Installing CS4 - does it matter where installed

[tjodork]

I was planning to install CS3-CS4 upgrade to my C drive but there isn't enough room. CS3 is on my C drive... does it matter whether I install CS4 upgrade elsewhere or should I make room for it on C ? Is it better to NOT be on C ?
For performance should the O/S, application and projects all be on different drives if given the choice ? I would think so but curious what the experts say.
Thanks.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Personally I would always install onto the C: drive.

How big is your C: drive? Do you have any data files on it that you can move to another drive? If the C: drive is your only drive, is there space to install a second internal drive? or, if no space, an external drive?

Also have a look here

http://muvipix.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3968

[Bob]

If you are that short of space on C:\, you should definitely do some cleanup on that drive regardless of where you install CS4. It used to be a rule of thumb that 20% of the C:\ drive should be free space. That's probably overly large given the size of currently available disk drives, but the basic principle is sound. A lot of stuff gets written to the C:\ drive including temporary files and the system cache files. Not to mention the system page file. Too little space can cause problems. You can certainly install CS4 to another drive. But, keep in mind that some things will need to be written to c:\ anyway. Some of it in system folders and the registry and some in your Documents folder.

Back in the early days of DOS and Windows, there was an advantage to separating the OS and the applications. But, with Windows XP and Vista, it can be argued that there is no longer any real advantage. The registry resides on c:\ and the local configuration/properties/preferences files and temporary files are generally there as well. Both operating systems also cache frequently used modules to the c:\ drive anyway. And, you'll still need to reinstall your applications if you have to format and reinstall the OS. Then there is the issue that some applications may make assumptions about where things are installed and some even hard code in specific file paths. Also, some of the backup programs that typically come with external drives may only backup the c:\ drive and restores can get the application and registry out of sync. It's probably easier all around to install everything on the c:\ drive.

It is advantageous to store the data on a separate drive. Especially for high disk access applications such as video.

[Bobby]

I agree with Bob and the C drive.

Let me add that hard drives these days are huge and cheap. Getting a new drive for C and putting it in would not be much of a physical effort. The issue is cloning your current hard drive, but there are probably people around your area who can do that for you. Check into it.

BUT, that begs another question. If your PC is old enough such that it has a small hard drive, it might be in other ways deficient for video work. Given the performance, price, and commodity status of PCs these days, I would seriously recommend that you just consider buying another PC and transfer your data from the old one.

I have a PC consulting business and do less and less hardware upgrades all the time. When you can get a new one for $500-600 at Best Buy or Office Depot, there just isn't much reason to screw around with an old one when the time comes. After three years, throw it away.

My $.02