3 Partition Install of Windows XP
This is a way that I have formated and setup my computer for better performance. Its a bit complicated for beginers, but I think its worth it. Below I will outline all the steps required to complete this type of setup. Read it all below once before you attempt it, I am not responsible (and neither is this forum) for any issues that arrise from following this guide.
Description:
This is a setup where the hard drive is formatted into 3 partitions. The first one is for the operating itself and I usually make it about 10GB. The second partition is made for the virtual ram and I usually make it about 2GB plus an additional 128MB so that windows doesnt bring up the low disk space warning. The last partition is where program files and documents reside. This does require some registry hacking to make it work, but its well worth it as it keeps the drive more organized by seperating the operating system from the rest of the files.
Step 1:
The first thing you need is a copy of windows XP. Once you have found a copy I would use the program nLite for creating a new cd which would include all the latest service packs, drivers, and some of the settings changed. This step is not really required but is suggested, since its not necessary I will not get into details but checkout that website to learn more about creating updated copies of windows.
Step 2:
For this step make sure there are no files on the hard drive that you would like to keep as this will destroy them all. Also for this to work well I suggest a hard drive of about 20GB or more. Ok, for this step reboot the computer with the windows install cd in the drive and get to the part where it shows you the partitions. Once there delete all the partitions on the drive, remember this will delete all your files so make sure their backed up. Now you will create the 3 partitions. Create the first partition and make it 10GB (thats 10 * 1024 = 10240MB). The make the second partition about 2GB + 128MB (2 * 1024 + 128 = 2176MB), and finally make the last partition the rest of the free space. Once you have that done select the first partition (the C drive) and install windows on that, I recomend you do a full NTFS format.
Step 3:
Just go through the rest of the installation the way you normally would.
Step 4:
After windows has started for the first time, go ahead and format the other two partitions. I normally label them as follows WinXP (10GB), VirtualRAM (2GB), Program Files (**GB).
Step 5:
In this step you will move your virtual ram to the second partition. Right Click on My Computer and goto properties. Then goto the Advanced tab and click on the Settings button under performance. After that click on the Advanced tab and click on the Change button in the virtual ram section. At this point select the drive with the 2GB and goto custom size radio button, in the boxed you should put in about 1.5 times your physical ram, when I had 512MB of RAM i actually put about 1024MB for virtual RAM and now that I have 1GB of RAM i have it set to 2GB of virtual RAm, I guess its up to you to see what works best with the main applications you are using. After you figure out a resonable size you want to put it in both boxes. This will limit the virtual ram from changing sizes constantly which slow down the system a bit. Next goto the C drive and remove the virtual ram from there by selecting the No Paging File option. after that click ok and it will ask to reboot the system.
Step 6:
This step requires you to make a copy of the Program Files directory in the C drive and mobe it to the 3rd partition. This is so that the common files work.
Step 7:
For this step you need to run the registry editor.
Go into the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionand change the drive letter for the following keys:
CommonFilesDirProgramFilesDirAfter that reboot the computer, from now on the default install drive and directory should be that.
Step 8:
Another optional thing you can do is move the documents folder to the 3rd partition, to do this simply right click on My Documents and click on the Move Folder option and create a new folder on the 3rd partition.
Thats it for now, its not a real in-depth guide but it might help some. Be carefull because if you dont know exactly what your doing you can easily mess up your system, in that case just install windows the normal way you would usually do it.
