Should I partition my SSD (C:)???

[BONES]

When I got my Surface Pro 2 and tried to partition the disk, it broke the machine. I took it to Microsoft who told me NOT to partition SSDs, they didn't explain why, beyond saying it SSDs didn't like it. So I stopped doing it and, honestly, it has made no difference to anything, beyond ensuring it all works. All the stuff I used to put in the "D" drive, I just put into a folder called "Data" instead. Same difference.

[Guitar Binge]

When I got my Surface Pro 2 and tried to partition the disk, it broke the machine. I took it to Microsoft who told me NOT to partition SSDs, they didn't explain why, beyond saying it SSDs didn't like it. So I stopped doing it and, honestly, it has made no difference to anything, beyond ensuring it all works. All the stuff I used to put in the "D" drive, I just put into a folder called "Data" instead. Same difference.

Okay, thanks for letting me know. That helps.

[jamcat]

You can use an SD card as a separate data drive on a laptop. Even Micro SD cards go up to 1.5 TB, at least. This way, even if your SSD dies, you won't lose your important files.

[dellboy]

I bought a new laptop last week and chose not to mess with the installed drive as the machine is under warranty. For data I am using an external 4TB nvme partitioned into four equal spaces of 1TB and plugged into a USB C port. As to whether it is wise to partition SSD's,opinion seems to be divided,but it should be pointed out that my new Lenovo Yoga came from the factory already partitioned into three,so make of that what you will.

[t3toooo]

Create a Virtual Hard Drive, this way you can use Drive letters and you can remove it easily.

[Guitar Binge]

You can use an SD card as a separate data drive on a laptop. Even Micro SD cards go up to 1.5 TB, at least. This way, even if your SSD dies, you won't lose your important files.

Good idea, thanks. It's crazy how much data these very small devices can store nowadays.

[jamcat]

As to whether it is wise to partition SSD's,opinion seems to be divided,but it should be pointed out that my new Lenovo Yoga came from the factory already partitioned into three,so make of that what you will.

Right. When you install Windows on a new drive, it automatically creates a boot partition (EFI), a primary partition (C:\), and a recovery partition.

[BONES]

You can use an SD card as a separate data drive on a laptop. Even Micro SD cards go up to 1.5 TB, at least. This way, even if your SSD dies, you won't lose your important files.

The problem is that internal card readers pretty much all run on the USB 2 bus, so they are not all that fast. I reckon a song loads from my SSD in half the time it takes from the microSD card. It's a great back-up option but I run most of my working files from the SSD.

[jamcat]

SD cards are slower than SSDs, but still twice as fast as the 7200rpm rotating disc drives we all used for decades. My laptop doesn't even have USB2. Only USB-C/Thunderbolt which is 10Gbps/40Gbps.

[paramita123]

Unless I am mistaken :

- SD cards can fail too (and are slower indeed)
- creating a virtual drive requires partitioning
- creating a separate Data folder on the C drive would be of no use in case of OS crash or reinstall, would be wiped out

Best in my opinion is:
- save songs/work/samples/Libraries etc on an internal or external SSD
- "regularly" back up this SSD (or at least the songs part because the rest can be downloaded again) to either another SSD or to a cloud service. There are free ones. You'll be super grateful to have a copy of your songs in case your drive does crash.
Alternative is to buy a NAS setup if you have the budget.

[Guitar Binge]

Unless I am mistaken :

- SD cards can fail too (and are slower indeed)
- creating a virtual drive requires partitioning
- creating a separate Data folder on the C drive would be of no use in case of OS crash or reinstall, would be wiped out

Best in my opinion is:
- save songs/work/samples/Libraries etc on an internal or external SSD
- "regularly" back up this SSD (or at least the songs part because the rest can be downloaded again) to either another SSD or to a cloud service. There are free ones. You'll be super grateful to have a copy of your songs in case your drive does crash.
Alternative is to buy a NAS setup if you have the budget.

Sounds good, thanks. That's the approach I'm pretty much taking.

[sl23]

The system disk partition can be kept small,lets suggest 256GB, then the rest of the disk can be partitioned up into as many disks, as you wish. The main advantage of doing it this way,is that the system disk (256GB) can be imaged and restored very quickly if ever it becomes corrupted,without affecting the other disks.

this

I always do this as the rest of the drive space gets wasted. I don't really install any software as I use portable apps for everything. But do leave a decent size for the os to grow with updates and allow it space to breathe.

I am curious what others use for backing up windows drive though, as I never do it any more. I just reinstall windows as all my apps are portable I don't need to bother. But recently have installed akai mpc software and a load of vst's, something I've always been dead against. So I'm wondering what the best way to back up the system drive is? Thanks.

[whyterabbyt]

So I'm wondering what the best way to back up the system drive is? Thanks.

disk imaging, i'd say. not sure what's currently best for that, though; im still using an old version of Reflect.

[donkey tugger]

So I'm wondering what the best way to back up the system drive is? Thanks.

disk imaging, i'd say. not sure what's currently best for that, though; im still using an old version of Reflect.

Probably all much of a muchness I reckon. I like AOMEI Backupper. Free version is good, and it's dead easy to use and also reinstall the system partition if needed.

[sl23]

I used to use Reflect about 15 years ago, but it had a dvd version which worked well. I've not used anything since and most only uses memory stick now, but I had issues when trying that out before. I'll give Reflect another try. Thanks.