How do i create a partion

G

Guest

Hi all need help here i have basic knowledge of computers.I own a laptop and
have windows xp sp2 installed.I wanted to re-install it and create another 3
partion so i had 4 drives on the memory.Every time i try to it says i cant
delete partion as files are needed for instalation.Can any 1 help me please.
 
A

Alias

Go to your hard drive manufacturer's web site and download the floppy
utility, NOT the CD ROM utility and save it to a floppy.

Boot up with the floppy in the floppy drive and the software to format and
partition your hard drive will load. Make sure to set the clusters at 4K.

Alias

"scottbhoy" wrote
 
R

Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers

Hi,

Where are you installing from? A recovery partition on the system or from a
generic/retail CD?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
J

John Barnett MVP

If you are re-installing using a recovery disk then you have no option but
to use third party software (partition magic) to create partitions. The
problem is, in most cases, the recovery disk restores the system back to
factory conditions which basically means it allocated 'all' of your hard
drive as the C: partition. If this is the case you will ne something like
partition magic to first reduce your C: partition to a more manageable size,
say 15 to20GB. This will then leave the rest of the drive as 'unallocated
space'. You can then create new partitions from within xp or simply carry on
using partition magic to create the necessary other partitions.
If, on the other hand, you have a full retail boxed copy of XP then you
'will' have the option to create partitions during installation. For more
information on partitioning and reformatting the drive using a full retail
copy (not a recovery disk) visit my website http:xphelandsupport.mvps.org
Click the Win XP Faq button and take a look at question 41. For installing
xp using a retail copy also check out question 85. Please note that these
options 'do not' work with manufacturers' recovery disks.
 
J

JustMe

scottbhoy said:
Hi all need help here i have basic knowledge of computers.I own a laptop
and
have windows xp sp2 installed.I wanted to re-install it and create another
3
partion so i had 4 drives on the memory.Every time i try to it says i cant
delete partion as files are needed for instalation.Can any 1 help me
please.

Exactly what do you hope to gain by partitioning your hard drive?
 
M

Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)

Justme

Some like to have partitions.. my preference is to split a my 40's into two
equal parts..
 
J

JustMe

I understand that, my preference is a single partition. It just appeared
from the way the questions was asked by the poster that they really don't
have a clue. When they ask questions like "I wanted to re-install it and
create another 3 partion so i had 4 drives on the memory" I begin to wonder.
 
K

Ken Blake

In
scottbhoy said:
Hi all need help here i have basic knowledge of computers.I own
a
laptop and have windows xp sp2 installed.I wanted to re-install
it
and create another 3 partion so i had 4 drives on the
memory.Every
time i try to it says i cant delete partion as files are needed
for
instalation.Can any 1 help me please.


Are you trying to repartition your drive from within Windows? You
can't do that, since that would leave Windows without a leg to
stand on.
Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create new ones as desired).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
 
D

Don Schmidt

How about using the subst line in the autoexec.bat file and create
artificial partitions? This way a partition never runs out of room until
the entire drive is exhausted.
 

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