When I first started up my new computer I was instructed to partition the hard drive into a local disc C and a local disc D, and told that this partition would be permanent. I believe I put 109GB onto disc C and 110 GB onto disc D. I did not know, and still do not, what was the purpose of this division. I wish to know, in retrospect, what percent of the total would be recommended to be allotted to each of these two discs. Disc D remains virtually empty, while disc C verges on being almost full. What is the purpose of this division?

Well, it helps on indexing speed, and makes it easier to find stuff. Now, I don't personally like logical volumes. I like one partition per drive and run multiple drives.

But there is nothing wrong with the practice if you keep the operating system on C: and install as many apps and all your data on D: as possible.

Keeping as few files on your boot drive as possible speeds up the boot process too.

Thank-you, smoothy. Entirely helpful response. I was afraid to touch D, didn't know what it was there for. What you have told me will allow me access to more than double the storage capacity for my files, which I hadn't realized was there all the time. Ignorance can be cured.

The purpose of partitioning a disc is to logically organize data. You can also merge and repartition the disc later.

In my machine, I allocated about 15-20GB to my main partition (C:\) where I have my OS. I have a secondary partition that's formatted in FAT32 because there was a period where I was switching OS installs from Linux and Windows, both of which read FAT32. I also have a third partition for swap space.

Partitioning a disc like this is a poor-man's fail-safe. Say you get a virus and lose total control of your machine. Chances are the virus will only infect OS files but this isn't always the case. You can safely reinstall the OS while preserving your personal files on the second partition.

The obvious draw-back is if there is a hardware failure and the disc itself fails, you are screwed.

So in your case, I would move all personal files, including program installs, to D:\. Just leave the OS and virtual memory swap on your main partition.

Thank-you, slapshot_oi. A very good plan. Sounds like a fair bit of work, but I imagine I can direct future downloads onto D whenever I seem to have a choice. I didn't realize I could merge and repartition the disc later, since my new computer told me that what I was doing then would be permanent, but I'm not too worried about that for now.