How to isolate operating system from applications and files?
How to isolate operating system from applications and files?
I'm considering organizing my operating system and applications separately from my files and folders to speed up backups. I plan to take occasional system images of the C drive and use file sync software for managing files and folders. I have some questions about this approach.
Would it be more effective to upgrade to a larger M2 PCIe and divide the drive for the OS, assigning another drive letter for storage, or use a separate 2.5" SATA SSD? Would that make copying data or videos slower compared to a partitioned PCIe?
If I partition the main drive, what size partition would you recommend for the OS and applications?
Additionally, will creating a system image retain settings such as bookmarks, passwords, preferences, and software license keys? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
This is much improved with physical drives rather than partitions.
My setup has one drive for the OS and apps, and others for different purposes.
For your files and folders, don’t try to move them elsewhere. Windows and applications are now very good at using other drives and drive letters.
Just begin saving things on this additional drive.
I enhanced a laptop NVMe SSD from 500GB to 4TB since I required more room for photos and videos during my travels.
I divided the laptop storage into 200GB sections for Windows and applications, reserving the remainder for files.
This setup allows me to image or clone the Windows section without consuming much space while saving large photo collections.
On desktop systems, I keep data on separate hard drives and use the NVMe drive as a unified Windows C: partition.
A decent 2.5" SATA SSD reaches about 500MB/s for sequential reads and writes. This is significantly slower than NVMe. The speed depends on the size of the data and how quickly you need it.
As I previously noted, I rely on slower spinning hard disks for general storage. In my primary photo editing PC, I have 2 x 8TB, 1 x 6TB, and 2 x 4TB drives installed.
I favor several smaller drives over a single large 30TB hard disk. If one fails, it’s easier to recover data from backups.
The system also includes three 1TB NVMe drives: the first for OS and programs, the second for Photoshop/Topaz scratch files, and the third for ongoing 4K video editing.
If your motherboard supports multiple M.2 NVMe slots, you might use some for additional drives instead of slower SATA SSDs.
I’d definitely prefer two separate drives: one for the operating system and installed applications; the other for everything else.
However, if you’re constrained to a single drive, it’s entirely up to you to determine how much space is necessary. You’ll have to decide what you need.
My C partition has always held no more than 57 GB (on a 500 GB boot drive). Depending on the number of apps installed and your commitment to regular maintenance, you might require up to 757 GB.
In my experience, bookmarks are consistently stored on C, so a backup or image of a separate D drive won’t capture them. The exact location may change depending on the browser. Bookmarks would be saved by an image of C, but I also maintain a separate backup each month or so.
If you create an image of all partitions related to Windows and booting, then restoring that image shouldn’t raise any licensing concerns. Assuming the original installation was valid and activated, any restored image should work without further action from you.
Still, it’s wise to keep some standard document with passwords and licenses, and back it up as well.