Effects Of partitioning the drive?

[crunchbangyou]

I recently bought a HP 245 G5 Notebook PC, a budget device with basic specs - A6 CPU/RADEON 4/4GB RAM/500GB HDD.

It is currenty running a licensed Windows 10 Pro 64Bit OS. I have installed it with just one partiton which is C. I generally install OS in C and also maintain two other partitions to store documents, files and media content. This is the first device where I have just one partition. But I haven't transferred any of my data yet to the new PC. I want to decide between single partition and multiple partitions before transferring my data.

My earlier PC was a fairly powerful one(Core i7) with 1TB HDD. So, I had three partitions there. The current laptop is a significant downgrade for me. I am aware it is going to be significantly slower than my previous device and I need to get used to it. At the same time, I want to run this new device as fast as it can perform. I read/heard that creating two/three paritions will slow down a pc. If the whole HDD is just one partition, the PC will run considerably smoother/faster.

Is this true or is it just a myth? If it is true, how significant is the speed difference in a notebook like mine (HP 245 G5)? Based, on the inputs, I need to decide on how to go about it. My only worry is, without another partition, all my files are at risk if the OS gets corrupted or experience any boot issues, which these days seem to be a common occurence with constant updates/upgrades. Please advise.

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

It's a myth. The only way dividing up the drive into partitions will slow it down is if you make the C:\ partition too small so it is full. That will slow it down. As long as you keep it less than 80% full you will be OK. And you know you should be backing up, right? Windows 10 has very good built in apps for keeping a current system image backup so if the hard drive crashes you can be back up and running in minutes on a new hard drive. Get an external drive for backup. 

[crunchbangyou]

Thank You. This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. Going to do a partition now 🙂