Yes, forget about USB as system drive, it's slow and unreliable in the long run.
As previously stated, use SSD 120-250 GB (512GB-2TB if playing a lot of games and want speed) connected to M.2 or SATA port for system and applications. Use a second HDD 1-8TB (your choice) for data. And use an USB drive (2-8TB) for system and file backups. Alternatively you can use a network connected drive (NAS) for your backups and long term archiving of files.
can anyone define the 'system' part of a win10 system disk? and how it is likely to grow - i.e. which files/folders will increase and we can't stop it or at least not without difficulty?
got it. that's nailed.Yes, forget about USB as system drive, it's slow and unreliable in the long run.
I'll have to look that up. My experience with backups across our LAN is they're pathetically slow. It is a wireless lan.Alternatively you can use a network connected drive (NAS) for your backups and long term archiving of files.
I like that idea.For maximum security, you could install an internal HDD/SSD via a SATA connection but install it in a removable disk caddy which you can then remove and store securely.
Everything installed will of course ad to system disk, even programs installed on another disk will ad files to system disk. Drivers also have repository in Windows/System32/ drivers, DriverStore and Drvstore, Temp folders are all over the place and tend to fill up. If you uninstall a program without using Revo Uninstaller or another program like that may leave a lot of files behind. Restore points may also pile up even when it's not active for windows itself because some programs make them during installation. Tons of stuff leave at least some traces all the time, browsers for instance download and keep every page you open on internet as well as cookies. To speak nothing about updates and also the need to have at least 10GB free in system (C:/) partition.
Yes, I know. That's the point. How to define it so's it is handleable?
There's two things I'm thinking of:
1. Which files/folders to get off a disk before putting a new windows install on top.
2. Which files/folders are going to increase in size and generally by how much so's we can monitor and allow for increase?
And my answers at the moment with my current very imperfect knowledge are:
1. My Documents.
2. Windows and Program Files. Size of average increase unknown.
I have two computers running Windows 10 just fine on 32GB installed eMMC memory. But they are only used as media clients and internet surfing. But - to answer your question - Microsoft says 16GB is required for 32-Bit Windows 10 and 20GB is required for 64-Bit Windows 10.
This is my desktop computer running Windows 10 Professional 64-bit on a 128GB SSD:
Logically, I'd create two partitions: one for user data, other for windows and program installs.
- It makes backups/recovery much simpler (a separate discussion)
- You can easily monitor and manage partition size and growth
You can easily resize partitions if need be or move them to a larger drive if needed. I think 40-60GB for the Windows safely sufficient (60GB is on the large size after installing many, many programs) User data for the rest
How to Move Users Profile Folder to another Location in Windows 10
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