Solved C drive size recommendations

ronthai

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C drive size recommendations - New Problem

Hi all,

Just got my first W8.1 desktop computer (see my specs).
Of course I can not add additional HDD internally, due to seal, which would void 3 year onsite service garantee.

In my specs you can see I have plenty of external drives.

I am asking due to defragmentation backup image file and such, which might need extra partition space.
My OS and installed programs now take up about 40 GB.

The HP desktop has an internal 2TB HDD.
I would like to partition it in to maybe 2 or 3 parts.
I know this does not speed things up and such, just like to separate files.
I never use the standard download, documents, music, etc. folders.
So, the C drive is just for running the computer and using the software.
That way it will always be easy for a clean image backup.

With my old computer I had a separate HDD (300GB - never used it all) for the OS and programs, but that is now unfortunately not an option.

What would be a good size for the C drive, which will only have the OS and installed software (above average user).
Any games I will install on a separate internal (I have been told external is not recommended) partition anyway.

I am not a real gamer, just like to play sometimes and I am still on games 3-4 years old (like the first "Need for Speed" games)

Thanks for your help guys and gals, Ron
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
Ideal is in between 80~100GB. I have tons of applications installed and it only takes around 40GB.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
With a 2TB drive to work with, I'd say 150 to 200GB just to leave you plenty of room to grow and play with things.

I disagree that opening the computer case and adding another hard drive will void the warranty. That is a perfectly normal thing to do. Check with whoever hold the warranty service contract for your computer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
I store stuff offline into a NAS & Cloud drive. A 64GB SSD will work. Documents, etc. on a NAS or USB drive. In this day and age of being more mobile, you do not use as much space on a computer, especially a laptop. Because everything is stored off the system for security and loss prevention in case of a fire or other disaster.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
Ran into a problem

Hi again,

Thanks for the info and help, but I ran into a "small" problem.
I want to partition my 2TB internal drive into:
128GB for Windows and apps
800GB for all downloads
1000-GB for my work (websites and such) already created as W-drive

It is an "off the shell" HP desktop.
The HDD already had some partition, like D-drive for recovery (W8.1)
and 3 other small things (partitions) whatever they are, see the attached image.

Since 4 partition is the limit (I think that is the problem, since nothing happens after the restart), how can I split the current C-drive (Windows) into my preferred 128 and 800 GB.
I tried to set the W-drive to Logical, but the software does not show that option, whatever GPT is.

I am using free version of AOMEI partition software.

c-drive.JPG

Thanks, Ron
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
Since 4 partition is the limit (I think that is the problem, since nothing happens after the restart), how can I split the current C-drive (Windows) into my preferred 128 and 800 GB.
  1. This is not true. Since your HD is a GPT style disk, you can create up to 128 primary partitions.
  2. First, run defrag on C: then open Disk Management->Right Click on C: ->Shrink Volume.
    NOTE: To get around 128GB for C:, you'll need to subtract 128 from 927 (Your total disk space) = 799
    then multiply by 1024: 799 * 1024 = 818176
    Enter: 818176 into the field:"Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB" then click on shrink. See below:
    x.png

EDIT: To get an exact 128GB for C: adjust the above number until you see: 131072 in the text field: Total Size after shrink in MB
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Thanks, that indeed worked, after a few struggles, until I got the "bright" idea to just also restart the computer after the defrag, because it just stayed defragged, but after the restart defrag was at 0%

Thanks again, Ron
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
Ideal is in between 80~100GB. I have tons of applications installed and it only takes around 40GB.
Same here, I have tons of applications, Adobe CS6 entire Suite, Office 2013, Nero 2015 Platinum Suite, Cyberlink PowerDVD 15 Ultra, so many other small programs, total usage is 40 GB. I do have the hibernation file turned off though. Page file is at the default 5 GB which Windows allocated
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ALIENWARE 18 Laptop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-4940MX Extreme CPU @ 4 GHz
    Motherboard
    Alienware 0FT9KT
    Memory
    32 GB Kingston HyperX 1866MHz DDR3 PC3-14900 RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Dual GeForce GTX 780M SLI 2x4GB GDDR5 RAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC668 HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 18.4" WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display IPS 16:9 1080p [SDC4C48]
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2x SanDisk Extreme PRO 960GB SSDs + 850 EVO 1TB mSATA SSD
    Keyboard
    Alienware TactX Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse
    Internet Speed
    50 MBPS Download / 10 MBPS Upload
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET NOD32 Antivirus
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