Windows 10: Is it advisable to put user data on a separate Windows 10 partition

I have a desktop PC with a 1000 GB hard drive. The OS is Windows 10 Anniversary Update. I have the OS and programs/apps on C: partition of 150 GB and user data on D: partition of 781 GB. I have a system image backup, taken recently when the PC was functioning OK. I backup the user data daily, using File History. If I have a major problem that requires re-installing W10 I can do that with the image backup.
My question is, do I really need to maintain a two partition strategy or have the backup tools of imaging and File History made this redundant?

:)

 

Which is a better method, System and User Data on different partitions of same drive, or same partition of that drive?

UPDATE (PERSONAL EXPERIENCE)

Having put User Data in a separate partion of new HDD--

1. Windows File History won't pickup data from separate partion drive (it keeps looking for user data in System partion)

2. Turned off Windows File History and installed Seagate Dashboard but this applicat6ion also looks for data source in System partition, not in data partition

3. In System partion User acct., no more I see any Documents folder (even after checking View >> Hidden Items). But if I attempt to create a new folder named Document, it says the folder Documents already exists.

4. If I go to Data partition's Properties > Location and try to Restore Default C:\Users\me\Documents, Access is denied though I have all Administrative rights in Properties > Securities.

 

Default user profile location when upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10

I have Windows 7 Pro installed on my computer but my default user profile is mapped to a different partition of the same hard drive. I have done this so data stays separate to system files. All the system files are on C Drive partition and the existing
user profile are on a separate partition. When a new profile (user account) is created, it is automatically created in the separate partition.

I am wondering if this will pose any challenge when I am upgrading to Windows 10. Would Windows 10 keep my settings the same (which I am happy with) or would it by default change my settings making C drive again the default location for user profiles (I
am okay with this too as I can change this later) or will it actually not let me upgrade because of different drives being used for system files and User profiles?

Anyone with knowledge of the issue, please advise so I can prepare accordingly before upgrading. It will be good to get some views from Microsoft on this and if this is something they have anticipated as part of the upgrade procedure.

Thanks

Manish

 

Hi and welcome.

There's not really much point in having the backups on the same drive as the drive itself could become faulty.

I put my user folders on a second drive and change the save locations in the settings app. This way if the OS screwed up drive c: you can simply format and reinstall Windows without loosing your personal files.

 

Swarfega, thanks for your response. I forgot to include that I have an external drive I save the system image backups to and another external drive I save user data to.

 

If you have regular backups then yea you can do what you're proposing. Just make sure those backups are regular.

 

There is an advantage in having a smaller separate system partition on drive C: so you only have to image the C: drive (and hidden system partitions) to recover your system. This results in smaller and faster system backups. But you still need to back up your user files on D:

 

I don't recommend putting data in a separate partition. A separate drive, yes. On the same drive increases the read/write heads travel distance moving from apps to data and reduces performance. On the other hand, using two different drives allows asynchronous reads and writes (both sets of drive heads working simultaneously) and improves performance and tends to lessen wear and tear on both drive mechanisms.

 

Two separate drives is best, but two partitions on the same drive is much better than one partition only for both programs and data.

I've been doing that for 20 years and I've never lost data due to Windows/program corruption.