Should be, although if you have a lot of memory and use hibernation that might be a tight fit.

I wouldn't bother. The benefits of partitioning drives is in the past.

You used to partition drives to get Windows closer to the start (or end? I forgot) of the drive platter for performance reasons. Obviously not a thing in the SSD world.

You used to partition drives because reformatting before reinstalling Windows used to be a thing and it isn't needed any longer. Windows will reinstall in place and move the old system files elsewhere for you in case you need them.

You used to partition drives because it was a simple and efficient way to organize things, now Windows has organized user folders and there are applications that rely on that structure being used.

For my laptops I tend to keep data off of them as much as possible. When not possible I just store it on the same drive and either move it off when I need to wipe or restore the files from backup.
If you want another partition I'd just split 50/50 of your remaining space after overprovisioning if you do overprovision.
Also forever is a very long time.

I also don't bother partitioning modern drives, there really are no benefits other that looking tidy.

When I want to segregate my data, I use different physical drives. On a single drive system I just use that drive at it's max capacity and use the fastest external option available to me as segregated storage if necessary. For "slow" storage I use SD cards if they are available on the system, or those small USB flash drives that look more like Bluetooth dongles so they don't stick out far enough to really get broken or cause damage if they're bumped.

On a side note, my current desktop OS (Win10Pro) drive is only 256GB, and I've still got over 100GB free after 2 years of daily use. The only things that go on my system drive are whats required, and my security software, nothing else. Applications and games all get their own drives, and all of my backups are external.

Does the laptop have a free NVME slot or SATA bay ?

darry wrote on 2024-04-12, 22:01:

Does the laptop have a free NVME slot or SATA bay ?

No clue. I have to investigate this.
Good idea!

To all others keep posting as you are helping me understand.
Collective thanks!

NVMe drives ARE SSDs. That's the communication/interface protocol. The form factor is called M.2; there are even SATA M.2 drives. The older form factor is called the same as HDDs, 2.5".

As for partitioning, it could be of use like any other drive.

I usually create two, OS/programs and data, so that in case something goes really wrong, I can wipe the OS drive without having to backup anything important. I even have the user folder paths (pictures, download, etc.) set to the data partition.

However, for me personally, 1 TB isn't enough for that and I'd make just a single installation partition, and use separate drives for storage.

256 GB for OS/programs can be enough, but it really depends on what you're installing. I have 512 GB for that and it's not enough, although I do install larger games. I have to move to 2 TB given how ridiculously large the install sizes have become.

Is under provisioning still a thing?

I mean, when SSDs first came, it was recommended to partition less (about 5% or 10% less) of total capacity, to delay wear. I don't think it makes much sense unless your disks are almost filled up, and that's not a desirable thing even on regular mechanical disks.

On my main pc each os has its own dedicated SSD.
Data on HDDs.

External HDDs for backups.

On a laptop I only use the usual basic boring stuff. No games.
What makes me a dull boy 😀