hard drive partition

[jclampitt]

i was wondering how i would go about creating a separate partition on my hard drive. the reason is that i have windows xp media center edition on my computer now, and i want to use another partition to run xp home edition, and my recording and video editing software, cuz i read something on here about how it was good to have just the operating system and recording programs without all the pointless crap that comes installed on computer. i was thinking i could use one partition for games and stupid crap and the other one for recording. is this a good idea?

[brandondrury]

You don't necessarily have to create a new partition. In fact, I don't think I would. I would setup a dual boot system.

Brandon

[jclampitt]

oh, i thought you had to make another partition to do the dual boot system, i really don't know anything about this stuff

[brandondrury]

Nope. I have done the dual boot before, but I don't feel confident teaching how to do it, even if it was extremely simple. The only thing you have to watch out for is making sure you don't overwrite your original operating system when you install it. There is a line that you need to paste within XP's control panel so it knows there is a second operating system and that's about it.

Brandon

[jclampitt]

Oh, I see, do you think it's worth it, to have the dual boot system and and everything in order to use the same computer for recording/video editing and also for other stupid stuff like games and what not? or is it even going to make much difference anyways?
Thanks

[brandondrury]

or is it even going to make much difference anyways?

There are things that don't make that much difference. Expensive mics, expensive preamps, and expensive converters come to mind. However, when it comes to computer performance, having a separate operating system for your audio recording will result in EXTREME performance benefits.

About a year ago my brother bought a Gateway laptop. It took about 4 minutes for it to boot up. I formatted it with a clean copy of Windows effectively tossing out all the garbage that comes stock. The computer is exponentially faster now.

I consider having a separate rig for recording and misc whatever 100% required.

The performance gains can be astounding and the reduced amount of problems is a huge benefit as well.

Brandon

[jclampitt]

awesome, i'm gonna search around on the internet and figure out how to do this, thanks.

[richiebee]

I don't think its possible to have two XP operating systems on the same partition, but if it is, I would strongly recommend keeping them on separate partitions - or even better, on separate drives. The greater the level of separation, the greater isolation each has from the other.

I have two XP installations on my computer (on two physically separate drives)... it was very simple to set up. I don't like delving into OS level stuff and was nervous about doing it, but it was just a breeze.

When you do install your second OS, boot into it and defrag before you start installing any applications or samples. I found that the XP installation process created an incredibly fragmented drive, the likes of which I've never seen before.

[jclampitt]

yeah after looking around a bit on the internet it doesnt look like its possible to do it without either a partition or two separate drives, but Brandon says he did it before so i don't know. i don't think i even have room in my computer to actually install an extra hard drive, but i do have a firewire external hard drive, would that even work though? would it be too slow or is it even possible to run an os from a firewire drive? i'm thinking maybe i should just do partitions cuz i can't seem to find instructions to set up two os's without doing it that way

[brandondrury]

I don't think its possible to have two XP operating systems on the same partition

I've done it.

I would strongly recommend keeping them on separate partitions - or even better, on separate drives. The greater the level of separation, the greater isolation each has from the other.

What's to be gained? A partion isn't really any more isolated, is it? I figured just because we call this centimeter of the drive C: and this centimeter E: it wouldn't make much difference. I could be wrong.

In the end, if you have a trashed computer, you need another install of XP somewhere. It's as simple as that.

i don't think i even have room in my computer to actually install an extra hard drive,

Really? How many hard drives do you have in there now?

i do have a firewire external hard drive, would that even work though?

Nope. You can't boot from a firewire drive. At least I've never heard of anyone doing it.

Nevermind, somone did it. I'm not sure how:
YouTube - Boot xp off external drive