How do the masters here partition their HDDs. Now the 320s (and higher) have become very common, and it is interesting to know how does one partition his/her home PC.
The general categories would be OS, program files, music, movies, software, personal data, torrents, photos/images
My old 320 had the foll breakup
40 - OS + program files
120 - Music + software
80 - Movies
60 - Personal data + torrents
i usually divide all four equally.
If you are using Vista, then instead of 40 GB, i would go for 45GB to be futureproof (New Service Packs, Updates).
And instead of two smaller partitions for Music + Softwares + Videos, i would move the softwares to the 45GB System Partition, best compatibility amongst all the apps this way. And Put all my Music + Videos in one large partition, this way, i am not limited by disk space for any of my videos or music. I can have more movies at sometime, or more music at some time.
And dont keep your personal data along with any other data. Rather, go for a smaller partitions only for your personal data and back up, and make another partitions for temporary dumping like downloads before you sort them up properly.
By softwares, I meant installables and not Program Files. But i do get your gist.
I stick with just 2 partitions. One for the OS - 20gb for XP and maybe 40gb for vista (not on the same hdd) - and the remaining is one big partition for everything else. 
Well, having too many partitions is a recipe for disaster since its a pain to change it later. And you WILL have to cos you ll run out of space in 1 after sometime and then you ll still see space left in another drive. Then you ll just have stuff spilling over.
What I do is, 1 partition for OS. And the rest of the drive into a second partition. Inside this I split up my stuff into different folders as required. Simplest and most flexible thing to do.
EDIT: +1 to zhops.
The more I think about this simple practice - the more practical it sounds to me. Just have 2 partitions - one for the OS and other for the data.
Thanks zhops and techie007
Just have 2 partitions - one for the OS and other for the data
This I too believe is the best practice but I just have a small HDD only for OS…(200GB :-))
Even i do not believe in many partitions.
On my machine, i have 3 parts in my main 160Gb HD.
One for the OS and the softwares and the Picuteres and Music and Videos in the User Folders. ( Thinking of moving them out).
One if the Data - where everything temporary, unfinished downloads, unsorted data goes.
And the third is the Storage - Which is where the sorted data goes.
In my 320GB External, i have a 200GB Videos Part and the remaining again goes to the storage where games, softwares, books, music goes.
I have 100GB for os, programs, games and stuff. and remaining for data.