XP Home: How to format HD?

[Patrick Riley]

My machine:

Disk 1: 40 gig

C: NTFS 40 gig Operating system, files etc about 5 gig, the rest
unused

D: CDROM Drive

Disk 2: 40 gig

E: Fat16 about 2 gig

F: Fat 16 about 2 gig

G: Fat 16 about 2 gig

H: Fat 16 about 2 gig

I: NTFS about 32 gig

All of disk 2 came from a prior machine and has remnants of DOS 5.2,
Win 3.1, Win NT, and Win 2K. In fact loading the latter (and its
collapse) was the final straw that made me go out and buy a new
machine with XP on it. Unfortunately the guy formatted the entirety of
Disk 1 as C:. I need to have at least a couple of gig (file type
indifferent) as D:

I want to end up with:

Disk 1: 40 gig

C: NTFS 35 gig -- Operating system, files etc. everything it has at
present

D: any file system 5 gig

E: CDROM

Disk 2: 40 gig NTFS

F: 40 gig NTFS formatted and virginal.

How do I go about this without disturbing the sensitivities of XP? I
most certainly don't want to re-load the OS. I can't even find a Help
entry for Format nor F-Disk but I heard rumors (voices <g>) that in
these more modern OS's the functions of F-disk could be done "on the
fly".

TIA

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

The only way you can create, delete, resize or merge existing partitions,
and not harm your existing Windows installation, is to purchase and use
a third-party partitioning program such as Partition Magic 8.
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

The alternative is to perform a "clean install" of Windows XP:

How to Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313348&Product=winxp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

----------------------------------------------------------------------


| My machine:
|
| Disk 1: 40 gig
|
| C: NTFS 40 gig Operating system, files etc about 5 gig, the rest
| unused
|
| D: CDROM Drive
|
| Disk 2: 40 gig
|
| E: Fat16 about 2 gig
|
| F: Fat 16 about 2 gig
|
| G: Fat 16 about 2 gig
|
| H: Fat 16 about 2 gig
|
| I: NTFS about 32 gig
|
| All of disk 2 came from a prior machine and has remnants of DOS 5.2,
| Win 3.1, Win NT, and Win 2K. In fact loading the latter (and its
| collapse) was the final straw that made me go out and buy a new
| machine with XP on it. Unfortunately the guy formatted the entirety of
| Disk 1 as C:. I need to have at least a couple of gig (file type
| indifferent) as D:
|
| I want to end up with:
|
| Disk 1: 40 gig
|
| C: NTFS 35 gig -- Operating system, files etc. everything it has at
| present
|
| D: any file system 5 gig
|
| E: CDROM
|
| Disk 2: 40 gig NTFS
|
| F: 40 gig NTFS formatted and virginal.
|
| How do I go about this without disturbing the sensitivities of XP? I
| most certainly don't want to re-load the OS. I can't even find a Help
| entry for Format nor F-Disk but I heard rumors (voices <g>) that in
| these more modern OS's the functions of F-disk could be done "on the
| fly".
|
| TIA
|
| --
| Patrick Riley

 

[Norm]

If your disk 1 is a single 40 gig NTFS partition why not just leave it
alone. Without some 3rd party partitioning tools you cannot change the size
of the C partition. You can delete the small partitions and create what you
want on disk 2 in XP by going into Disk Management.

 

[Patrick Riley]

If your disk 1 is a single 40 gig NTFS partition why not just leave it
alone. Without some 3rd party partitioning tools you cannot change the size
of the C partition. You can delete the small partitions and create what you
want on disk 2 in XP by going into Disk Management.

I fully intend to eliminate the partitions on Disk 2 and convert it to
one NTFS type but this won't solve the immediate problem. As I
understand the sequence, Windows (and I believe it was true for DOS
too) assigns the next drive letters after Disk 1 to the CDROM (and
probably other peculiar devices) and only after they've all been
assigned does it go to disk 2. Unless I break up Disk 1 (i.e. add
another partition) the CDROM will always be "D:", an untenable
situation.

Or, maybe not really untenable. If I couldn't change D to be a HD
drive there are two other ways: 1) does the "Assgn" command still
work? If so I could Assgn D to C. or 2) I could recompile and relink
my legacy DOS programs that have the file name hard coded as
D:xxxx.xxx but, oh la la, it's touch and go as to whether the
programs will run let alone a 1992 compiler and linkage editor. The
programs ran under NT and 2K so I'm hoping...

I think the suggestion of a third party partition-er, expensive though
it may be, is probably the best.

 

[Patrick Riley]

Aha! Found the solution and I'm not even a MVP <g>:

No need for a third-party partition-manager, unfortunately for 7Tools
whose demo version gave me the idea.

My Computer | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Computer
Management | Disk Management

Right click on the appropriate partition and "Change Drive Letter and
Paths..." On the screen change to the desired letter and....

I just saved myself $30 (or $80).

Now to read up on formatting courtesy of Bill...

--
Patrick Riley

(with apologies to those who hate top posting.)

If your disk 1 is a single 40 gig NTFS partition why not just leave it
alone. Without some 3rd party partitioning tools you cannot change the size
of the C partition. You can delete the small partitions and create what you
want on disk 2 in XP by going into Disk Management.

I fully intend to eliminate the partitions on Disk 2 and convert it to
one NTFS type but this won't solve the immediate problem. As I
understand the sequence, Windows (and I believe it was true for DOS
too) assigns the next drive letters after Disk 1 to the CDROM (and
probably other peculiar devices) and only after they've all been
assigned does it go to disk 2. Unless I break up Disk 1 (i.e. add
another partition) the CDROM will always be "D:", an untenable
situation.

Or, maybe not really untenable. If I couldn't change D to be a HD
drive there are two other ways: 1) does the "Assgn" command still
work? If so I could Assgn D to C. or 2) I could recompile and relink
my legacy DOS programs that have the file name hard coded as
D:xxxx.xxx but, oh la la, it's touch and go as to whether the
programs will run let alone a 1992 compiler and linkage editor. The
programs ran under NT and 2K so I'm hoping...

I think the suggestion of a third party partition-er, expensive though
it may be, is probably the best.

 

[Doug]

Aha! Found the solution and I'm not even a MVP <g>:
snip

A. Top posting
Q. What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?