for music or for movies.

 

hi

ok question then could i have a fat 32 partition for just my os which dosnt really change then have say an ntfs patrition for all the rest of my files becaues ntfs is more efficent than fat

 

yes, I have had fat32, ntfs, linux and a couple of partitions for storage of some files I wanted to save all at the same time.

 

ok question

now as i understand it each partition is assined a difrent drive letter so basicley like havin 2 hd when i go to my computer i would see c which is the root account on which the os is installed and then i would see drive f which would be my second partition or user partition for all my files like word documents correct ??

ok next question now i know the 98 needs fat 32 but if i have a second partition set to ntfs would i be able to access the data on the partition through 98 becaues as i understand it 98 cant access data on a ntfs partition can it

 

I have been thinking about your question about accessing your ntfs partitions with a fat32 OS. I am not sure about that the more I think About it. I have always gone the other way so I can not positivly say that you can. you can access them I just don't know if you could use an ntfs with a fat32 system.

 

You might just have to partition all in fat32.

 

hi

yeah see what im trying to do as always is get the best out of my system and all the partitioning stuff is a lil over my head and i dont really understand it thats why i was looking for somone to try and explain it all to me

see right now im using 98 se and everything is on 1 partition but as we know the is inefficent and iv also been told that its not a good idea to have everything on 1 partition for security resions say i get a virus if its all on 1 partition the virus has access to the os thats bad but if the os is isolated on its own partition its safe from this type of thing and is there for more secure

so im looking to tidy this up so that my drive is used more effecentley and hopfulley will speed up my system thats why i was asking about ntfs format coz i here that its better then fat

see the other thing im wondering is if i had a patition for testing apps say and the app in questin came with a load of malware would i just be ablt to deleat the testing partition and take out all the malware with it

 

Ntfs is more efficent, You can still partition in fat32 and keep a back up os and partitions for your other things you want to protect . Fat32 still works pretty well.

 

ok another question would it be possable to get a program that would act like a bridge between difrent file formats??

so say a fat system could access data on a ntfs system ?

 

I will tell you no lies, I have not heard of such a program but then again I have never had need to look for one. I am going to do some quick searching and I will post back here in a few minutes.

 

ok thanks

now in reguard to my other questions could you straten me out

now as i understand it each partition is assined a difrent drive letter so basicley like havin 2 hd when i go to my computer i would see c which is the root account on which the os is installed and then i would see drive f which would be my second partition or user partition for all my files like word documents correct ??

as i understand it if i where to get a virus if its all on 1 partition the virus has access to the os correct ?? but if the os is on its partition it would be safe from that virus correct ??

if i set up a partition for testing apps and the app containd malware would said malware be islated from the rest of the comp coz its on its own partition ?? and if this is the case would i just beable to deleat the tseting patrition when i was done and take out the malware with it

also how easy is it to create and deleat partitions using somthing like partition magic

also does prpgrams like partition magic have an ability to automaticley optomize the size of my partitions to reduec waste

also could i use a program like partition magic to repartition my hd them move excisting files to there new places thus tideying up my system

one other question

how would you requemend i set my hd up when repartitioning

 

I found an article that mentions that there is an app that makes ntfs accessible with win 98se. check this link here

 

After you create a new partition you can move files to it almost like moving files between folders. You have the ability to copy an entire partition to another partition which sure is nice to use as an os backup. You would be able to replace an entire infected os with a good copy just by copying a partition with a good copy on it with all your files, apps and everything just like it was.There are lots of possibilities. it is very easy to create and delete partitions with PM.

 

With partition magic there is a good tutorial and help files to get you going with what you want. Most of it is pretty much automated you just tell it what you want and it does it. It gives you the ability to make emergency recovery disc's in the program also

 

you will want to make your main os partition primary and your other partitions logical so there no conflict with the boot sector.

 

BigC

Say what ever became of SCRAM DISC?...is it still out there somewhere?
You remember the program?

********************

 

BC...........I found it.(scramdisc)....kinda tempted to get it for some future use.

 

Bethrezen,

If you are using Win98 then there is no security benefit to setting up multiple partitions - a virus on your system can access any of them. Having multiple smaller partitions can result in more efficient use of disk space since FAT/FAT32 will use larger cluster sizes on bigger partitions (and each file will take 1 cluster of space, regardless of its size). This however will depend on the size of your hard disk and the number of small files you have. For more details on this, check Partitioning, Partition Sizes and Drive Lettering.

Moving from one large partition to several small ones will involve a lot of work however. Not only would you have to copy files but Windows Registry entries would need to be modified to point to the new locations - in effect it would be safer to uninstall and reinstall all your software. And while you could keep a backup copy of your OS on a spare partition, this is unlikely to offer any benefits over keeping the installation CD close at hand (and the CD cannot be overwritten by viruses or other malware).

Partitioning would make more sense for NTFS users where file/folder permissions could be set (e.g. I have Windows 2000 stored on C: with read-only access and everything else on D: with write access) or for those running multiple OSes (including different versions of Windows). However I would be very cautious about trying to use NTFS with Win98 through a third-party utility - Win98 just does not have the file/user permissions structure that Win2000/XP has so the security benefits would be questionable, and any problems with this utility (which could include conflicts with other software that hooks into Windows' file-access mechanism like anti-virus scanners or disk defragmenters) may result in the loss of your data.

 

I have to admit it sounds familiar but I don't remember it. scramdisc

 

hi

so basicley while im using 98 it would be better to just leave my system as is everything on 1 partition becaues i really wouldnt get any significent benifit unless i was running out of space which isnt likley with an 80 gb HD

 

Partitioning is going to be completely up to you. I always use multiple partitions. I have used them on win 98, me and xp. I have never had a problem loosing any info or anything else that I can remember. And it gives you a place to store files where you wont accidently delete them or whatever. I promote useing partitions but the final decision is yours.


bigc

 

Repartitioning your system is going to mean a lot of work. The benefits will be less for Win98/ME due to their lack of security features. My view is that they would not be worth the effort in your case but, if you should ever decide to rebuild your system, consider this issue afresh. However, the choice is yours.

BigC, I can understand this argument when NTFS is used (since it allows read-only permissions to be set on folders) but how does this apply with FAT which does not?