This has probably been asked dozens of times, sorry. I'm getting my first
Media Center PC this week, which will have a 200GB drive. I'm thinking it's
best to partition, so that the OS partition can be imaged for backup
purposes and then have another for storage.

If I do this, what size should I make the OS (with MCE2005) partition, since
the unit will be used primarily as PVR, with some
downloading/manipulation/burning of video files. I'm hoping to run a
firewire cable from my STB to stream HDTV as well. With the constant writing
to/deleting from the HDD, I would think fragmentation would become an issue
quickly.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

I had the same issue when I bought mine about a month ago (I'm still very new
to MCE).

I decided not to, and am glad I did because I have seen quite a few posts
from people who find that temporary files (eg video recordings, recover files
etc) fill the disk up.

That said, I'm sure there are ways round that, and it would probably be
better for when the system needs rebuilding. To be honest, disk prices are so
low now, I'm really tempted to just buy a second 200-300Gb hard disk for
about £60 and slot it in when I need it (and the intial cost of the PC has
faded as a distant memory).

"bruiser" wrote:

Personally I always either partition a single disk system or have multiple
disks. On Media Center boxes, I always record to D: so if the OS somehow
gets toasted, I can reload without losing my tv shows. On other boxes, the
data I create always goes on D: for the same reason. But as Eric mentions,
second drives are pretty cheap these days...

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"bruiser" <nobody@home.ok> wrote in message
news:CPqBf.1617$qs7.84@fe04.buzzardnews.com...

I don't know about partitioning but I have to agree that it's just as
practical to have one 250 Gb HDD as a program drive/boot drive, one 300 Gb
HDD for Movies, one 250 Gb HDD for Music Videos, and another 120 Gb for music.

Yes, I just recently added another drive and am pretty darned pleased with
the ease in keeping everything separated. And I'm doing my darndest to fill
those puppies up!
--
brentromero


"Dana Cline - MVP" wrote:

"Eric Baines" <EricBaines@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:54D7B33C-D2E2-4751-A431-A3E0A986CF8F@microsoft.com...
|| I decided not to, and am glad I did because I have seen quite a few posts
| from people who find that temporary files (eg video recordings, recover
files
| etc) fill the disk up.

I imagine temp files would be extremely large, especially if I stream/record
HD broadcasts. So it's looks as if both you and Brent are in agreement here,
that the whole 200GB drive should be the OS drive and any and all archiving
should be done on separate drives. Makes sense.

My MCE machine has 2 NTSC tuners and 2 ATSC tuners and I am constantly
recording both. I have one 70GB drive that I have partitioned into 2
partitions, one for the OS -- only 20GB! -- and one for music and videos;
and another 250GB drive just for TV.

Never had any problem with temp files or the OS partition filling up.

"bruiser" <nobody@home.ok> wrote in message
news:PiBBf.1674$qs7.1312@fe04.buzzardnews.com...

That's a plan I had thought of. Although with my 200GB drive, I'd create a
20GB partition for the OS and the remainder for TV, with a 2nd ~200GB
firewire external for movies. Or something like that.

How would I change the location for MCE's PVR temp/saved files from the OS
partition to the TV one?



Ted Miller wrote:

Go into MCE's Settings, look at Recorder / Recorder Storage (I think that's
it) to change it from C: to D:.

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"bruiser" <nobody@home.ok> wrote in message
news:xefDf.2418$iT1.1281@fe04.buzzardnews.com...