Drive Partitioning

[Guest]

Greetings,
I have a single hard drive in my laptop that I would like to partition.
When looking at Computer Management, the window tells me that Disk 0
contains two primary partitions. One has no volume assigned and it has an
NTFS format with an EISA configuration (I have no idea what EISA means). The
other one is the actual C:. My goal is to partition the C: in half to create
a logical drive. However, since it has all been assigned a primary
partition, I do not seem to be able to partition it further. Is there a way
to get this done? I know very little about managing operating systems, so a
walkthrough might be necessary. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Malke]

Greetings,
I have a single hard drive in my laptop that I would like to
partition.
When looking at Computer Management, the window tells me that Disk 0
contains two primary partitions. One has no volume assigned and it
has an
NTFS format with an EISA configuration (I have no idea what EISA
means). The
other one is the actual C:. My goal is to partition the C: in half to
create
a logical drive. However, since it has all been assigned a primary
partition, I do not seem to be able to partition it further. Is there
a way
to get this done? I know very little about managing operating
systems, so a
walkthrough might be necessary. Thanks in advance for your help.

The partition with no volume is probably a special recovery partition
put there by the laptop mftr. You should leave it alone.

In order to partition your C:\ drive and not lose anything you will need
third-party partitioning software such as Acronis Disk Director,
Partition Magic, or BootIT NG.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Correct! You will have to back all of your data up and make sure you have
your software available to re-install and use your XP disk to boot and split
your partition. If you are not familiar with this practice you might want to
take it to a professional.

 

[Guest]

Hello "highly flammable petroleum-based solvent":

The mystery partition on your machine is likely a factory-installed "set of
instructions" for returning your Operating System to its "original state"
(which does NOT include any data you have written or settings you have
applied). The only thing you should do with this partition is to back it up
onto external media-- as you should for all your important data-- for the
eventuallity of a mishap. Otherwise, leave it alone.

You certainly can further partition the drive. It sounds like you just want
to create ONE new partition. For most users, this task is easy using 3rd
party partitioning software. Among them are Partition Magic (Symantec) and
Disk Director (Acronis); there are others. In most cases, creating ONE
"Primary" partition would be the choice.

However, many other partition tasks, such as moving or merging existing
partitions, are a bit trickier with greater chance for error and unintended
consequences. Likewise if your goal is to create a "multi-boot" system with
another Operating System. If, as you state in your post, you "...know very
little about managing operating systems", consider getting experienced help
with these more complex tasks.

Either way, I recommend that you plan exactly what it is you want to
accomplish before you start and consider if the new partition arrangement
would serve you better than the current one. If you cannot point to a
specific benefit of creating a new partition, consider leaving it all just as
it is.

Good Luck

Mark

 

[jt3]

Just call him 'Methylbenzene' )

Hello "highly flammable petroleum-based solvent":

The mystery partition on your machine is likely a factory-installed "set of
instructions" for returning your Operating System to its "original state"
(which does NOT include any data you have written or settings you have
applied). The only thing you should do with this partition is to back it up
onto external media-- as you should for all your important data-- for the
eventuallity of a mishap. Otherwise, leave it alone.

You certainly can further partition the drive. It sounds like you just want
to create ONE new partition. For most users, this task is easy using 3rd
party partitioning software. Among them are Partition Magic (Symantec) and
Disk Director (Acronis); there are others. In most cases, creating ONE
"Primary" partition would be the choice.

However, many other partition tasks, such as moving or merging existing
partitions, are a bit trickier with greater chance for error and unintended
consequences. Likewise if your goal is to create a "multi-boot" system with
another Operating System. If, as you state in your post, you "...know very
little about managing operating systems", consider getting experienced help
with these more complex tasks.

Either way, I recommend that you plan exactly what it is you want to
accomplish before you start and consider if the new partition arrangement
would serve you better than the current one. If you cannot point to a
specific benefit of creating a new partition, consider leaving it all just as
it is.

Good Luck

Mark

 

[Guest]

CLARIFICATION: It sounds like your computer already has 2 primary partitions
(one for recovery and one for the O/S). The limit is 4 primary partitions
*OR* 3 primary partitions and one extended partition within which one or many
"logical" partitions can be created..

As a general rule, you should create Primary partitions for Operating
Systems. Thus, creating ONE new primary partition could be the best choice
*IF* you will never want to install another O/S on this machine.

However, if you might someday want to install another O/S, then creating an
"extended partition" now- within which you can create "logical" partitions
for data storage ONLY might be best. You would then have 2 primary
partitions, one extended partition and also the abilty to create one more
primary partition for future use if needed.

 

[Frank]

Toluene wrote:
|| Greetings,
|| I have a single hard drive in my laptop that I would like to
|| partition.
|| When looking at Computer Management, the window tells me that Disk 0
|| contains two primary partitions. One has no volume assigned and it
|| has an NTFS format with an EISA configuration (I have no idea what
|| EISA means). The other one is the actual C:. My goal is to
|| partition the C: in half to create a logical drive. However, since
|| it has all been assigned a primary partition, I do not seem to be
|| able to partition it further. Is there a way to get this done? I
|| know very little about managing operating systems, so a walkthrough
|| might be necessary. Thanks in advance for your help.

The best answer to this would be to leave it alone. This is a
preinstalled
proprietary system, which does at times befuddle the experienced
technicians.

 

[Guest]

Respectfully: If using the native WinXP tools for creating new partitions is
used, data will be lost and programs will have to be re-installed. However,
while it is ALWAYS a good idea to back up, using 3rd party software such as
Partition Magic or Disk Director allows creation of NEW partitions "on the
fly" without losing data or programs-- as long as no partitions are moved,
re-sized or merged in the process of creating the new partition.

Moving, re-sizing or merging partitions can also be done on the fly but is a
bit riskier due to the fact that data will have to be physically moved on the
hard drive.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Correct! You will have to back all of your data up and make sure you
have your software available to re-install and use your XP disk to
boot and split your partition.

Sorry, but this is not correct. He clearly wants to change his existing
partition structure without losing what is already on the drive.
Unfortunately, no version of Windows or DOS has ever had the ability to
change the partition structure of a drive without losing all the data on it.
To do so requires the use of a third-party program. Partition Magic is the
best-known such program, but there are shareware/freeware alternatives. One
such program is BootIt Next Generation. It's shareware, but comes with a
free 30-day trial, so you should be able to do what you want within that 30
days. I haven't used it myself (because I've never needed to use *any* such
program), but it comes highly recommended by several other MVPs here.