Benefits of multiple partitions Logical partitions require extended partitions. In Windows, extended partitions can be used to create many logical partitions. Creating more than one partition has the following advantages: Separation of the operating system (OS) and program files from user files. This allows image backups (or clones ) to be made of only the operating system and installed software. Having a separate area for operating system virtual memory swapping/paging . Keeping frequently used programs and data near each other. Having cache and log files separate from other files. These can change size dynamically and rapidly, potentially making a file system full. Use of multi-boot setups, which allow users to have more than one operating system on a single computer. For example, one could install Linux , BSD , Mac OS X , Microsoft Windows or other operating systems on different partitions of the same HDD and have a choice of booting into any compatible o...