[wwm]

Hi

This is my first post, so I want to thank you in advance for your help.

I have always set up my hard drive with several partitions, never had a problem before.

The laptop was partitioned to create 9 drives including c:

I have just sent back an Acer Laptop, as it seemed to have a problem with the keyboard, they have returned it saying too many partitions on disk causing various problems, ran a recovery and returned it?

I have never heard of too many partitions on a disk before, and would appreciate your comments.

Thanks again.

Kind regards

Wwm

Edited by wwm, 16 April 2008 - 04:01 PM.

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A PC hard disk can contain either as many as four primary partitions, or 1-3 primaries and a single extended partition.

An extended partition is secondary to the primary partition(s). A hard disk may contain only one extended partition; which can then be sub-divided into logical drives, each of which is (under DOS and Windows) assigned additional drive letters.

In theory you can have as many logical drives as you want provided they're part of the extended partition, subject to the size of the disk.
However 9 of them is probably overkill, in all honesty.

[Neil Jones]

A PC hard disk can contain either as many as four primary partitions, or 1-3 primaries and a single extended partition.

An extended partition is secondary to the primary partition(s). A hard disk may contain only one extended partition; which can then be sub-divided into logical drives, each of which is (under DOS and Windows) assigned additional drive letters.

In theory you can have as many logical drives as you want provided they're part of the extended partition, subject to the size of the disk.
However 9 of them is probably overkill, in all honesty.

[wwm]

Hi Neil

Thank you for your answer to my question.

Like all things, leads on to a further question...

Your explanation is exactly as I have set it up i.e. I have a main partition for programs, then have an extended partition, which has been divided up into logical drives, all in an effort to separate the data from the programs, thus giving some distance from any potential threats, as well as helping me to organise my hard drive easier.

I note your comment that 9 is probably too many, but would this cause the 'various errors' that Acer have stated in your opinion?

I personally can't see how it can?

Thanks again for your detailed answer, it has been a big help to me.

Regards

Wwm

[The Admiral]

Yes, it can cause the 'various errors' that Acer reports. If you have data all over the place, referenced to each other, they begin to conflict with each other, misreference, or corrupt the file system. What "potential threats" are you trying to avoid?

[wwm]

Hi

Thanks for replying.

I have run computers for years using a number of logical drives.

I don't randomly reference across the drives, I just use the programs on c: to access the data on d: e: f: etc

I started doing this many years ago, but I guess my main thoughts at the time were to keep the data separate from the programs, as I found it simplified things, I also thought it would put some kind of barrier for viruses/spyware, also simplified my reinstalling if I had any problems as I only had to reinstall OS & programs to c: drive, and then reinstall without worrying about my main data files, it also helped me manage my data making it much easier to sort.

This all started as I got a problem when typing, i.e. the cursor would jump above where I was typing, would add a hash, then go higher adding some random characters, including full stops, caps lock would also come on sometimes? I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the keyboard driver, I run Kapersky and Trend micro online scanners, Avast, Spybot and Ad-Aware, and they found nothing. I run task manager & msconfig to look at what was to run / was running, all looked ok to me.

So I sent it back to Acer, it was a Vista Laptop which I installed XP Pro on, they said too many partitions, ran a Vista recovery and sent it back to me.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks again.

Regards

Wwm

[The Skeptic]

In principle there shouldn't be any problem with your arrangement. However, multiple partitions can cause inefficiency in using the disk space. Very often I see computers which ran out of space on one partition (very often C, the partition with the operating system) and had plenty left on others. This caused the computers to show all the symptoms of an over loaded hard disk: low speed, error messages about disk space and virtual memory, inability to defragment and so on.

If you are aware about these points that's fine, but you will not find many supporters for such partitions arrangement.

[wwm]

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

As I have run this way for quite some time, I have experienced the problems like can't defrag due to inadequate empty space, and always size any new hard drive partitions carefully, leaving enough slack.

Thanks for your answer, I really do appreciate your input.

I am also sure other members will find this thread helpful.

Regards

Wwm