Programs

Jason,

Installing apps in general will cause windows to slow down (mainly due to the increase in registry size associated with the install).

There is a myth that installing anywhere but C: will make your PC run faster - this isn't strictly true.

As long as your C: drive has a moderate amount of free space (for swap files etc) windows will run (or should run!) quite exceptably. Installing apps to faster drives will increase the speed of your PC in terms of loading the app. You should make your fastest drive to be your C: drive - Windows system files are frequently read and this will improve system speed.

If you have more than one drive, but don't know the specifications in which is the fastest, download a drive benchmark utility (I use Fresh Diagnose from freshdevices.com)

Hope this helps.

-Darren

As Darren said, the slowdown is more associated with general Windows issues than with the actual location of the program.

There is some Windows slowdown that happens from the fragmentation of the swap file.

I like storing data files on a seperate partition to make backups easier.
I also like to use another partition for files from the internet to make scanning for viruses easier.

I myself use multiple partitions (drives). I have 60GB total partitioned into 7 drives.
C: Operating system and related programs
D: Most application programs.
E: Copies of device drivers and the swap file
F: User files
G: Game programs
H: Digital images
I: Internet files, all downloads and saved web pages.

I do this to mainly to make my file searches and packups easier.
It started when I installed an 8GB HDD on a W95 system, and had to split the drive into 2GB or smaller chunks.

There is a good article on partitioning philosophy at www.aumha.org

Chas

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