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| 5/24 |
| 2005/3/21-22 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36784 Activity:kinda low Edit_by:auto |
3/20 Poll for people who have only 1 HD (laptop for example). How did YOU
partition your HD and why? I'm thinking of putting all the games and
media data in one partition and leave the OS and VMWare files in
another partition. The rationale is that when I play games or do media
stuff I don't work, and when I work (on VMWare) I don't play games and
play media files. However, this has the disadvantage of parition
fragmentation (which could be fixed via Partition Magic I suppose).
So I'll ask again, how did YOU partition your HD and why?
\_ Everything in one big partition. Works for me.
\_ When you later want to install another OS to dual-boot, you're
hosed.
\_ But if you mis-estimated what partition sizes you need, you're
still hosed.
\_ True.
\_ ... or run VMware like the OP.
\_ Oops. But VMware costs extra.
\_ I also use 1 big partition (default OS X install). If I need
to run another OS I just fire up VPC.
\_ This is my partition scheme for my main machine for
performance and ease of re-install if windows fucks up for any
reason. Readjust size based on your HD size.
C: <system>, 10-20gb (windows OS only)
<scratch>, mapped to c:\temp, c:\windows\temp, 20gb temp partition
D: <application>, I install everything to this partition (40+gb?)
<data>, mapped to c:\Home (80+ gb?)
This way, C: stays relatively clean and the OS itself will
not get squeezed and fragmented by all the crap that
normally goes on C:. Performance in Windows does not
degrade much as if everything is installed on C:. Having a
separate partition for Temp also helps in keeping C: clean
for fast windows performance. If you have 2 HD, put temp on
the 2nd HD.
When windows does fuck up, I simply format C: and
re-install. My data does not get affected, I just remaps my
directory after install. I install all applications to
d:\program files.
This partition scheme has served me well. You'll be amazed
how fast your machine is when you install a fresh copy of
windows. One last tip, do NOT install XP and then upgrade
to SP2, integrate SP2 onto your XP install CD. This way,
after you install XP, your system is already sp2 and this
uses less HD space than install then apply SP2. google for
how to do this.
\_ http://www.maximumpc.com/how_to/reprint_2005-01-05.html
Slipstream install for service pack, really optimizes!!!
\_ When you format and re-install Windows on C:, don't you lose all
the Registry settings? I thought many Windows apps rely on
Registry settings to work properly.
\_ Yes, that's the point of a fresh install. You do need to
re-install most apps. It's not as bad as it seems and
will fix most if not all application anomilies that typically
happens after going through upgrades and install-uninstall
cycles.
\_ hm, interesting. I'm not an XP expert so maybe you can
enlighten me. After you partition into C and D, how do you
further partition and map C into <system>, <scratch> and
likewise for D into <app> and <data>?
\_ Administrative Tools->Computer Management, under disk
management, you can map a drive to a directory. So in my
above example, you have 4 partitions.
1: 10gb c: operating system only
2: 40+gb d: application
3: 10gb nameless partition, maps to c:\temp, c:\windows\temp
4: 40+gb nameless partition, maps to c:\home
again you determine what size each partition goes. Minimum for
OS is probably 5gb, for Temp can be as small as 1gb. I use 10gb
so I can fit a DVD image on it. 20gb if you have dual layer.
\_ I currently have C: drive 10 GB containing only Windows and
essential applications (Office) and D: drive with 50 GB for
Documents and Settings\usernames, temp files, and everything else.
The idea was that C: could always be defragmented easily.
When I re-install, I don't want to fuck with things too much and
I'll just put it all on C: and live with the long defrags.
I am using (pay) Executive Software Diskeeper, which is much faster
than the Windows defragger.
I use 0 GB of swap. This is my notebook. If I want to run Linux,
I'll do so on a spare disk on my desktop, or swap in another hard
drive on my notebook. I don't need the hassle of dual-boot, and
foom, I accidentally rendered my Windows partition unbootable. |
| 5/24 |
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| www.maximumpc.com/how_to/reprint_2005-01-05.html How to: Slipstream your XP installation Add RAID drivers and Service Pack 2 to your original Windows CD! Think of how you treat a brand-new car: You cherish and pamper it at firs t You even give up your Sunday afternoons to wash and wax it by hand. Y our heart skips a beat whenever you see that gleaming steel beast waitin g for you in the parking lot. A newly installed version of Windows XP ca n inspire similar devotion. Not only do you thrill at its pristine condi tion but you patiently, and even eagerly downloaded all the latest patch es from Windows Update so as to keep your OS shipshape. But over time, most of us begin to take that new carand that clean WinXP installationfor granted. As it accumulates miles and wear an d tear, your erstwhile pride and joy becomes just another drain on your walletand your time. Hand-washing, you discover, just isnt worth the eff ort anymore. In its place: a quickie car wash at the local gas station. If only there were a simple wash-and-rinse equivalent for WinXP. Its called slipstreaming the mystical art of creating an up-to-the-minute Windows XP setup CD wit h all the latest patches preinstalled, so you wont have to spend half yo ur life on Microsofts Windows Update web site. Heck, well even help you add RAID or Seri al ATA controller drivers to your CD so you wont need a floppy drive (or the F6 key) to install Windows. com) Step 1: Collect the necessary files Before getting started, well need to download the full, stand-alone insta llation of Service Pack 2 (as opposed to performing a web-based upgrade) . While youre at it, grab the latest drivers for your RAID or Serial ATA co ntroller. If you add them to your install CD, you wont need to use an ol d-fashioned floppy drive to install Windows. For an add-in RAID or SATA card, look for the drivers on the web site of your controller chips manu facture. You can roll your RAID drivers into your XP install disc by slipstreaming ! Step 2: Update your setup files Our next objective is to extract Service Pack 2 to a folder so we can upd ate our existing Windows setup files. Use the cd (change directory) command to navigate to the folder where you just saved the SP2 executable in the previous step. When prompted for a destination t o extract the files to, enter C:\xpSP2. Once the files have been extracted, insert your Windows XP se tup CD into an optical drive and copy its entire contents to a different folder on your hard drive. For the sake of simplicity, use C:\xpsetupcd as the folder. Now, return to the command prompt and type the following command: C:\xpSP2\i386\update\update /s:C:\xpsetupcd. This will update your existing Windows setup files with the new code contained in Service Pack 2 A message box will pop up to notify you when the process is com plete. Service Pack 2's built-in updater makes it easy to patch y our original W indows setup files with Microsoft's latest code. Step 3: Add your RAID/SATA Drivers Were now ready to add RAID/SATA controller drivers to our CD (if you dont want to do this, skip ahead to the final step). Open the folder to whic h you copied your Windows XP CD (C:\xpsetupcd) and create a subfolder ca lled $OEM$ Then, create a subfolder of $OEM$ called $1 and a subfolder of $1 called drivers. The resulting path should be C:\xpsetupcd\$OEM$\$1 \drivers. This is where Windows Setup will look for drivers that arent c ontained in its standard driver library. For organizational purposes, ma ke a subfolder within drivers named for the type of driver it will conta infor instance, create a RAID folder for RAID drivers or an SATA folder for Serial ATA drivers. You can use any name, as long as it has fewer th an eight characters. With the aforementioned folder structure in place, copy the W indows XP RAID/SATA drivers directly into the folder you created above ( we used C:\xpsetupcd\$OEM$\$1\drivers\RAID). C:/documents and settings/You rUsername/LocalSettings/Temp until you find the right directory). Finall y, locate the SYS file for your RAID/SATA controller from among the file s you just extracted; The driv ers for different operating systems may be split into distinct folders, so make sure you find the SYS file thats intended for Windows XP. Once y ou find the SYS file, copy it to the i386 folder of your Windows CD (C:\ xpsetupcd\i386). Adding RAID or Serial ATA drivers to your Windows CD will save you the tr ouble of using a floppy disc to manually install them every time you ref ormat. Step 4 Introduce Windows to your drivers Now that weve added our RAID/SATA driver files to the mix, we need to tel l Windows Setup about the existence of these drivers and how to use them . But unless you happen to have this information memorizedand if you do, this might be a good time to turn off your computer and spend some time in the real worldyoull need to look it up in your drivers INF file. Thi s file is usually found in the same place as the SYS file you located in the previous step and will probably have the same name, albeit with an INF extension. Open the INF file in Notepad and copy the PCI identifier string, which is a series of characters beginning with PCI\VENfor instan ce, PCI\VEN_105A&DEV_3376. There may be other text on the same line as t he identifier string; if this is the case, start at the first occurrence of PCI\VEN and copy the text up to but not including the last period (o r the end of the line, whichever comes first). At the end of the string, add an equal-sign followed by th e driver name in quotes. In the case of our Promise RAID controller, the resulting line is: PCI\VEN_105A&DEV_3376 = fasttx2k. section of the file, add the following : driver_filename = "RAID/SATA Device Name You can enter whatever you want for RAID/SATA Device Name, but we recomme nd using a meaningful description (such as the name of your RAID/SATA co ntroller). Somewhere in the depths of your RAID/SATA controller's INF file lurks the fabled PCI identifier string. Step 5 Create a customized setup routine Youre almost there. SIF in th e i386 folder of our Windows setup files (C:\xpsetupcd\i386). This file can be used to create an unattended installation routinea subject beyond the scope of this how-tobut well simply use it to point Windows to the drivers weve slipstreamed. ProductKey= FullName="" OrgName="" Youll need to customize the OemPnPDriversPath line by entering the path t o the INF file for your RAID/SATA driver (for instance if your drivers a re in C:\xpsetupcd\i386\$OEM$\$1\drivers\RAID use: OemPnPDriversPath=dri vers\RAID\FastTrack\WinXP). Type your product key, name, and company name in the ProductKe y, FullName, and OrgName fields respectively to avoid having to enter th em during setup. And if youd like to install Windows to a folder other t han C:\WINDOWS, edit the TargetPath field as needed. SIF is a powerful file that allows you to customize and automate many parts of the Windows installation process. Step 6 Prepare your bootable CD and burn it Our next task is to extract the boot image from our original Windows XP d isc so we can use it to make our slipstreamed CD bootable as well. With your original XP setup CD inserted, launch ISO Buster and select Bootabl e CD from the left pane. Extract this fil e to the folder where you copied your XP setup files (C:\xpsetupcd). Fire up Nero Burning ROM (or EZ CD Creator, or any other CD burning app) and go to the New Compilation window (click Close Wizard if Neros wizard comes up). Finally , click the Label tab and set the Volume Label field to the value used b y your original Windows XP CDthis is the name that appears next to your CD-ROM drive in My Computer when your XP CD is inserted. Click the New button to open th e Nero File Browser, and then locate the folder where you copied your Wi ndows XP CD. Open the folder and add its entire contents to your CD imag e When youre all set, mash the Burn button and bask in the glory of you r shiny new slipstreamed Windows XP CD, replete with RAID/SATA drivers a nd Service Pack 2! |