need partition advice/help

Hi~

I'd like to partition my HD. What I'd like to do is be able to make a suitable size scratch disk for video editing (possibly 40GB out of 80GB on the PB). My question is, how big should the operating system partition be? This is where my lack of computer knowledge steps into the fray. Can I make a 10GB partition for OSX and keep the rest of the HD space for editing, or do I need to allow more room on the OS partition in order to allow for programs? When I put a program on my computer, say Final Cut Express, does it need to be installed onto the same partition as the OS, or can it be installed on my "scratch" partition? Would it be wiser to split the 80GB HD in two, using one partition as a scratch disk for editing, and the other for the OS and any other programs I use?

Sorry if the questions are unclear. Answer one, or all, if you can; or ask me to clairify any fuzzy points. Any help would be great.

maikas.

Alright, using a little ocmmon sense here, I'm guessing a program has to be installed onto the partition that the OS is on, otherwise, how will it install and run, right? Help me out if I'm wrong...

Not entirely sure, but..

I don't think you'll need to install apps on the same partition as the OS. You will need to set your OS partition as the startup disk. The other partition will just be seen as another HD on the system. When you install another app, just make sure it gets installed on the "app" partition.

iMac G3 needs partition for OSX?

I am fixing a iMac G3 DV 400Mz. The 10Gb internal drive was intermittent so I replaced it with a 40Gb Maxtor D470XL. I figure that I might as well upgrade to OSX. The machine has 128Mb RAM which should be sufficient. I have read from various iMac websites to create an 8Gb partition for Mac OSX. I am doing this, but curious why it is necessary. Some websites say partitioning is required for older Macs and not recommended for newer Macs. anybody know why?

joe mama said:

I am fixing a iMac G3 DV 400Mz. The 10Gb internal drive was intermittent so I replaced it with a 40Gb Maxtor D470XL. I figure that I might as well upgrade to OSX. The machine has 128Mb RAM which should be sufficient. I have read from various iMac websites to create an 8Gb partition for Mac OSX. I am doing this, but curious why it is necessary. Some websites say partitioning is required for older Macs and not recommended for newer Macs. anybody know why?

Click to expand...

Older iMacs like the 233/266 (I'm not sure about the 400mhz) just weren't built to recognize HDs >8gigs; I think it's due to the fact that they had ATA/33 IDE controllers. Later macs had at least ATA/66 controllers, which could recognize up to 137 or 138 gigs.
BTW, I'd recommend adding some RAM to your machine. OS X requires a min. of 128, but it needs at least double to run well IMO.

Alright, when I install OSX, I should use how much of a partition, 8,9, or 10GB? I'd really like to make it clean and tight.

Also, should I then have an application partition, outside of the scratch disk? I'd like my scratch disk to be for video only. Maybe this is more of a personal thing... What would an average application partition look like size wise? I'd like 40Gb at the minimum for my video, add on around 10Gb for the OS, that leaves 25 for apps. Anyone think 25 is too much? It sounds high. (If you think my math is screwy, the drive is 75 not 80, I'm sure most of you know why...**** advertising era).

Thanks again

maikas

Also, joe mamma, could you send me some of those sites addresses that were talking about partitioning?

maikutis said:

Alright, when I install OSX, I should use how much of a partition, 8,9, or 10GB? Also, should I then have an application partition, outside of the scratch disk?

Click to expand...

For the OS, no more than 8 GB. The number of partitions is up to you, but be warned that each partition will eat up a bit of HD space (I'm not sure how much for each...maybe someone else on the forum will know?)