Jump to content

Disk management

Guest Mike Easter

By Guest Mike Easter
in Windows XP

 Share

Recommended Posts

Guest Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Posted
Posted

I'm trying to learn something about XP's disk management tools. I have

experience with partitioning on other computers with graphical linux

tools like GPartEd and also with an old v. of Partition Magic, but

almost zero XP experience, mostly Win98se using PM.

 

This computer is Compaq SR2027X preinstalled XP Windows Media 2005 w/

120G hdd partitioned by compaq into C 110G NTFS + D 9G FAT32 restore. I

want to create some more/ another/ partition with XP to do another XP

install on free space on C which supposedly has 92G free. I may add

some more linux partitions later, but right now my focus is for another

different XP install.

 

When I access the disk management, R clicking on the C partition doesn't

give me the result described in the help files or at MS kb 309000 How to

use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308424

 

Help & MS say "right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where you

want to create the partition, and then click New Partition."

 

The concept of unallocated space doesn't compute for me in this context,

as all of the space in C has the same shading and R clicking anywhere in

C doesn't give me a menu choice of New Partition.

 

There must be something different going on that causes my view to not

show the difference between space which is being used and which is

'allocated' vs unallocated. Is it possible to work on this disk

partitioning while working in the XP which is on drive C? Or, do I need

to boot with a live linux CD to get anything done with drive C?

 

--

Mike Easter

  • Replies 12
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Popular Days

Popular Days

Guest philo

Guest philo

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

 

"Mike Easter" <MikeE@ster.invalid> wrote in message

news:u$b%232CsuIHA.1504@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> I'm trying to learn something about XP's disk management tools. I have

> experience with partitioning on other computers with graphical linux

> tools like GPartEd and also with an old v. of Partition Magic, but

> almost zero XP experience, mostly Win98se using PM.

>

> This computer is Compaq SR2027X preinstalled XP Windows Media 2005 w/

> 120G hdd partitioned by compaq into C 110G NTFS + D 9G FAT32 restore. I

> want to create some more/ another/ partition with XP to do another XP

> install on free space on C which supposedly has 92G free. I may add

> some more linux partitions later, but right now my focus is for another

> different XP install.

>

> When I access the disk management, R clicking on the C partition doesn't

> give me the result described in the help files or at MS kb 309000 How to

> use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP

> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308424

>

> Help & MS say "right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where you

> want to create the partition, and then click New Partition."

>

> The concept of unallocated space doesn't compute for me in this context,

> as all of the space in C has the same shading and R clicking anywhere in

> C doesn't give me a menu choice of New Partition.

>

> There must be something different going on that causes my view to not

> show the difference between space which is being used and which is

> 'allocated' vs unallocated. Is it possible to work on this disk

> partitioning while working in the XP which is on drive C? Or, do I need

> to boot with a live linux CD to get anything done with drive C?

>

>

 

 

XP does *not* have the capability to perform non-destructive

repartitioning...

so you'D need a 3rd party utility.

 

Note: some Linux distros *can* repartition your drive...

but I'd be sure to backup your XP installation first!

Guest John John (MVP)

Guest John John (MVP)

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

Unallocated space would disk space which is not allocated to any

partitions, unpartitioned space. What you are trying to do is resize

your partition, which would then result in unallocated space with which

to create a new partition. The Windows XP Disk Management tool cannot

do this, you will have to use a third party tool to do this.

 

John

 

Mike Easter wrote:

> I'm trying to learn something about XP's disk management tools. I have

> experience with partitioning on other computers with graphical linux

> tools like GPartEd and also with an old v. of Partition Magic, but

> almost zero XP experience, mostly Win98se using PM.

>

> This computer is Compaq SR2027X preinstalled XP Windows Media 2005 w/

> 120G hdd partitioned by compaq into C 110G NTFS + D 9G FAT32 restore. I

> want to create some more/ another/ partition with XP to do another XP

> install on free space on C which supposedly has 92G free. I may add

> some more linux partitions later, but right now my focus is for another

> different XP install.

>

> When I access the disk management, R clicking on the C partition doesn't

> give me the result described in the help files or at MS kb 309000 How to

> use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP

> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308424

>

> Help & MS say "right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where you

> want to create the partition, and then click New Partition."

>

> The concept of unallocated space doesn't compute for me in this context,

> as all of the space in C has the same shading and R clicking anywhere in

> C doesn't give me a menu choice of New Partition.

>

> There must be something different going on that causes my view to not

> show the difference between space which is being used and which is

> 'allocated' vs unallocated. Is it possible to work on this disk

> partitioning while working in the XP which is on drive C? Or, do I need

> to boot with a live linux CD to get anything done with drive C?

>

> --

> Mike Easter

>

Guest Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

philo wrote:

> "Mike Easter"

>> Is it possible to work on this disk

>> partitioning while working in the XP which is on drive C? Or, do I

>> need to boot with a live linux CD to get anything done with drive C?

> XP does *not* have the capability to perform non-destructive

> repartitioning...

> so you'D need a 3rd party utility.

>

> Note: some Linux distros *can* repartition your drive...

> but I'd be sure to backup your XP installation first!

 

Hi philo

 

I'm trying to educate myself from the XP docs. The XP install disk has

an html called setupxp. That doc sez:

 

Partition and format a hard drive - If you want to partition or format

your hard drive, we recommend that you use the disk partitioning and

formatting tools that are built into Windows XP Setup. These tools allow

you to delete existing partitions and to create one or more new

partitions. --

 

.... but since I have no experience installing XP from disk, when I boot

with the install CD I can't get very far before I don't know what the

setup is going to do next. This is unlike my experience with linux live

CDs which I can anticipate before something 'destructive' is going to

happen.

 

So, if I'm hearing you right, you are recommending against using the

disk partitioning and formatting tools that are built into the XP

setup - that setupxp isn't good advice.

 

 

 

 

--

Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

John John (MVP) wrote:

> Unallocated space would disk space which is not allocated to any

> partitions, unpartitioned space. What you are trying to do is resize

> your partition, which would then result in unallocated space with

> which to create a new partition. The Windows XP Disk Management tool

> cannot do this, you will have to use a third party tool to do this.

 

Gotit. For my current purposes, neither the XP disk management tool in

the currently used partition C is particularly useful, nor perhaps the

disk management tool which is available in the XP setup process.

 

I guess I've been spoiled by my experience with Partition Magic which

dates back to v.4 1998 and by the partition editors available on the

live linux CDs.

 

I'm learning a lot about the XP disk management tools very quickly; so

far they aren't useful.

 

 

--

Mike Easter

Guest dadiOH

Guest dadiOH

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

Mike Easter wrote:

> I'm trying to learn something about XP's disk management tools. I

> have experience with partitioning on other computers with graphical

> linux tools like GPartEd and also with an old v. of Partition Magic,

> but almost zero XP experience, mostly Win98se using PM.

>

> This computer is Compaq SR2027X preinstalled XP Windows Media 2005 w/

> 120G hdd partitioned by compaq into C 110G NTFS + D 9G FAT32 restore.

> I want to create some more/ another/ partition with XP to do another

> XP install on free space on C which supposedly has 92G free. I may

> add some more linux partitions later, but right now my focus is for

> another different XP install.

>

> When I access the disk management, R clicking on the C partition

> doesn't give me the result described in the help files or at MS kb

> 309000 How to use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows

> XP http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308424

>

> Help & MS say "right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where

> you want to create the partition, and then click New Partition."

>

> The concept of unallocated space doesn't compute for me in this

> context, as all of the space in C has the same shading and R clicking

> anywhere in C doesn't give me a menu choice of New Partition.

>

> There must be something different going on that causes my view to not

> show the difference between space which is being used and which is

> 'allocated' vs unallocated. Is it possible to work on this disk

> partitioning while working in the XP which is on drive C? Or, do I

> need to boot with a live linux CD to get anything done with drive C?

 

Unallocated isn't the same as unused.

 

Lets say you start with a new 100GB HD. If you partition it into one 100 GB

drive you have NO unallocated space but you have lots of unused space on

that drive. Conversely, if you partition it so that there is one 50 GB

drive then you also have 50GB of *unallocated* space which can be used to

create one or more additional drives.

 

With your current situation, you need a tool to resize the existing C:

and/or D: drives so that one or both are smaller. That will give you

unallocated space with which you can create other drives.

 

--

 

dadiOH

____________________________

 

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...

....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from

LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.

Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Guest philo

Guest philo

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

 

"Mike Easter" <MikeE@ster.invalid> wrote in message

news:eXBbAasuIHA.3484@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> philo wrote:

> > "Mike Easter"

>

> >> Is it possible to work on this disk

> >> partitioning while working in the XP which is on drive C? Or, do I

> >> need to boot with a live linux CD to get anything done with drive C?

>

> > XP does *not* have the capability to perform non-destructive

> > repartitioning...

> > so you'D need a 3rd party utility.

> >

> > Note: some Linux distros *can* repartition your drive...

> > but I'd be sure to backup your XP installation first!

>

> Hi philo

>

> I'm trying to educate myself from the XP docs. The XP install disk has

> an html called setupxp. That doc sez:

>

> Partition and format a hard drive - If you want to partition or format

> your hard drive, we recommend that you use the disk partitioning and

> formatting tools that are built into Windows XP Setup. These tools allow

> you to delete existing partitions and to create one or more new

> partitions. --

>

> ... but since I have no experience installing XP from disk, when I boot

> with the install CD I can't get very far before I don't know what the

> setup is going to do next. This is unlike my experience with linux live

> CDs which I can anticipate before something 'destructive' is going to

> happen.

>

> So, if I'm hearing you right, you are recommending against using the

> disk partitioning and formatting tools that are built into the XP

> setup - that setupxp isn't good advice.

>

>

>

 

No,

All I meant was that once XP is installed, you cannot change your

partitioning scheme without 3rd party software.

 

So if you are installing XP for the first time you may divide up the drive

as you choose:

 

 

http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_03.htm

Guest Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

philo wrote:

> "Mike Easter"

>> So, if I'm hearing you right, you are recommending against using the

>> disk partitioning and formatting tools that are built into the XP

>> setup - that setupxp isn't good advice.

> No,

> All I meant was that once XP is installed, you cannot change your

> partitioning scheme without 3rd party software.

>

> So if you are installing XP for the first time you may divide up the

> drive as you choose:

>

>

> http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_03.htm

 

Aha. I ran into that eldergeek site the other day while looking for

something else. I didn't know it had that XP setup screenshot sequence.

Very useful. Thanks.

 

 

 

--

Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

Mike Easter wrote:

> philo wrote:

>> http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_03.htm

>

> Aha. I ran into that eldergeek site the other day while looking for

> something else. I didn't know it had that XP setup screenshot

> sequence. Very useful. Thanks.

 

That link is Partitioning A Blank Hard Drive During XP Installation

 

He also has a page http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_05.htm

Resizing An Existing Partition On A Single Hard Drive - You'd think

that Disk Management would be capable of resizing the partition. It

can't. In fact, Windows XP doesn't come with a utility that can perform

a right to left (making the partition smaller) resizing operation. --

Method 2 - Use a program that is designed to handle partitioning tasks

from inside the existing Windows operating system. -- I've been a long

time user of Partition Magic and it has always served me well until

recently. -- For that reason I've been using PartitionExpert by Acronis

and will use it for these screen captures.

 

My experience with the linux partition editors has been uniformly good;

I've had a few hiccups over the years with PM4, so I think I'll go with

the linux tools.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't really intend to come in here to

badmouth XP or its tools.

 

--

Mike Easter

Guest philo

Guest philo

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

 

"Mike Easter" <MikeE@ster.invalid> wrote in message

news:uGzRc%23suIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Mike Easter wrote:

> > philo wrote:

>

> >> http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_03.htm

> >

> > Aha. I ran into that eldergeek site the other day while looking for

> > something else. I didn't know it had that XP setup screenshot

> > sequence. Very useful. Thanks.

>

> That link is Partitioning A Blank Hard Drive During XP Installation

>

> He also has a page http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_05.htm

> Resizing An Existing Partition On A Single Hard Drive - You'd think

> that Disk Management would be capable of resizing the partition. It

> can't. In fact, Windows XP doesn't come with a utility that can perform

> a right to left (making the partition smaller) resizing operation. --

> Method 2 - Use a program that is designed to handle partitioning tasks

> from inside the existing Windows operating system. -- I've been a long

> time user of Partition Magic and it has always served me well until

> recently. -- For that reason I've been using PartitionExpert by Acronis

> and will use it for these screen captures.

>

> My experience with the linux partition editors has been uniformly good;

> I've had a few hiccups over the years with PM4, so I think I'll go with

> the linux tools.

>

> Thanks for the feedback. I didn't really intend to come in here to

> badmouth XP or its tools.

>

 

 

Vista is the only Windows OS that can resize an existing partition...

but I'd stick with XP! <G>

 

I have used Partition Magic many times and have never had a problem with

it...

so it should be fine...

however things can go wrong...so always backup your system first...

if nothing else...be sure all your data are backed up

Guest PD43

Guest PD43

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

>

>Vista is the only Windows OS that can resize an existing partition...

>but I'd stick with XP! <G>

>

>I have used Partition Magic many times and have never had a problem with

>it...

>so it should be fine...

>however things can go wrong...so always backup your system first...

>if nothing else...be sure all your data are backed up

 

I've used PM for years... stopped upgrading at 7.0 which works fine

with XP.

 

I'm now using Vista as my OS and decided to go with Acronis Disk

Director Suite ($25 @Newegg) and am glad I made the switch.

Guest Mike Easter

Guest Mike Easter

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

philo wrote:

> "Mike Easter"

>> My experience with the linux partition editors has been uniformly

>> good; I've had a few hiccups over the years with PM4, so I think

>> I'll go with the linux tools.

> I have used Partition Magic many times and have never had a problem

> with it...

> so it should be fine...

 

My '98 PM v4 is really old, I would hate to hear about all the things

that had to be fixed between my v.4 and when symantec grabbed it and

called it v 8 quit developing it. The symantec story is so bad, the

wiki even talked about it

 

"PartitionMagic, while under PowerQuest, was updated regularly, adding

new and useful features. Since Symantec purchased the application in

2003[1], there has not yet been a new release, and Symantec has stated

that it has no plans on releasing a new version.[2]" <wikipedia>

> however things can go wrong...so always backup your system first...

> if nothing else...be sure all your data are backed up

 

The newest live CD stable GPartEd has all of the features in the table

seen here...

 

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/features.php The following actions and

file systems are supported by GParted.

 

.... which includes everything for NTFS, which used to not be as well

handled by linux partition ed/s.

 

 

One of my problems is what a very very very bad XP install Compaq sent

from the factory on this box. Very bad. Very very bad. Tons and tons

and tons of bloatware. Any restoration just restores the same bloat.

If you need to change the hardware significantly, like put in a graphics

card instead of using the integrated graphics you can imagine where your

XP install is going.

 

The user is left to figure out what kind of strategy to use to clean the

thing up and configure hardware drivers. The MS/HP licensing

arrangements for OEMs who do things like that are extremely inferior.

 

--

Mike Easter

Guest Bill in Co.

Guest Bill in Co.

Posted
Posted

Re: Disk management

 

philo wrote:

> "Mike Easter" <MikeE@ster.invalid> wrote in message

> news:uGzRc%23suIHA.5892@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Mike Easter wrote:

>>> philo wrote:

>>

>>>> http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_03.htm

>>>

>>> Aha. I ran into that eldergeek site the other day while looking for

>>> something else. I didn't know it had that XP setup screenshot

>>> sequence. Very useful. Thanks.

>>

>> That link is Partitioning A Blank Hard Drive During XP Installation

>>

>> He also has a page http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_05.htm

>> Resizing An Existing Partition On A Single Hard Drive - You'd think

>> that Disk Management would be capable of resizing the partition. It

>> can't. In fact, Windows XP doesn't come with a utility that can perform

>> a right to left (making the partition smaller) resizing operation. --

>> Method 2 - Use a program that is designed to handle partitioning tasks

>> from inside the existing Windows operating system. -- I've been a long

>> time user of Partition Magic and it has always served me well until

>> recently. -- For that reason I've been using PartitionExpert by Acronis

>> and will use it for these screen captures.

>>

>> My experience with the linux partition editors has been uniformly good;

>> I've had a few hiccups over the years with PM4, so I think I'll go with

>> the linux tools.

>>

>> Thanks for the feedback. I didn't really intend to come in here to

>> badmouth XP or its tools.

>>

>

>

> Vista is the only Windows OS that can resize an existing partition...

> but I'd stick with XP! <G>

>

> I have used Partition Magic many times and have never had a problem with

> it...

> so it should be fine...

> however things can go wrong...so always backup your system first...

> if nothing else...be sure all your data are backed up

 

Yeah, and go with Partition Magic 8.0 (which I think is the latest version,

and has the most up-to-date support for the current systems; most of the

older versions are somewhat lacking, in that regard (such as in large disk

support, etc).

 

(That's the ONLY Norton product I have on here, however :-)

 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...