SSD Partition Help

AntJac · 10 Jan 2021

Hi guys. Just wondering if I can have some advice please. I have a new Acer predator laptop and it comes with a 1TB SSD. I haven't really messed around with it too much yet other than installing Steam and a few games. I've been advised that it might be helpful to partition the SSD so that the windows files/system files is on one partition and the other is for my games and personal stuff.

I've looked at the guides online and it mentions to do 120GB partition for Windows and leave the 800GB odd for gaming/personal stuff. Is this correct? Once I do it via disk management do I just transfer everything from one partition to the other?

Many thanks

AddRAM · 10 Jan 2021

Your info yes, but your game files will have to be reinstalled on the new partition, or else windows will not be able to find them. You can first copy and paste them, point the game installer to them, and see if it finds them. But if you don`t have a lot of game files yet, It`s just as simple to re download them on the new partition.

And you have to point your game installers, Steam, Origin, Uplay etc, to that new partition. ( Repetitive statement )

I would make a new partition just for games and one just for data, and leave some unallocated space, maybe 50 to 100 GB, that is totally up to you.

I use Partition Wizard, but that`s just my choice, you can use Disk Management if you like

ignatzatsonic · 10 Jan 2021

Give some thought about how big C needs to be.

Depending on what applications you use, you might be able to get away with 60 or 80.

I've never used over 45 on C and have about 50 apps installed, including Office and Photoshop.

You can later change the sizes of the partitions with Minitool Partition Wizard if you guess wrong....years from now.

AddRAM · 10 Jan 2021

I`d go a bit bigger, at least 100GB, although, as you say, you may never need it. But as the saying goes ...............

This is the way.

AntJac · 10 Jan 2021

Thank you both very much for the responses! Im going to do it in a few days time I work in a hospital so as you can imagine everything is fast paced right now!

Just wondering also I imagine when I open disk management it'll say something like 900GB current partition. Do I just right click, select shrink and put the amount of MBs for the new partition then transfer system files etc to that one?

bobkn · 10 Jan 2021

I'm unconvinced that partitioning of an SSD like that is of much value.

With HDDs, having a smallish partition for the OS may have had some performance advantages after defragmenting the drive.

SSDs are random access, so there's no issue there.

Having a small OS partition could make backing up (imaging) the OS partition convenient, but I don't think that it's a big deal.

If you wish to go to the effort required to partition your SSD, go for it. You will have to re-install all software that used an installer (that made Registry entries). It migh be simplest to copy your data to an external drive, and then do a clean isnatll of Windows.

ignatzatsonic · 10 Jan 2021

AntJac said:

Just wondering also I imagine when I open disk management it'll say something like 900GB current partition. Do I just right click, select shrink and put the amount of MBs for the new partition then transfer system files etc to that one?

No, if by "transfer" you mean some sort of direct copy. "System" files (Windows) require more than merely copying.

I agree with Bob to a large degree that there isn't a whole lot of advantage to partitioning an SSD.

You aren't likely to see ANY performance advantage.

Partitioning can have some advantage when it comes to backing up Windows, backing up data, or reinstalling Windows.

But we have no idea if you have any interest in backups and maybe you rarely install Windows.

Your original post says only that you heard it would be "helpful" to partition. I'd give that only a qualified "yes".

If you want to back up your entire SSD, you can easily do that by making a Macrium image of ALL partitions on the SSD--whether that is 1, 2, or more partitions.

If you split the drive into multiple partitions, you are taking a chance that you misjudge the rate of growth on those partitions and would then have to re-adjust the partitions sizes later. Doable, but inconvenient.

Weigh that inconvenience against the minor advantages of partitioning.

NavyLCDR · 10 Jan 2021

I've got about 100 GBs of steam and other games. They are on a separate partition. When I have reinstalled Windows and Steam and UPlay, all I have to do is change the library locations to the separate partition instead of redownloading hundreds of GBs from the internet. Totally worth it. My user data libraries such as Docements and Downloads are also redirected to the separate partition.

sygnus21 · 10 Jan 2021

AntJac said:

I've been advised that it might be helpful to partition the SSD so that the windows files/system files is on one partition and the other is for my games and personal stuff.

There is no definitive answer and it really comes down to how "you" want to manage your drives and data. I personally keep all my Windows OS files and base folders (Documents, Downloads, Pictures, and Music) on the same drive - meaning I don't split the OS into different drives.

What "I" do is spread the actual data across the 5 drives I have in my system - games drive, photos drive, music drive, backup drive. This is how I manage my data. Here I have "dedicated" drives to certain data. However, I still use the base folders for as needed as some programs install base files in certain folders - Adobe's Lightroom for example stores it's catalogue in the "Pictures" folder, though I store the actual photos on my E drive.

The good thing about partitioning is you can delete one drive without affecting the other. Example you have 1TB SSD drive with Windows on one partition, and games on another. If you delete the Windows partition, the games partition will still be there.

Anyway, and for clarity, if you do partition your drive and "copy" your games over to the other partition, the games may not work, because the game's registry keys won't be properly mapped to the new drive. The proper way is to reinstall all the games so that the registry keys are properly mapped.

Though you can / may save some download / install time by not having to reinstall every file, you'll still need to run the installers to get the registry keys mapped for the games on the new drive.

Anyway, I have a 2TB SSD drive that I've partitioned into two drives - Games (G) and Downloads (F). My Windows OS is on a completely separate SSD drive (C), so whenever wipe the OS drive, the other drives are untouched. When I reinstall the OS, I run the game installers to basically map/remap the registry keys and install whatever other files are needed again. However, since the core files are still on the drive this saves time by not needing to download every file again.

And as noted, there is no performance gain by partitioning a drive - it's mostly a data management thing.

Hope this helps.

bobkn · 10 Jan 2021

NavyLCDR said:

I've got about 100 GBs of steam and other games. They are on a separate partition. When I have reinstalled Windows and Steam and UPlay, all I have to do is change the library locations to the separate partition instead of redownloading hundreds of GBs from the internet. Totally worth it. My user data libraries such as Docements and Downloads are also redirected to the separate partition.

Good point. I'm a little surprised, though, that the Steam games don't have more stuff in the Registry that would preclude such a strategy.

I have too much stuff in my Documents folder, but it's still less than 13GB. Not onerous to back up to my spinner.

I guess that I'm living proof that one can use Windows for decades without ever joining the cognoscenti.