Increasing hard disk partition sizes.

W

Weatherlawyer

I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
my partition size needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?

I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.

I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase the partition size. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from the partition via control panel.

Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new drive?
 
A

Anna

Weatherlawyer said:
I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
my partition size needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?

I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.

I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase the partition size. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from the partition via control panel.

Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new drive?


Weatherlawyer:
You know better than anyone what your needs are as they apply to your HDD's
disk space capacity but it seems beyond argument that the size of your
current HDD is really small, if not inadequate, by today's standards. Given
the relatively inexpensive cost of HDDs today - I notice sale prices in the
Office and mass-merchandise stores in the $.25 to $.30 per gigabyte range I
would hope you could spring for a much larger HDD.

If you do purchase a retail, boxed HDD it will include a disk copying (disk
cloning) program that should allow you to manipulate partition size on the
new drive as you copy (clone) over the data from your old HDD to the new
one.
Anna
 
B

BillW50

Weatherlawyer said:
I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
my partition size needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?

I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.

I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase the partition size. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from the partition via control panel.

Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new drive?

Fdisk will only wipe it out. You need to use a partition repartitioner
something like "Paragon Partition Manager 2005". I only mention this
one, because this one is free from:

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2167398/paragon-partition-manager-2005
 
W

Weatherlawyer

Fdisk will only wipe it out. You need to use a partition repartitioner
something like "Paragon Partition Manager 2005". I only mention this
one, because this one is free from:

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/downloads/2167398/paragon-partition-mana...

Hi and thanks to all who replied so quickly.

I have stated downloading the partitioning tool and will give it a go.

My hard disk will go to 80GB I don't know why I kept the partition
sizes so low. I think I had it in mind to add other OSs in there one
day. Whatever I never got around to it before the C: drive became a
flipping nuisance.

I intended to use the C: just for the XP OS but what with its (and
every other stupid download) insisting on going there by default...

I would have saved and repartioned everything with the XP CD straight
away, if I had a modern version but the old disk is such a pain to
mess with, then there are all the updates and the ISP and security
stuff to put back on.

I do have a number of other hard drives I could use if I were not just
interested in sorting this one out.
 
R

Rock

I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
my partition size needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?

I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.

I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase the partition size. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from the partition via control panel.

Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new drive?


Sounds like you have only a 30GB drive. That is small. Anna gave a good
suggestion, get a bigger drive. You can buy a white box (not retail
packaged drive) for less money. It won't come with the CD and copy utility
but you can always download that for free from the drive manufacturer's web
site.

As for repartitioning and existing drive, 3rd party tools are needed to do
this non destructively. I recommend Acronis Disk Director Suite. You can
also use BootIt NG from Terabyte Unlimited. It has a 30 day full featured
free trial version.

Before doing any partitioning or disk copy work make sure you have a backup
of important data on external media. Though these things normally go fine,
problems can happen from time to time.
 
R

Ronaldo

The system partition can only be resized with a specialized program. But in
the meantime you could redirect personal files and settings to another
partition so you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive. To
redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Documents\Properties\type the path to a folder on another partition or use
the buttons to find the location.. or edit the registry to move the My
Documents and other profile folders (read the article), then change the
default location for saving Office files in Tools\Options of the
application's menu and those that don't have the option can be redirected
with a registry edition as described in the following articles.

Registry key where you can make the default relocation of files.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders

Folder Redirection.
http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen/det/skel.en.html

User Profiles and Folder Redirection FAQ
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/en-us/management/manage_faq.mspx

How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in
Windows XP, and in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us

Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend system and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us
 
W

Weatherlawyer

The systempartitioncan only be resized with a specialized program. But in
the meantime you could redirect personal files and settings to anotherpartitionso you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive. To
redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Documents\Properties\type the path to a folder on anotherpartitionor use
the buttons to find the location.. or edit the registry to move the My
Documents and other profile folders (read the article), then change the
default location for saving Office files in Tools\Options of the
application's menu and those that don't have the option can be redirected
with a registry edition as described in the following articles.

Registry key where you can make the default relocation of files.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders

Folder Redirection.http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen/det/skel.en.html

User Profiles and Folder Redirection FAQhttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/en-us/management/manage_fa...

How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in
Windows XP, and in Windows 2000http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us

Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend system and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us

Thanks for the interest .

I messed around with my old XP version and the F: drive once emptied
then as it was going to be a bust, I cancelled the install.

Now I have to choose between two boot up options the first one failing
due to the absence of <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll which is a pain
but liveable with while I get this thing sorted.

Someone gave me a lead to Pragon but the programme is only an empty
showpiece offered as freeware. I got hold of Visopsys from MajorGeeks
but that sems to want to open with Nero 7 ad that doesn't want to
know.

I seem to be getting stuck on a tar baby.
 
R

Ronaldo

According to the description in Majorgeeks: Visopsys installs on a CD
quote from the majorgeeks download page: "It boots from a CD or floppy disk
and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating
system".

That is why it "seems to want to open with Nero 7". And in case you don't
have Nero 7, you can probably use any version of Nero which you can install
for a trial period of 15 or 30 days depending on the version.

And you can delete the boot option from the failed installation.. Open the
Boot.ini file in: Control Panel\System\Advanced Options\Start &
Recovery\Settings\Edit\and delete the line that describes the partition
where the failed installation files are. Your boot.ini file should look
something like the following, just make sure you delete the correct line of
you may not be able to start the computer.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

And you can restore the "hal.dll" from the Windows XP CD.. Insert the CD and
go to C:\WINDOWS\inf\hal.inf, > right click on the "hal.inf" file > select
install... the hal.dll file will be copied from the CD and installed in the
system32 folder.


---------------------------------------
"Weatherlawyer" <[email protected]> escribió en el mensaje
The systempartitioncan only be resized with a specialized program. But in
the meantime you could redirect personal files and settings to
anotherpartitionso you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive.
To
redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Documents\Properties\type the path to a folder on anotherpartitionor use
the buttons to find the location.. or edit the registry to move the My
Documents and other profile folders (read the article), then change the
default location for saving Office files in Tools\Options of the
application's menu and those that don't have the option can be redirected
with a registry edition as described in the following articles.

Registry key where you can make the default relocation of files.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders

Folder Redirection.http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen/det/skel.en.html

User Profiles and Folder Redirection FAQhttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/en-us/management/manage_fa...

How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in
Windows XP, and in Windows 2000http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us

Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend system and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us

Thanks for the interest .

I messed around with my old XP version and the F: drive once emptied
then as it was going to be a bust, I cancelled the install.

Now I have to choose between two boot up options the first one failing
due to the absence of <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll which is a pain
but liveable with while I get this thing sorted.

Someone gave me a lead to Pragon but the programme is only an empty
showpiece offered as freeware. I got hold of Visopsys from MajorGeeks
but that sems to want to open with Nero 7 ad that doesn't want to
know.

I seem to be getting stuck on a tar baby.
 
W

Weatherlawyer

According to the description in Majorgeeks: Visopsys installs on a CD
quote from the majorgeeks download page: "It boots from a CD or floppy disk
and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating
system".

That is why it "seems to want to open with Nero 7". And in case you don't
have Nero 7, you can probably use any version of Nero which you can install
for a trial period of 15 or 30 days depending on the version.

And you can delete the boot option from the failed installation.. Open the
Boot.ini file in: Control Panel\System\Advanced Options\Start &
Recovery\Settings\Edit\and delete the line that describes thepartition
where the failed installation files are. Your boot.ini file should look
something like the following, just make sure you delete the correct line of
you may not be able to start the computer.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

And you can restore the "hal.dll" from the Windows XP CD.. Insert the CD and
go to C:\WINDOWS\inf\hal.inf, > right click on the "hal.inf" file > select
install... the hal.dll file will be copied from the CD and installed in the
system32 folder.

---------------------------------------
Weatherlawyer said:
the meantime you could redirect personal files and settings to

anotherpartitionso you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive.
To> redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Documents\Properties\type the path to a folder on anotherpartitionor use
the buttons to find the location.. or edit the registry to move the My
Documents and other profile folders (read the article), then change the
default location for saving Office files in Tools\Options of the
application's menu and those that don't have the option can be redirected
with a registry edition as described in the following articles.
Registry key where you can make the default relocation of files.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders
User Profiles and Folder Redirection
FAQhttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/en-us/management/manage_fa....

How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003,in
Windows XP, and in Windows
2000http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us

Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend system and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows
XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us

Thanks for the interest .

I messed around with my old XP version and the F: drive once emptied
then as it was going to be a bust, I cancelled the install.

Now I have to choose between two boot up options the first one failing
due to the absence of <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll which is a pain
but liveable with while I get this thing sorted.

Someone gave me a lead to Pragon but the programme is only an empty
showpiece offered as freeware. I got hold of Visopsys from MajorGeeks
but that sems to want to open with Nero 7 ad that doesn't want to
know.

I seem to be getting stuck on a tar baby.

Thanks for your persistence on my behalf, much obliged. I'll give it a
go and report back, thanks.
 
W

Weatherlawyer

Ronaldo said:
According to the description in Majorgeeks: Visopsys installs on a CD
quote from the majorgeeks download page: "It boots from a CD or floppy disk
and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating
system".
That is why it "seems to want to open with Nero 7". And in case you don't
have Nero 7, you can probably use any version of Nero which you can install
for a trial period of 15 or 30 days depending on the version.
And you can delete the boot option from the failed installation.. Openthe
Boot.ini file in: Control Panel\System\Advanced Options\Start &
Recovery\Settings\Edit\and delete the line that describes thepartition
where the failed installation files are. Your boot.ini file should look
something like the following, just make sure you delete the correct line of
you may not be able to start the computer.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
And you can restore the "hal.dll" from the Windows XP CD.. Insert the CD and
go to C:\WINDOWS\inf\hal.inf, > right click on the "hal.inf" file > select
install... the hal.dll file will be copied from the CD and installed inthe
system32 folder.
anotherpartitionso you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive.
To> redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Documents\Properties\type the path to a folder on anotherpartitionor use
the buttons to find the location.. or edit the registry to move the My
Documents and other profile folders (read the article), then change the
default location for saving Office files in Tools\Options of the
application's menu and those that don't have the option can be redirected
with a registry edition as described in the following articles.
Registry key where you can make the default relocation of files.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders
Folder Redirection.http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen/det/skel.en.html
User Profiles and Folder Redirection
How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in
Windows XP, and in Windows
2000http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us
Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend system and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows
XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us
I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
mypartitionsize needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?
I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.
I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase thepartitionsize. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from thepartitionvia control panel.
Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new drive?
Thanks for the interest .
I messed around with my old XP version and the F: drive once emptied
then as it was going to be a bust, I cancelled the install.
Now I have to choose between two boot up options the first one failing
due to the absence of <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll which is a pain
but liveable with while I get this thing sorted.
Someone gave me a lead to Pragon but the programme is only an empty
showpiece offered as freeware. I got hold of Visopsys from MajorGeeks
but that sems to want to open with Nero 7 ad that doesn't want to
know.
I seem to be getting stuck on a tar baby.

Thanks for your persistence on my behalf, much obliged. I'll give it a
go and report back, thanks.

The txt code opened was or is:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

Which I changed to:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

Which should bothe stop the wrong piece of code booting up and allow
me to know which is the right piece to delete.

Now I have to reboot to see if I need to buy another computer so I can
get some more help.
 
W

Weatherlawyer

Ronaldo said:
According to the description in Majorgeeks: Visopsys installs on a CD
quote from the majorgeeks download page: "It boots from a CD or floppy disk
and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating
system".
That is why it "seems to want to open with Nero 7". And in case you don't
have Nero 7, you can probably use any version of Nero which you can install
for a trial period of 15 or 30 days depending on the version.
And you can delete the boot option from the failed installation.. Openthe
Boot.ini file in: Control Panel\System\Advanced Options\Start &
Recovery\Settings\Edit\and delete the line that describes thepartition
where the failed installation files are. Your boot.ini file should look
something like the following, just make sure you delete the correct line of
you may not be able to start the computer.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
And you can restore the "hal.dll" from the Windows XP CD.. Insert the CD and
go to C:\WINDOWS\inf\hal.inf, > right click on the "hal.inf" file > select
install... the hal.dll file will be copied from the CD and installed inthe
system32 folder.
anotherpartitionso you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive.
To> redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Documents\Properties\type the path to a folder on anotherpartitionor use
the buttons to find the location.. or edit the registry to move the My
Documents and other profile folders (read the article), then change the
default location for saving Office files in Tools\Options of the
application's menu and those that don't have the option can be redirected
with a registry edition as described in the following articles.
Registry key where you can make the default relocation of files.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders
Folder Redirection.http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen/det/skel.en.html
User Profiles and Folder Redirection
How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in
Windows XP, and in Windows
2000http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us
Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend system and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows
XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us
I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
mypartitionsize needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?
I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.
I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase thepartitionsize. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from thepartitionvia control panel.
Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new drive?
Thanks for the interest .
I messed around with my old XP version and the F: drive once emptied
then as it was going to be a bust, I cancelled the install.
Now I have to choose between two boot up options the first one failing
due to the absence of <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll which is a pain
but liveable with while I get this thing sorted.
Someone gave me a lead to Pragon but the programme is only an empty
showpiece offered as freeware. I got hold of Visopsys from MajorGeeks
but that sems to want to open with Nero 7 ad that doesn't want to
know.
I seem to be getting stuck on a tar baby.

Thanks for your persistence on my behalf, much obliged. I'll give it a
go and report back, thanks.

The txt code opened was or is:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

Which I changed to:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

Which should bothe stop the wrong piece of code booting up and allow
me to know which is the right piece to delete.

Now I have to reboot to see if I need to buy another computer so I can
get some more help.
 
R

Ronaldo

Don't reboot just yet,.. looks like you have set the failed installation as
default and you will boot into that installation without the option to boot
into the correct installation. The NoExecute=OptOut addition to the good XP
will hide it from the boot options and it may not be able to load.

THIS LINE => (default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS)
describes the default XP Installation and it looks like you have the failed
system set as the default system,.. so you need to make the previous
installation (good XP on C:\) the default system or you may lock yourself
out.

To set the correct XP as default, go to Start\Run\and type "msconfig" (no
quotes) and Enter\next go to the BOOT.INI tab.. and highlight the XP System
on the (0) rdisk and partition (1) (XP on C:\) and click on "Default" next
Apply, Accept and exit. When you restart the computer it should
automatically boot into the default (C:\XP) installation.. then open the
boot ini file and delete the line that describes the failed installation on
the F:\ drive and format the F:\ partition in the Disc Manager.


-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Weatherlawyer" <[email protected]> escribió en el mensaje
According to the description in Majorgeeks: Visopsys installs on a CD
quote from the majorgeeks download page: "It boots from a CD or floppy disk
and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating
system".
That is why it "seems to want to open with Nero 7". And in case you don't
have Nero 7, you can probably use any version of Nero which you can install
for a trial period of 15 or 30 days depending on the version.
And you can delete the boot option from the failed installation.. Open the
Boot.ini file in: Control Panel\System\Advanced Options\Start &
Recovery\Settings\Edit\and delete the line that describes thepartition
where the failed installation files are. Your boot.ini file should look
something like the following, just make sure you delete the correct line of
you may not be able to start the computer.
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
And you can restore the "hal.dll" from the Windows XP CD.. Insert the CD and
go to C:\WINDOWS\inf\hal.inf, > right click on the "hal.inf" file > select
install... the hal.dll file will be copied from the CD and installed in the
system32 folder.
anotherpartitionso you can increase valuable free space in the C:\ drive.
To> redirect the My Documents folder, you can do it in Start\My
Redirection.http://isg.ee.ethz.ch/tools/realmen.../technet/community/en-us/management/manage_fa...
How to use Diskpart.exe to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in
Windows XP, and in Windows
2000http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590/en-us
Functionality restrictions of the Diskpart.exe utility to extend
system
and
boot partitions in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows
XPhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/886986/en-us
I have three partitions on my hard drive but hopelessly underestimated
mypartitionsize needs. Stupidly, I made them all 10 GB, which is
good enough for the F: and G: partitions but the C: drive is almost
full. How do I increase them without wiping the C: drive?
I can quite easily move the entire contents of either F or G drive to
the other one -combining them will only use some 6 GB. The C: drive
holds the operating system and a battery of programmes I use regularly
including some whose default I neglected to set to F: or G:.
I tried using my OS disk which is a pre SP1 CD. and formatted the F
drive (identified as another letter in the process) but couldn't get
it to increase thepartitionsize. I cancelled the process and deleted
the files from thepartitionvia control panel.
Would Fdisk do the job or should I just start again with a new
drive?
Thanks for the interest .
I messed around with my old XP version and the F: drive once emptied
then as it was going to be a bust, I cancelled the install.
Now I have to choose between two boot up options the first one failing
due to the absence of <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll which is a pain
but liveable with while I get this thing sorted.
Someone gave me a lead to Pragon but the programme is only an empty
showpiece offered as freeware. I got hold of Visopsys from MajorGeeks
but that sems to want to open with Nero 7 ad that doesn't want to
know.
I seem to be getting stuck on a tar baby.

Thanks for your persistence on my behalf, much obliged. I'll give it a
go and report back, thanks.

The txt code opened was or is:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

Which I changed to:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptOut

Which should bothe stop the wrong piece of code booting up and allow
me to know which is the right piece to delete.

Now I have to reboot to see if I need to buy another computer so I can
get some more help.
 
J

John John

Ronaldo said:
Don't reboot just yet,.. looks like you have set the failed installation as
default and you will boot into that installation without the option to boot
into the correct installation. The NoExecute=OptOut addition to the good XP
will hide it from the boot options and it may not be able to load.

That is not what the /noexecute switch does, it enables, disables, and
configures Data Execution Prevention (DEP).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875352
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/information/bootini.mspx

John
 
R

Ronaldo

That is what I had read from someone else that said exactly what I repeated,
I know I should have looked it up but thought I had little time before I had
to respond. So, thanks for the info.

-----------------------------
 
W

Weatherlawyer

That is what I had read from someone else that said exactly what I repeated,
I know I should have looked it up but thought I had little time before I had
to respond. So, thanks for the info.

Thanks both to you ad John. I got time to decide which system I wished
to open by doing what I did do. Previously if I missed scrolling to
the right line I had to hit the escape key to start again.

I am surprised to find myself enjoying this. I am not normally
interested in anything this geeky. But it is nice when things do work -
after a fashion so I can learn a bit more at not too much cost in
frustration.

Not my usual experience with computers, at all.
 

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