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Partitioning hard drive - any point?

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m_s:
I just read this interesting set of tips at Techyogurt (via Lifehacker): http://techyogurt.com/?p=12

I'm interested in his point 18, since I have heard it said often that partitioning makes things safer, but whenever I think about it, it doesn't really make sense since we're still talking about the same drive.  One of the commenters says something about it making reinstalling Windows easier, and that does make sense.  But is there any real benefit in partitioning?

mouser:
drive imaging software often only works at partition level - one reason to partition is to separate dif drives for imaging.

brotherS:
I'll read that page later, seems to be interesting. Since I spent lots of time thinking about that here's what I think now:

You should use at least 3 partitions:

* one for your OS and programs (some prefer to split up even those, I don't feel the need)
* second for your data
* third for the swap file - this increases the performance, though will not be needed anymore as soon as Gigabyte's i-RAM (Affordable Solid State Storage) version 2 comes out! :)
#1 reason to use a seperate partition for your data is that when you have severe problems a rescue program might help to recover most of your data - but not, if Windows just wrote randomly over appearingly empty blocks...  :huh:

#2 reason is that indexing programs (for example the great Google Sidebar, which also lets you view the DonationCoder.com RSS feeds perfectly) just don't need to care about your OS partition at all.

#3-10 reasons may follow later ;)

m_s:
That point about the swap file - I had heard that it makes little difference unless you're actually using a separate physical volume.  Is that wrong? 

I just bought Backup4all, as I've been increasingly worried about my lack of backups - now I'm thinking of getting an external hard-drive and Acronis TrueImage (as recommended in the venerable DC review!).  And I think this kind of backup system is a good argument for keeping my documents separate (as they currently are).

Carol Haynes:
Partitioning has numerous benefits, and a few pitfalls:

1) PageFile ... if you stick it in a separate partition on the same volume as windows it can slow down your system - constant seeking backwards and forwards across the drive introduces delays - especially if the partitions are separated by a large distance. A separate pagefile on a separate partition works much better and increases system throughput. If you have standard drives and a striped array putting your system on the RAID array can make a big difference to.

2) Separating system and data makes backing up less of a chore - you only need to backup the system occasionally, and you data can easily be backed up regularly. A tool such as Acronis TrueImage is good for this sort of thing as you can schedule regular incremental backups which are really quick. A seperate har disc is good for this - but don't use RAID for backups, they will be more easily damaged in a hardware failure and may be totally unrecoverable. As drives get bigger and bigger it is becoming essential to plan for backups otherwise they become so unwieldly that they are never done!

3) I also move Temporary file folders and Temporary Internet files to a separate partition. These are quicker to access (esp. if they are on a separate volume) and easier to clean out when you want to. They also reduce fragmentation on the system drive.

4) I run separate multibooting Windows installations (in neighbouring partitions) for some specific applications. For example, video and audio editing can really benefit from having a clean system with a minimal extras installed (not even networking/internet access). They can share PageFile partitions and Temp folders with the other installations, reducing the overheads. I also find Adobe apps, such as PhotoShop, really appreciate a faster clean environment - and given most of these use scratch discs it is worth giving them their own partition for scratch work too. Adobe scratch disks should not be on the same volume as PageFile though.

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