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Installing XP to non-C: partition but at start of drive

Jamp
Jamp Posts: 222 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
Hi All

I'm fitting a new hard drive to my laptop and installing XP Pro. I've read that it's best to install Windows to a partition which isn't designated C: as this with thwart some viruses. I do however want to have my 'system' partition with Windows and Program Files at the start/edge of the drive platter for speed of access.

How do I change the designation of my system partition at the point of installation? You can't do it through Disk Management for system partitions...

All I can think is to format a dummy C: of a few MB then format a D: partition for use, then merge C: with E: through Disk Management after Win installation. Is this the best route to go?

Unfortunately as this is for a laptop I can't partition the drive as a slave or use a boot floppy.

What I'm trying to achieve in the end on a 160GB drive is:
D: System 20GB
E: Documents 140GB
or I might go mad and have
D: System 20GB
E: Documents 40GB
F: Media 60GB
G: Backup/Linux at a later date 40GB
Comments or other suggestions welcomed though!

Cheers.
«1

Comments

  • amcluesent
    amcluesent Posts: 9,425 Forumite
    IMHO you'd be better of with a simple install and leave the prefetch on XP to work out which programmes you run frequently rather than try to position stuff on the disk.

    AFAIK XP and Vista always call the boot volume the C: drive.
  • bookduck
    bookduck Posts: 1,136 Forumite
    why do you not make the first partition for swap space and second partition for the system files?

    While i'm sure they are still around, boot sector viruses are not as common as they once were.

    More you carve the disk up, less useful space it will have - you'll just keep moving stuff from partition to partition.

    Ever thought about using VMWare, it rolls back and if you get tired of it, you can just delete the file, or even copy it for safety sake?
    GOOGLE it before you ask, you'll often save yourself a lot of time. ;)
  • Jaffa.
    Jaffa. Posts: 1,193 Forumite
    edited 6 May 2009 pm31 8:11PM
    You should look into preventing the viruses from ever getting on the system ;)

    You might aswell use C: for Windows and D: for documents...

    Just wondering, were you planning to use a limited account with that?
  • posted_2
    posted_2 Posts: 514 Forumite
    The premise of your post is based on misinformation, having windows on a non c partition will not protect you against viruses, and will cause you no end of other problems.
  • Jamp
    Jamp Posts: 222 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 6 May 2009 pm31 9:49PM
    Thanks for the replies. I'd used http://windows.radified.com/ and http://partition.radified.com/ for guidance after a brief search; these recommended the small system partition at the start of the disk and non C: designation. Obviously I will have anti virus but thought I'd try to use every avenue of protection available. It's just a standard installation with a single user, the priority is stability and speed (albeit from a fairly old machine) for standard web/office stuff as well as some CAE software.
  • posted_2
    posted_2 Posts: 514 Forumite
    Had a brief read, some people tweak for the sake of it.

    The bit about viruses said "I'm sure most virii are able to locate your O/S, no matter WHICH drive you install it to"

    Keep it simple, either everything on c:, or a c for windows/programs, and d for data (&disk images if you plan to do them)
  • Jamp wrote: »
    thwart some viruses
    Crazy. If you're really bothered about viruses then get Avira installed and look into HIPS.
    Jamp wrote: »
    What I'm trying to achieve in the end on a 160GB drive is:
    D: System 20GB
    E: Documents 140GB
    or I might go mad and have
    D: System 20GB
    E: Documents 40GB
    F: Media 60GB
    G: Backup/Linux at a later date 40GB
    Agreed that your docs are separate from Windows for many reasons e.g. if you need to wipe C and reinstall Windows then your docs won't be touched, another being fragmentation of the C drive will be less with your docs stored elsewhere.

    Wouldn't bother with not putting it on C though.
  • Jamp
    Jamp Posts: 222 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    posted wrote: »
    The bit about viruses said "I'm sure most virii are able to locate your O/S, no matter WHICH drive you install it to"

    Sure but it also says that "the fact is that some of the cruder virii specifically target the C drive, which means, to some extent (however small), C is the most vulnerable drive", and that "any security-savvy user will tell you that installing to the default directory is the least secure option". I'm inclined to agree with that guide that any additional layer of protection available is worth having, particularly if at no cost in performance or £s. If, however, it's quite a hassle to achieve or going to harm system performance then I'll just stick to C :)
  • Jamp
    Jamp Posts: 222 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Crazy. If you're really bothered about viruses then get Avira installed and look into HIPS.

    Using Kaspersky and I'm not selling my house ;)
  • Laz123
    Laz123 Posts: 1,742 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    A virus can affect any partition you can see in windows.
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