Clean Install Windows 10  

USB hub worked a treat. all working now

Ready to make the jump to Win 10 . . . well, truth be told, I'm only leaving Win 7 because Microsoft is allowing future hackers to put a gun to my head if I stay on Win 7.

So a couple of Win10-newb questions.
1. In Win 10, does it still make good sense to separate OS and apps into one partition and your data into another partition(s)? Or has something changed with Win 10 that undercuts the rationale for separation?

2. In @Brink's clean install guide, he mentions that a System Reserved partition is not created when installing Win 10 to a disk with partitions on it. Is there any way around this? I have a 480gb SSD, and assuming it still is advisable to have separate OS/apps and data partitions, I'd like to partition this SSD into OS and data partitions (and will have another HDD for media files, but like to keep frequently accessed data on the SSD). But I'd also like to have a System Reserved partition because I'll probably want to use Bitlocker at some point (weighing pros/cons of switching to Bitlocker from third-party encryption). Surely there must be a way to have my cake and eat it too.

Brink said:

Personally, unless you have a separate hard disk to install software on, you might as well just let it install on the default Windows "C" disk.

I always install apps in the same partition as Windows. It's the data that I usually separate onto another partition:

sten3 said:

I have a 480gb SSD, and assuming it still is advisable to have separate OS/apps and data partitions, I'd like to partition this SSD into OS and data partitions (and will have another HDD for media files, but like to keep frequently accessed data on the SSD).

Brink said:

You could do a clean install as per the tutorial to install on an unallocated disk, and afterwards create the partitions you want to install software on.

So install Windows on an unallocated disk and then use Windows Disk Management to shrink the large partition containing the OS into a smaller partition, and then partition off the remaining disk for data? Is that safe to do these days (thinking back to the days where resizing OS partitions was a bit iffy without specialized tools)?

Brink said:

Hello @sten3,

You could do a clean install as per the tutorial to install on an unallocated disk, and afterwards create the partitions you want to install software on.

Personally, unless you have a separate hard disk to install software on, you might as well just let it install on the default Windows "C" disk.

The advantage of a separate OS & programs partition is for ease of backup if you use a program like Macrium Reflect Free which backs up partitions. You can set a schedule to just back up the OS & programs and a different schedule to backup your data n another partition.

Steve C said:

The advantage of a separate OS & programs partition is for ease of backup if you use a program like Macrium Reflect Free which backs up partitions. You can set a schedule to just back up the OS & programs and a different schedule to backup your data n another partition.

This is why I prefer to split OS/apps from data. I can image the OS/apps partition and restore that image whenever I want without affecting my data.

Hello Shawn,
My new build includes the latest AMD X570 motherboard and Windows 10 Pro x64 (UEFI), which was installed following your excellent tutorial. I have several data HDDs formatted in my old PC with legacy BIOS and MBR partition table. My new PC can read data from these HDDs. Should I convert them from MBR to GPT disks for the better data compatibility?
Windows 10 and apps are installed on the bootable NVMe SSD but User Folders (Documents, Pictures,..) are relocated onto the data NVMe SSD. Did Windows relocate/copy some system files or GPT partition table with relocated User Folders?
I use Acronis to back up my daily work, stored on the data NVMe SSD. Acronis asks if I need to include system files (may be just for bootable disk) in the backup.
Not sure if this is the right place to ask these questions.
Thanks.