Partion number and sizes?

[spidennis]

I'm about to use SD to back up an (older) iMac with a 10 Gig internal HD and before I do anything I have to partion the new maxtor external drive, but how many and how big are the partions to be?

Should I make 3 partions?
One for the main backup,
one for the sandbox,
and the last one for "user files and pics" ?

and how would I backup the "user files and pics" partion?

here's my chance to do this properly,
not how I think it should be done ......
so I'm asking now, instead of regretting later!

thanks,
dennis

iMac 400 MHz PPC
Maxtor 500 GB One touch 4 Plus (FW400 and USB 2.0)

[dnanian]

You probably don't need a Sandbox if you're not the kind of user who "jumps" on every new thing -- and, given that you have a 10GB drive and a much older Mac, that doesn't sound like you.

So -- you'll want to make one partition for the internal drive (if you're planning on getting a larger one, make it big enough for the 'new' drive), and one for 'archived' storage (what you're calling 'user files and pics'). Perhaps 250/250?

Make sure to click the "Options" button in Disk Utility's "Partition" tab and choose the "Apple Partition Map" partition type when you do partition.

[spidennis]

thanks dave!