Appropriate size for C: drive

[Aryan29]

I wanted to know appropriate size of the c drive for the following points

1. It shouldn't be too big as I don't store any files larger than 1 gb ( size of all personal files added together)

2. I install some basic utility software in it like chrome and I don't install any games on it

3. It should have some empty space soo the operating system isn't sluggish. Please help me thanku for any efforts to help

[banhien]

@Aryan29 

The specs of your machine is

              https://support.hp.com/ee-en/document/c06452754

It already has 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD  . You can use half for C: and the rest for storage. It won't change the size, only for manageable.

Regards.

[Aryan29]

I just wanted to know if there was any recommended size of the c drive anyway thanku for your help

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Aryan29 

I have a very different approach -- one that has served me well for years and years ...

I shrink the OS drive down to around 80GB.  That provide plenty of room for Windows (which seldom needs more than half of that) while also providing working room for updates.

Then I format the remaining as a DataVolume.  I store all large files on this volume, not on "C".

I do this because I then install Macrium Reflect (more on this below) and use it to do image backups of the OS and boot drives to the DataVolume drive.  This provides me a means of restoring the PC very quickly if Windows gets corrupted or if Windows  fails. 

------------------------

I personally prefer to use third-party Backup solutions as they tend to be both more flexible and more reliable than any built-in solutions.

Macrium Reflect (MR) provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives.

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Run MR and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB stick
3) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

My experience is that MR, when using the High Compression option, typically can compress the saved image file to about 50% of the USED space in the OS partition. This means if you have an 80GB OS partition, and 40GB is used, MR only needs about 20GB to store the image file.

I use this all the time and it typically takes less than 15 minutes to do the image backup and about the same time or less to do a restore.

Plus, MR has the option to Add a Recovery Boot Menu entry. This allows you then to boot into WinRE, and you can then use that to do a restore -- when you can't boot into Windows!

NOW, you have the means to restore a full working system from the external drive or USB stick in only a few minutes.

[Aryan29]

I like your recommendation for size of C: drive so I will use that but I prefer windows inbuilt system image maker more as you can also backup your personal data with it and use a system repair disc to boot computer up and to also use system image