help installing XP

[trixiedixie8]

I wanted to reformat hard drive, and create partitions since my
original setup was all on c.

So I followed the steps. I boot up from the CD.
deleted the partition (c), then created 4 partitions, assigning 6GB to
the OS.

Windows XP home ed. went through the set up screen , the copying files
screen, then said it was rebooting.

Then when I got back to my screen where my partitions were set up, the
c had the NFTS file system there. I pressed enter to set up there, and
I got the message:

"CAUTION: Installing multiple operating systems on a single partition
is not recommended. "

What do I do?? If its already set up why doesn't it continue into the
windows set up? Am i supposed to choose to let it install on the other
partitions as well if i ONLY want the OS on the c drive? I'm stuck!

Trix

 

[JS]

Your in a loop, follow these instructions.
Also suggest you increase the size of C: (Windows) partition
to at least 10GB.

How to do a Clean Install of Windows XP

Start by changing the BIOS setting to Boot from CD drive first.
Then see below:

From Michael Steven's: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
more info: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
and: http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm
also: http://www.bootdisk.com/

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[Trixie]

Your in a loop, follow these instructions.
Also suggest you increase the size of C: (Windows) partition
to at least 10GB.

I finally got it resolved. Think it was because I was using he wrong
CD drive to try to finish. It wanted to boot to my default CD and not
my cd writer - maybe because that one doesn't have drivers installed
yet.

But anyway, I could re-do... Why should i allocate at least *10GB* to
the system folder? Is there anyway to increase its size now without
redoing whole procedure? I now have it in a virgin state, system 6, d,
e, f divided up for rest. Nothing else has been done.
btw, I had used one of the articles to help me with this and I'm
pretty sure he suggested 5-6 GB for os.
??

Trixie

 

[Bill in Co.]

20 GB (or much better, 40 GB) for all the system, windows, and program files
directories would be a LOT more appropriate. NOT 10 GB.

 

[Andy]

I wanted to reformat hard drive, and create partitions since my
original setup was all on c.

So I followed the steps. I boot up from the CD.
deleted the partition (c), then created 4 partitions, assigning 6GB to
the OS.

Windows XP home ed. went through the set up screen , the copying files
screen, then said it was rebooting.

Then when I got back to my screen where my partitions were set up, the
c had the NFTS file system there. I pressed enter to set up there, and
I got the message:

"CAUTION: Installing multiple operating systems on a single partition
is not recommended. "

What do I do?? If its already set up why doesn't it continue into the
windows set up? Am i supposed to choose to let it install on the other
partitions as well if i ONLY want the OS on the c drive? I'm stuck!

You're booting from the XP CD again. After the text mode of Windows
setup, the computer has to boot from the hard drive, not the CD.

 

[Trixie]

You're booting from the XP CD again. After the text mode of Windows
setup, the computer has to boot from the hard drive, not the CD.

Well, it should have known that shouldn't it? Was I supposed to take
it out?

 

[Trixie]

20 GB (or much better, 40 GB) for all the system, windows, and program files
directories would be a LOT more appropriate.    NOT 10 GB.

No, I'm not putting program files on that partition. On THAT
partition, I am ONLY installing the OS which I think requires what, 2
GB? So I'm giving it 6 GB. All software programs, data, etc, are going
on other partitions.

 

[Trixie]

You're booting from the XP CD again. After the text mode of Windows
setup, the computer has to boot from the hard drive, not the CD.

Ok, thanks. So after it copies everything and states that it's going
to reboot, take the CD OUT?

Trix

 

[Don Phillipson]

20 GB (or much better, 40 GB) for all the system, windows, and program files
directories would be a LOT more appropriate. NOT 10 GB.

No, I'm not putting program files on that partition. On THAT
partition, I am ONLY installing the OS which I think requires what, 2
GB? So I'm giving it 6 GB. All software programs, data, etc, are going
on other partitions.

Two things have changed since all this flapdoodle began about partitioning
hard drives, always aiming at faster operating speed (e.g. putting the
Swap file on the fastest drive you own.)
1. RAM and hard drive speeds increased (doubled).
2. Windows XP appeared, claiming much more drive space than
predecessors like Win98 (e.g. storing on the hard drive (in hidden
folders) vast numbers of SP and upgrade files.)

But modern hardware speeds make Win98 methods usually
unnecessary. WinXP was designed to find fast on a single
hard drive any app you wish to run or any data file. WinXP
even included a file contents database to facilitate Fast File Find,
i.e. claimed extra drive space for that.

The main problem with allowing only X Gb for your System
folder is the reduced margin for error (if WinXP issues a vast
SP4 which fills up this folder.)

 

[Bruce Chambers]

No, I'm not putting program files on that partition. On THAT
partition, I am ONLY installing the OS which I think requires what, 2
GB? So I'm giving it 6 GB. All software programs, data, etc, are going
on other partitions.

Why on earth would you do that?

Placing data files on a partition or physical hard drive separate
from the operating system and applications can greatly simplify system
repairs/recoveries and data back-up.

There's very little point, however, in having a separate partition
for just applications. Should you ever have to reinstall the OS, you'll
still also have to reinstall each and every application anyway, in order
to recreate the hundreds (possibly thousands) of registry entries and to
replace the dozens (possibly hundreds) of essential system files back
into the appropriate Windows folders and sub-folders.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Bill in Co.]

No, I'm not putting program files on that partition. On THAT
partition, I am ONLY installing the OS which I think requires what, 2
GB? So I'm giving it 6 GB. All software programs, data, etc, are going
on other partitions.

I wouldn't do that if I were you. When you make system backups of your
computer, I think you'll want all of it together to be of much use. By
that I mean: all the windows system and program files directories, etc, all
together on one partition, all of which can be easily restored, should
anything go wrong. That way you won't have to reinstall anything, and ALL
of your program and windows settings and customizations will be preserved,
and it doesn't require all that much more disk space to do it. Of course,
you could keep other stuff like large video files and the like on another
partition.

 

[Jerry]

Your in a loop, follow these instructions.
Also suggest you increase the size of C: (Windows) partition
to at least 10GB.

I finally got it resolved. Think it was because I was using he wrong
CD drive to try to finish. It wanted to boot to my default CD and not
my cd writer - maybe because that one doesn't have drivers installed
yet.

But anyway, I could re-do... Why should i allocate at least *10GB* to
the system folder? Is there anyway to increase its size now without
redoing whole procedure? I now have it in a virgin state, system 6, d,
e, f divided up for rest. Nothing else has been done.
btw, I had used one of the articles to help me with this and I'm
pretty sure he suggested 5-6 GB for os.
??

Trixie

If you only allow 6GB for the C boot drive you will be back here very soon
asking "I've run out of space on my C drive, how can I increase the size?".

 

[Andy]

Ok, thanks. So after it copies everything and states that it's going
to reboot, take the CD OUT?

You could, but you shouldn't have to.

The way Windows setup is supposed to behave is after the text phase,
the computer may boot from the CD again (depends on how the boot
device sequence is arranged in BIOS setup), but the code on the XP CD
should detect a bootable hard drive partition and show the "Press any
key to boot from the CD ....." message on the display. If you're not
seeing this message, then removing the CD from the drive is unlikely
to make any difference (in other words, boot failure).

Check the boot sequence in BIOS setup, and make sure the hard drive is
in the sequence.

 

[JS]

I also install applications to the second partition,
but almost all applications will also install some files
and folders in: C:\Program Files

As a result my 20GB C: partition now has about 9GB used
which does not include the pagefile which is located on my
second drive.

Since the contents of the C: partition are changed daily
not to mention Windows Updates every month, image
backups are done on a frequent basis. However the partition
where my applications are located rarely are updated and
therefore backups and defragmenting that partition is far
less frequent.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

Your in a loop, follow these instructions.
Also suggest you increase the size of C: (Windows) partition
to at least 10GB.

I finally got it resolved. Think it was because I was using he wrong
CD drive to try to finish. It wanted to boot to my default CD and not
my cd writer - maybe because that one doesn't have drivers installed
yet.

But anyway, I could re-do... Why should i allocate at least *10GB* to
the system folder? Is there anyway to increase its size now without
redoing whole procedure? I now have it in a virgin state, system 6, d,
e, f divided up for rest. Nothing else has been done.
btw, I had used one of the articles to help me with this and I'm
pretty sure he suggested 5-6 GB for os.
??

Trixie

 

[Bill in Co.]

I also install applications to the second partition,
but almost all applications will also install some files
and folders in: C:\Program Files

And that's the advantage of leaving it all on ONE partition for backup
purposes, so you can backup and recover it all fullly from one partition
backup, and not need two.

Anytime you install a program, a LOT of program related stuff IS added to
the C: partition, so trying to "separate" the applications out into another
partition makes little sense.

Even with everything (including the applications) my C: partition is only
using around 20 GB now.

 

[JS]

Actually you can change the default location for the "Program Files"
directory to another partition or drive.
However it's best to do this on a clean install of Windows.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[Trixie]

Actually you can change the default location for the "Program Files"
directory to another partition or drive.
However it's best to do this on a clean install of Windows.

JShttp://www.pagestart.com

Hi all:
Thanks for responses to my problems up there. Before reading much of
this I went back and finished the formatting and partitioning. I took
the advice to start over and allocate more space to the C: system
drive. I gave it 20 GB. I read on another forum from someone who said
he learned the "hard way" to allocate that much because some programs
must be installed in the c drive.
Funny thing, today while trying to reinstall my old copy of Outlook
98, I could NOT install it ! It kept telling me in required 11K KB and
that I had insufficient space. HA! *KB* and I had GBs! Well after
trying everything I could think of, I reinstalled it on another
Windows 98 machine I had also just reformatted (all on C drive - no
partitions) and it installed just fine. So then I got the idea to let
Outlook install where IT wanted to on the XP without changing the file
name or drive and it installed just fine. BUT that was on the C drive
(using its folder names). So far, that is the only program I've had
that insisted on going on the C drive. And its the oldest program I
still use. (I just don't place that much value on an email program.)
But I see where unexpected things may come up which will keep taking
room up on the C so I'm glad I took the suggestions (good ones!) to
increase that drive!

I had one comment as to the argument against partitioning this way
because of backup and restoring...

The only times (except once) that I have ever had to reinstall
windows, was always because of these getting corrupted. I would not
want to reinstall the same same setup that I had backed up in such a
case. I would want to wipe the drive clean and start fresh. Now if its
a hard drive failure, then yes, it would be good to have everything on
c in a backup location so it all could be restored.

But is that the only argument in favor of keeping it all on C??

Trixie

 

[Trixie]

Actually you can change the default location for the "Program Files"
directory to another partition or drive.
However it's best to do this on a clean install of Windows.

Hi:
Could you tell me how to do that? As it is now, I'm changing the
pathway in the programs I install manually to put them in D drive. But
it would be very easy to accidentally forget and install in C by
mistake.

How can I change the default location for the "Program files".

Trixie

 

[JS]

First you need to read this:
"Microsoft does not support changing the location of the Program Files
folder by modifying the ProgramFilesDir registry value"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933700

XP: Change Default Installation Directory:
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/242/xp-change-default-installation-directory/

Also see "Special Folders" option in TweakUI from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

More Detail on available features in Tweak UI:
http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

Note: As of this post I "HAVE NOT" tried this so I can't say
what the outcome will be. But If your willing to try knowing
that you may end up reinstalling XP if there are problems
then give it a go.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

Actually you can change the default location for the "Program Files"
directory to another partition or drive.
However it's best to do this on a clean install of Windows.

Hi:
Could you tell me how to do that? As it is now, I'm changing the
pathway in the programs I install manually to put them in D drive. But
it would be very easy to accidentally forget and install in C by
mistake.

How can I change the default location for the "Program files".

Trixie

 

[Trixie]

First you need to read this:
"Microsoft does not support changing the location of the Program Files
folder by modifying the ProgramFilesDir registry value"http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933700

XP: Change Default Installation Directory:http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/242/xp-change-default-installation-dir...

Also see "Special Folders" option in TweakUI from Microsoft:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

More Detail on available features in Tweak UI:http://www.winxpsolution.com/Tweakuixppro.aspx

Note: As of this post I "HAVE NOT" tried this so I can't say
what the outcome will be. But If your willing to try knowing
that you may end up reinstalling XP if there are problems
then give it a go.

Uh, no... I guess not. I didn't realize it could be something risky to
do!

trixie