Partitioning

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  1. Posts : 236
    Windows 10 Home
       #1

    Partitioning


    I've noticed that some of the "Big Dogs" here have Windows 10 installed on One Primary Partition. My question is, what would be the Advantages or Disadvantages of this type of partitioning?

    Also, what about the same scheme with GPT, Only One Partition, and why. Seems it may be easier to Image if it were just one with GPT, is that correct?
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  2. Posts : 809
    Win10
       #2

    I'm not really clear what you're asking. Can you give link to some examples of the partition schemes you're referring to?
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  3. Posts : 15,442
    Windows10
       #3

    For a UEFI drive, the minimum is 2 partitions (EFI and C drive).
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  4. Posts : 13,898
    Win10 Version 22H2 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home
       #4

    I finally bought my first Desktop computer a year ago instead of building my own [cost competitive] and it came with a 1TB HDD partitioned as C: 150GB and D: 738GB plus the necessary small hidden partitions. It does work good but with all HDDs that need at least 1 partition it must be kept in mind that an electro-mechanical failure can take out all the partitions so a backup copy of critical data is necessary. When I rebuild/rehab a used computer I usually use 2 HDDs with D: being twice as large as C:, depends upon what I have on hand.
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  5. Posts : 14,046
    Windows 11 Pro X64 22H2 22621.1848
       #5

    I use a 250GB SSD for Windows 10. When I install, I delete all partitions then let the installer create the partitions it needs. Since this is a UEFI/GPT setup which requires 3 partitions:

    Partitioning-ssd.jpg

    I have 3 other SATA drives I use for data and storage.
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  6. Posts : 236
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Ztruker, Thanks for the pic! And to all the others that have posted.

    I installed to one MBR Primary Partition as an experiment, now wish I had looked into it a little further. Some are saying that this is not the best way to go about this on Windows 10. It's not a problem as this is a spare computer as of now.

    I want to find out if there are any limitations to having the partitions this way, as opposed to the Three like Ztruker has in his pic. I know some folks on windows 7 also do it this way, but not sure about GPT and Windows 10? Is that clear now guys? Simple, custom partition, but don't know the Pro's or Con's? I know that if MBR it is nice to have only one for the OS, this way more can be used for a Dual Boot or other Partitions needed.

    Partitioning-disk-managment-mbr-1-primary.png
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  7. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #7

    Cons, no Recovery partition but if you don't care about it, it's not a must. Unless you have another drive it's good to have a OS and data partitions so you don't loose personal stuff in case of OS corruption. In case of mechanical HDDs, some better responsiveness could be had when drive is partitioned (short stroking).
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  8. Posts : 1,579
    Windows 10 Pro
       #8

    Ztruker said:
    ...Since this is a UEFI/GPT setup which requires 3 partitions:
    ...
    The Win10 installer will create 4 partitions for UEFI, the 4th being the MSR and never shows in Disk Management.

    However, I also agree with cereberus' assertion that only 2 are required for UEFI/GPT.

    As far as the MBR single partition install, the only limitation that springs immediately to my mind is you may or may not have the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on that single partition, depending how you arranged it. Typically, (i.e., Win10 installer default), WinRE is in a partition separate from the Windows partition. Then again, you may not give a flip about having WinRE available, especially if you regularly and reliably take an image of your disk with a good 3rd party imaging software (Macrium Reflect being one).

    ETA: I see CountMike made the same point as my last paragraph as I was finishing typing.
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  9. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #9

    Your system files, your recovery, your OS and your Data are all in the same partition...

    One should not put all their > Eggs in one Basket
    Incase something happens...
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  10. Posts : 4,594
    Windows 10 Pro
       #10

    Mine.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Partitioning-pw-w10.jpg   Partitioning-dm-w10-pro-cu.jpg  
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