Keeping OS fast/stable: Installing games

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PostmanPot

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I'm reinstalling Windows and want to keep it fast and stable for as long as possible by defragmenting regularly, using registry scanners, keeping clutter on other [storage] HDDs, etc.


For installing games, what's the best thing to do to achieve this?

1. Install games on OS HDD
2. Install games on a partition on the OS HDD
3. Install games on another HDD
4. ???

Thanks.
 
Another HDD I would say.

Although to run the game, the OS hdd would have to retrieve the data from the other HDD which might slow things down.
 
PostmanPot said:
I'm reinstalling Windows and want to keep it fast and stable for as long as possible by defragmenting regularly, using registry scanners, keeping clutter on other [storage] HDDs, etc.


For installing games, what's the best thing to do to achieve this?

1. Install games on OS HDD
2. Install games on a partition on the OS HDD
3. Install games on another HDD

4. ???

Thanks.
Click to expand...

So I'm guessing you like sorting you clothes out alot, unless 5400RPM drives tickle your fancy.

Use option 2, as every thing is still on the same drive so I can't see the reasoning of slow drive speed. I've kept the same years with my other multimedia goods and apps, plus if you have a prob with the main partition then you don't have to reinstall goods again
 
Last edited:
Stickfigure said:
Another HDD I would say.

Although to run the game, the OS hdd would have to retrieve the data from the other HDD which might slow things down.
Click to expand...

This would actually speed things up! Running applications and OS on a different physical disk will always improve performance, although it may not necessarily be a significant improvement (and assuming identical hard drives).

The problem with regard to clutter is that even though you separate the OS and the application; they still co-exist in the registry and shared folders such as your profile. I am skeptical of those Registry cleaners that claim an increase in performance based on registry size; the size of the registry does not have a significant impact on performance (I have terminal servers with 300-500MB registry files). You are better off getting Autoruns from www.sysinternals.com and seeing exactly which applications are set to run at startup and then remove those....
 
Conradl said:
This would actually speed things up! Running applications and OS on a different physical disk will always improve performance, although it may not necessarily be a significant improvement (and assuming identical hard drives).

The problem with regard to clutter is that even though you separate the OS and the application; they still co-exist in the registry and shared folders such as your profile. I am skeptical of those Registry cleaners that claim an increase in performance based on registry size; the size of the registry does not have a significant impact on performance (I have terminal servers with 300-500MB registry files). You are better off getting Autoruns from www.sysinternals.com and seeing exactly which applications are set to run at startup and then remove those....
Click to expand...

So you recommend installing games and applications on a separate HDD?

A friend swears by registry cleaners, says he hasn't reinstalled XP in 3 years, and that it's still fast etc.
 
PostmanPot said:
So you recommend installing games and applications on a separate HDD?

A friend swears by registry cleaners, says he hasn't reinstalled XP in 3 years, and that it's still fast etc.
Click to expand...

Yes, the more you can split the load over multiple disks, the faster your system will be. I don't trust registry cleaners; I just don't see how they can work like they claim....
 
games don't depend on hard drives that much. Getting a SSD or Raptor drive will only speed up the loading time of games and not that much in performance.
 
Registry cleaners do clean out junk in the registry, but when you get down to it, it's actually not neccessary. Those keys and settings are only ever needed when the program calls them, the rest of the time they do nothing. So it's not worth it really, you'll gain a few mb saved on the registry files.

One thing I've noticed is that XP slows down no matter what. Defragging, uninstalling and others doesn't work. Anti-virus apps also add to boot time and overall sluggishness. After a while you need to format. Vista doesn't suffer from this problem, and I can attest to that as I have both OS's running at home.

I would say, just install the games on the same hd as the OS. Neat and tidy. Feel free to store music and videos elsewhere though.
 
I prefer having my games on a different HDD too, but ensure that it's connected to a different HDD controller. That means knowing which SATA port is controlled by which of the two controllers on your motherboard. This allows each device to be accessed independently, which theoretically implies better performance.

I've fiddled around a bit with multiple HDD's and partitions (including having a small swapfile on my C: and a larger one at the start of my other HDD) and I've found that a good CPU, with a good mid-range graphics card and at least 2Gb RAM are more important for performance and stability.

I use 4 partitions (OS, applications and games, media) simply to reduce defrag times per drive.
 
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