Partition Harddrive-Advice Needed

Question

Hi Folks,   I am from Wales, UK and hello to all.   I have a Dimension 9100 3.2ghz with 250gb harddrive and windows xp home installed which is 1 week old.   The harddrive comes as one big partition ('C:drive') with 2 other smaller partitions which i assume contain Dell information.   I would like to split my partiton in to 4 sepearte drives and would apprecaite some advice regards how to do this.   I have searched this forum for a similar post but could not find anything suitable, also i have searched the net but found nothing. I am just a little apprehensive because it is a new pc  suppose so want to get it right.   I did not receive a windows xp home disc with my package but have made the 1 time allowed recovery disc (OSD). However if i am reading correctly if i use this discit will only re-install to a future image and will not allow me to partition.   I have also tried partition magic but get the error:   'The selected disk contains one or more partitions which cannot be moved'   I would really appreciate some help with and despite searching i am sure that someone out there has had a similar problem and solved it.   Thanks   Charllie

klbf · Answer

hi, the two smaller partitions are the dianostic partition 32mb approximate size, the second is a symantecs pc restore similar to that used by compaq which you can use to restore your pc to factory conditions, eg reinstall windows from your hard drive no windows xp cd needed the rest of your drive has been partitioned as one thus you cannot parition it through disk management as there is no "free space" allocation
you can use partition magic or other software partitioning programs. alternatively you can ask dell for a xp disk i believe they will give you one and you can reinstall xp from that and choose your own paritions without software programs running through xp

Dimension 8300
P4 2.80GHz 800MHz w/HT BIOS A07
1GB PC3200
Sparkle 6600GT oc (500mhz/1000mhz)
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (retail)
Seagate sata 120Gb, sata 160Gb, USB2 external 200Gb
NEC DVD+RW ND-2100AD
Pioneer 16x DVD+/-RW DL DVR-109
BearPaw 2400TA Scanner
USB 2.0 tv tuner
HP usb CD-Writer+ 8200
256Mb-64mb Usb drives
Wacom graphire3 4x5inch
Conexant SmartHSFi V.9x 56K DF PCI Modem ,ADSL DSL-200
HP deskjet 3550
15inch LCD
pci cooler
3dmark03 8446...3dmark05 3498...PCmark05 3448

Charllie · Answer

Hi Klbf,

Thanks for your reply and advice. I will phone Dell shortly to request a windows disc.

I have tried partition magic and got the error message as shown in first, i tried everywhere to find a reason and solution for this but no joy.

Can you recommend any other good partition programs i could try if Dell wont send me a disc.

Thanks

Charllie

arthr · Answer

If you can get your hands on a Windows 98 start up disk (floppy). You can partition the extended partition with that.

Charllie · Answer

Hi Arthr,   Thanks for that idea, i don't have a floppy drive but going to get one next week anyway. Any chance you have instructions on how to do it with a windows 98 disk. I do have one so should be ok but want to be sure i get it right.   Thanks   Charllie

arthr · Answer

No, it's been a long time sence I've done it. However, you didn't say why you wanted additional partitions. If you want to install other operating systems on them I think the operating system disks will give you the option to add a partition to install on.

Charllie · Answer

Hi arthr,

The reason i want to partition is for safety really. I have a 240gb drive and i only ever had small sizes before. I have been told that if you partition you drive and keep your operating system on the c:drive then program files in another and anything else in another. Then you can make a back up image of your operating system in c and should anything happen your other files should be ok.

I was also told that if set up like this it increase the pc speed slightly.

As i say. i am new to this so sort of finding out as i go along. But i would appreciate any advice you or anyone else has to offer to ensure the smooth running of my new pc and to help me get the best set up i can get.

I am new to back ups so i need to learn about this and creating images etc. Again i have been told that Nortons Ghost is probably the best to use.

Thanks

Charllie

Message Edited by Charllie on 11-13-2005 05:17 AM

arthr · Answer

So the additional partitions would be just to store data. I don't think it would be worth the trouble. You need to create the partitions, format them (to assign drive letters (D,E,F)), make directories to store the data in, then switch drives every time you want to access some data, bring the data on to C: drive (where the OS is) in order to work with it.

As far as a larger partition goes, the next time you format the C: drive partition (new instalation) format in NTFS instead of FAT 32.

Storage, Drives & Media

Partition Harddrive-Advice Needed

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