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y2kerr · Aug 4, 2003, 07:28 AM

I'll (hopefully) be getting a 15" PowerBook sometime in the next few weeks. It'll be my first Mac and my first notebook, and I'm wondering whether partitioning the drive will be worth my time.

I've had two disks in my desktop computer for years, I've always put Windows on the smaller drive, and left the larger one for data. This is convinient when you have to reinstall Windows every 6-12 months.

Of course, the PowerBook will have only a single hard disk, so it won't be as simple as a making a small physical drive for the OS and a larger on for the data. But I guess I could partition it, right?

Is there a partitioning option in the OS X installer? If not, is there a cheap/freeware utility I can find somewhere?

It should be a 60 Gig drive (unless Apple suddenly comes out with a 15" AlBook with an 80 Gig drive... grumble grumble...), so how big a partition should be devoted to the OS?

Anything I'm overlooking?

Thanks,
Mike

MrNo · Aug 4, 2003, 08:15 AM

You can choose the disk utility from the menu before you install OS X and partition the drive. I would make my system partition not more then 10GB maybe 7-8, and if you want to run classic make another separate one for it, maybe a gig or two depending how much space you need for classic programs. I've noticed that OS X is sllightly faster on smaller partitions and there is less file fragmentation.

quadgrande · Aug 4, 2003, 08:39 AM

I don't run OS 9 at all, so I don't have a partition for it. If you think you may be running pre-release builds of OS X, you may want to establish a 10GB "Developer" partition. In a similar way as your windows box, you can cleanly install successive builds on the OS as its released.

If you become an OS X junkie, you can obtain these builds by joining the Apple Developer connection for $500 per year (Select membership). After your first year, each year you renew you receive ~ 20% discount on a single hardware purchase (which basically more than pays for the renewed membership). In addition, you receive a copy of every Apple OS (which can save you $129 per year).

Sven G · Aug 4, 2003, 08:47 AM

With only one drive (laptop) it could also be convenient to follow Mike Bombich's tutorial for moving your Users folder to a second partition: so, for example, you would have at least 2 partitions (for example, 30 + 30, or 20 + 40 gigs: always remember that the Applications folder on the first partition can considerably grow in the future) - the first one for the System, Library, (shared) Applications, etc., and the second one for the Users folder (where you can also, if you want, create an ~/Applications folder for personal, non-shared apps). Being a new, non-OS-9-bootable Mac, there's no point in making a separate Classic partition: the best thing could be to install Classic on a disk image in the /Users/Shared folder, so it remains rather "hidden" from the main OS X folders.

JLFanboy · Aug 4, 2003, 01:23 PM

This is a real newbie question, but why exactly is partitioning a good thing? I understand that you can install multiple OSes on one harddrive, but what if you only have one OS? Does it make the system more responsive? What's the draw?

y2kerr · Aug 4, 2003, 02:55 PM

The advantage for me, at least, is that you can have one drive that has the OS on it, and another drive that has your MP3s, pictures, and word documents. If there's a problem with your OS, for whatever reason, you can completely wipe it out by reformatting the partition it's on, and reinstall it from scratch. Meanwhile, your data will be sitting safe and sound on the other partition, and will be waiting there for you after you've reinstalled the OS. You don't have to worry about restoring your files from backup CDs or DVDs.

I think that's the main advantage. Did I miss anything?

barbarian · Aug 4, 2003, 04:57 PM

I love the 2nd partition because I can keep OS 9 and OS X totally separate. Also it allows me to have a set of emergency diagnostic tools handy in case the main partition dies. Repartitioning is the first thing I do when I get a new computer.

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Other reasons I partition drives:

1. it is a good place to run beta software that I don't want touching my critical data

2. Nice for installing alternate OSes (some of these require more than one partition)

3. you can lock an hide a second partition if you have data that is extra secret.