[PookJP]

Hi,

I had to reformat my hard drive, so this seems like a good opportunity to consider partitioning. I've always heard people suggest putting the system on a separate partition; is this something I should do? If so, how large should I make the partition?

If I do go ahead an partition, how does that change my user experience? Will I have more trouble using applications, setting preferences... anything? What's the advantage?

Thanks!

[TETENAL]

No. Don't partition your hard drive.

Partitioning is like disk fragmentation only that it is permanent. You will regret it eventually no matter how much you think about the "optimal" partitions' size. There is no significant advantage of partitioning that would make up for this.

[tooki]

If you have to ask, you shouldn't partition. It can be useful as an advanced feature, but for most people, it causes hassle with no payoff.

tooki

[PookJP]

Fair enough! Thanks.

[Hal Itosis]

> You will regret it eventually no matter how much
> you think about the "optimal" partitions' size.


Fiddlesticks.

[alphasubzero949]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

No. Don't partition your hard drive.

Partitioning is like disk fragmentation only that it is permanent. You will regret it eventually no matter how much you think about the "optimal" partitions' size. There is no significant advantage of partitioning that would make up for this.

Unless you dual-boot.

[CharlesS]

Indeed. If you like to switch between OS X and Linux, you need to partition. Similarly, if you write software and want to test it on 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4, you'll need a partition for each. The ability to have multiple OS versions on the same partition was unfortunately lost in the OS 9 to OS X transition.

Of course, if you don't do any of these things, you probably don't need to partition your drive.

[DCapple]

Originally Posted by PookJP

Hi,

I had to reformat my hard drive, so this seems like a good opportunity to consider partitioning. I've always heard people suggest putting the system on a separate partition; is this something I should do? If so, how large should I make the partition?

If I do go ahead an partition, how does that change my user experience? Will I have more trouble using applications, setting preferences... anything? What's the advantage?

Thanks!

as from my experience i dont have any trouble in terms of applications, setting preferences the advantage is you can have your files on one partitin so when something bad happen to your application you can retrieve it...it like having a mirror or back-up...its really up to you but as the other guys said...you better not partition your hard disk so you can maximize it...

[kick52]

with the best name - "Macintosh HD", its hard to think of another stylish name for your other partition that fits with OS Xs minimalistic desktop.

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by DCapple

as from my experience i dont have any trouble in terms of applications, setting preferences the advantage is you can have your files on one partitin so when something bad happen to your application you can retrieve it...it like having a mirror or back-up...its really up to you but as the other guys said...you better not partition your hard disk so you can maximize it...

Your backup needs to be on a separate disk. Having your backup on another partition on the same disk won't help you much if the disk itself dies.

[alphasubzero949]

To add onto Charles' point, having another partition for your data is no substitute for a backup. It just adds the convenience in case you were to FUBAR your OS X install or if you want a dual booter where you can access common files.

If you do decide to partition, here is my advice of what to be careful of:

1. OS X MUST be in the first partition otherwise you'll have problems.
2. Allow 10-20 GB for OS X. Of course, if you have the bloat that is iLife '06 (remember, it requires 10 GB as a whole) and perhaps other GarageBand jam packs (approx 2 GB each), you'll certainly want to have more space. If you use Filevault? Short on RAM? Yes, allow more space. OS X is a pig when it comes to swap files and FileVault HD space usage. Leave yourself some breathing room. Consider installing third party drag and drop apps somewhere else other than /Applications and leave that folder for Apple's own stuff.
3. If you don't want all of those localizations and want to actually save space, download something like CLIX to keep this command handy to select, point, and click:

sudo find / \( -name *.lproj -and \! \( -name English.lproj -or -name en.lproj \) \) -exec rm -rf \{\} \;

This easily saves you ~1-1.5 GB of space, even with Xcode tools. On a small drive it makes a big difference. The downside? Every time you run Software Update or update drag-and-drop apps, you'll have to run it again.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't do it without delving into the subject first hand. If you have a large disk drive, the whole thing about the regrets from your choice of space allocations is a non-issue IMO, especially if you created only two partitions (one for OS X and the other for everything else).

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by alphasubzero949

1. OS X MUST be in the first partition otherwise you'll have problems.

This isn't true, AFAIK, except on the ancient beige G3s which aren't supported by Tiger anyway. I've had OS X on partitions other than the first one, and it worked fine. I've sometimes had multiple partitions set up to boot different versions of OS X for testing purposes. No problems.

[DCapple]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

Your backup needs to be on a separate disk. Having your backup on another partition on the same disk won't help you much if the disk itself dies.

yes thats right!!

partition is pretty much organizing your files and applications...

but i did that before but now i really prefer not to cause its more hassle free...