Mehmet

Right now all I have is a C drive (no other partitions) which Windows XP is on, along with everything else.

I have read that it's better to create two separate partitions... one for your operating system and another for everything else.

If I did this, if I wanted to start 'fresh' what would that involve? Just deleting everything off the partition which the operating system isn't on? If this is how it works, could I also use the operating system partition to backup some files and then transfer it over to the second partition once it's been wiped clean?

As you can probably tell, I'm not experienced in this 'partitioning' stuff; so any help would be appreciated.

If you could advise me on how to partition my drive that would help (baring in mind that I only have one hard drive).

nckid4u

You can get a partition manager program. The one I use is actually called partition manager...

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zodac

If you have a Windows CD, you can boot it up and it asks you hwere you want to install the OS. You can delete the partition that you were using to make it all free space.
Now you can use that free space and make a partition (not sure how much you need for XP but 10-15GB should be fine) and then make another partition with the rest of the Hard Drive. Now install on the smaller partition and you should be fine.

Easier than using a partition application, but remember to back-up any important files.

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Mehmet

Hmm I see.

And what would I do if I wanted to start 'fresh' if I did that? Would I just delete everything on the large partition and leave the OS partition?

Is there a way for me to make a seperate partition NOW in order to back up my files before I delete everything and make the two seperate partitions? (equaling three partitions, one for OS, one for programs, one for backup).

zodac

You could try rightclicking My Computer and going to "Disk Managment". Rightclick on your OS Drive and try "Shrinking" the drive. Shrink it by whatever space you want (making the space for the second partition).

Now, if you don't want to download a program to manage the partitions, just boot up the Windows CD and create a new partition in that free space. Restart the computer and save any files you want to back up. Then just boot the CD up again and wipe the OS partition, then install XP over it.

Hope that helps.

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phillipjos

Just remember theres a 1,000mb in each gig<40,000mb = 40 gigs in case you didnt know.

SupremeLaw

The better drive imaging programs will permit you to
write the output file to a DVD disc: then, you can
selectively restore files and folders from that disc
after you create a smaller C: partition
e.g. Acronis, Symantec GHOST.

Or, an even faster method is to XCOPY key files and folders
to a USB "thumb drive", then XCOPY them to your smaller C: partition
e.g. in Command Prompt (aka DOS Window):

XCOPY folder M:\folder /s/e/v/d

where,
M: = drive letter of USB thumb drive


You can write an audit trail file, using redirection:

XCOPY folder M:\folder /s/e/v/d >M:\log


Or, if you just want to do a "test run" of XCOPY, add the "/l" switch:

XCOPY folder M:\folder /s/e/v/d/l

which shows you what would have been copied if the "/l" switch
were not present.


These thumb drives are now available in 16GB and 32GB models:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820178215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820178230

... and they are MUCH more flexible than an optical disc,
because files can be written, updated and deleted many times.


Good luck!

/s/ Paul

Mehmet

Thank you for all of your help.

I'm actually now thinking about installing Windows Vista. I had it installed before, but I had a number of problems with it... I found it very unstable and I would get BSOD when installing programs ...but I'm thinking about giving it another go.

Question -

If I were to purchase a new hard drive [remove my current hard drive] and install Vista on to that hard drive... would I then be able to access my XP hard drive from Vista and copy the files onto XP [such as music, movies etc].

If I then wanted to go back to XP, could I just boot from the XP hard disk? Or would I have to edit the boot loaders or whatever like you would in order to dual boot?

Thank you again

glussier

If you want to dual boot, then leave your 250gB where it is, install another hard-drive, and install Vista on that new drive. Vista will automatically recognize that you have winxp installed and generate the dual boot menu for you. Don't partition your current drive for now, and when you install Vista, just take 128gB for Vista and use the remainder of the drive for your personal files.

Once Vista is installed, you be able to shrink the winxp drive and create a second partition for backups.

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Mehmet

I apologize, I am slightly confused.

I'm considering purchasing a 500 GB hard drive.

If I were to install Windows Vista on that hard drive [the new one], how large should the Vista partition be? [considering I'm going to have a seperate partition for the OS, and another for files and so on].

I'm not planning on using the 250 GB hard drive, I may install that into my old computer instead [if I decide to stick with Windows Vista].

What I am asking is; if I do install Windows Vista onto a new hard drive will I be able to access the drive which has Windows XP installed through Vista just to copy my files?