Install XP Pro, putting "Documents and Settings" on its own partition

[Jim Fischer]

OK, I give up. ;-/

All I want to do is install XP Pro on a wiped / unpartitioned / unformatted
hard disk such that the "Documents and Settings" folder ends up on its own
partition (i.e., separate from the system partition that has the \WINDOWS
folder and everything else).

For example: Say I want to install the "Documents and Settings" folder on a
partition that corresponds to drive letter E:, and everything else on the
system partition, drive C:.

How in the world is this done!?

The various documents I've read regarding unattended setups all hint that
this is possible, e.g.,

;
; File: unattend.txt (a.k.a. winnt.sif)
;

[GuiUnattended]
...
ProfileDir="E:\Documents and Settings"

but, of course, those documents don't give any specifics on how to actually
make this happen during the install/setup process.

Do I maybe need to buy a 3rd party tool that can create *and format* the two
NTFS partitions before I begin the XP Pro installation? XP's installer will
let me create multiple partitions, but apparently it will only format one of
the partitions.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

OK, I give up. ;-/

All I want to do is install XP Pro on a wiped / unpartitioned /
unformatted hard disk such that the "Documents and Settings" folder
ends up on its own partition (i.e., separate from the system
partition that has the \WINDOWS folder and everything else).

For example: Say I want to install the "Documents and Settings"
folder on a partition that corresponds to drive letter E:, and
everything else on the system partition, drive C:.

How in the world is this done!?

The various documents I've read regarding unattended setups all
hint that this is possible, e.g.,

;
; File: unattend.txt (a.k.a. winnt.sif)
;

[GuiUnattended]
...
ProfileDir="E:\Documents and Settings"

but, of course, those documents don't give any specifics on how to
actually make this happen during the install/setup process.

Do I maybe need to buy a 3rd party tool that can create *and
format* the two NTFS partitions before I begin the XP Pro
installation? XP's installer will let me create multiple
partitions, but apparently it will only format one of the
partitions.

Creating and when to use Diskpart scripts.. (left side menu.)
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkb_cnc_boaj.asp

 

[Bob Horton]

OK, I give up. ;-/

All I want to do is install XP Pro on a wiped / unpartitioned /
unformatted hard disk such that the "Documents and Settings" folder
ends up on its own partition (i.e., separate from the system
partition that has the \WINDOWS folder and everything else).

For example: Say I want to install the "Documents and Settings"
folder on a partition that corresponds to drive letter E:, and
everything else on the system partition, drive C:.

How in the world is this done!?

The various documents I've read regarding unattended setups all
hint that this is possible, e.g.,

;
; File: unattend.txt (a.k.a. winnt.sif)
;

[GuiUnattended]
...
ProfileDir="E:\Documents and Settings"

but, of course, those documents don't give any specifics on how to
actually make this happen during the install/setup process.

Do I maybe need to buy a 3rd party tool that can create *and
format* the two NTFS partitions before I begin the XP Pro
installation? XP's installer will let me create multiple
partitions, but apparently it will only format one of the
partitions.

Creating and when to use Diskpart scripts.. (left side menu.)
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkb_cnc_boaj.asp

FWIW, I usually get to the what seems to me to be the same point using
X-Setup Pro. You can assign the docs and settings wherever you want them
(e.g.- into any partitioned space). Maybe there's some reason you need to
do this when you are building your partitions, though.

 

[Jim Fischer]

Unless I'm missing something here, I cannot use the 'diskpart' utility if
there is no operating system available. I have a wiped disk with no OS on
it.

I guess the XP Pro installation CD doesn't provide the necessary tools to
make this type of installation possible. In other words, if a person wants
to install the "Documents and Settings" folder on its own partition, s/he
must resort to using some sort of "hack" like Bart's Preinstalled
Environment (BartPE) to partition and NTFS format the hard disk before
running the XP Pro installation.

Well, okay. I'll try setting up the hard disk using BartPE and then see if I
can get XP Pro to install how I want it. Thanks for the reply.

Jim

OK, I give up. ;-/

All I want to do is install XP Pro on a wiped / unpartitioned /
unformatted hard disk such that the "Documents and Settings" folder
ends up on its own partition (i.e., separate from the system
partition that has the \WINDOWS folder and everything else).

For example: Say I want to install the "Documents and Settings"
folder on a partition that corresponds to drive letter E:, and
everything else on the system partition, drive C:.

How in the world is this done!?

The various documents I've read regarding unattended setups all
hint that this is possible, e.g.,

;
; File: unattend.txt (a.k.a. winnt.sif)
;

[GuiUnattended]
...
ProfileDir="E:\Documents and Settings"

but, of course, those documents don't give any specifics on how to
actually make this happen during the install/setup process.

Do I maybe need to buy a 3rd party tool that can create *and
format* the two NTFS partitions before I begin the XP Pro
installation? XP's installer will let me create multiple
partitions, but apparently it will only format one of the
partitions.

Creating and when to use Diskpart scripts.. (left side menu.)
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkb_cnc_boaj.asp

 

[Nepatsfan]

You can boot into the Recovery Console and use the Diskpart
command.

With your computer set to boot from your CD drive, put the XP
installation CD in the drive and restart your computer.
Hit any key when prompted to boot from the CD.
When the "Welcome to Setup" page is displayed, hit the R key to
enter the Recovery Console.
Enter Diskpart at the prompt. Press C to create a partition.
Hit the backspace key until the highlighted box next to "Create
partition of size (in MB)" is empty.
Enter the size in MB that you want for your C drive.
Hit the Enter key.
Use the down arrow on your keyboard to highlight the remaining
unpartitioned space on your HD.
Use the same procedure to create your D drive.
Once you've set up all your partitions, hit the Escape key.
At the prompt enter Format C:
Keep in mind that the default is to format the drive NTFS.
Once C is formatted, do the same for your D drive.
To restart your computer type Exit at the prompt and hit the
Enter key.

Here are a few articles that you may find useful:

To start the computer and use the Recovery Console
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../all/proddocs/en-us/recovery_run_console.mspx

Diskpart
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_diskpart.mspx

Format
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_format.mspx

Good luck

Nepatsfan


(e-mail address removed),

Unless I'm missing something here, I cannot use the
'diskpart' utility if there is no operating system
available. I have a wiped disk with no OS on it.

I guess the XP Pro installation CD doesn't provide the
necessary tools to make this type of installation possible.
In other words, if a person wants to install the "Documents
and Settings" folder on its own partition, s/he must resort
to using some sort of "hack" like Bart's Preinstalled
Environment (BartPE) to partition and NTFS format the hard
disk before running the XP Pro installation.
Well, okay. I'll try setting up the hard disk using BartPE
and then see if I can get XP Pro to install how I want it.
Thanks for the reply.
Jim

OK, I give up. ;-/

All I want to do is install XP Pro on a wiped /
unpartitioned / unformatted hard disk such that the
"Documents and Settings" folder ends up on its own
partition (i.e., separate from the system partition that
has the \WINDOWS folder and everything else). For example:
Say I want to install the "Documents and
Settings" folder on a partition that corresponds to drive
letter E:, and everything else on the system partition,
drive C:. How in the world is this done!?

The various documents I've read regarding unattended
setups all hint that this is possible, e.g.,

;
; File: unattend.txt (a.k.a. winnt.sif)
;

[GuiUnattended]
...
ProfileDir="E:\Documents and Settings"

but, of course, those documents don't give any specifics
on how to actually make this happen during the
install/setup process. Do I maybe need to buy a 3rd party
tool that can create
*and format* the two NTFS partitions before I begin the XP
Pro installation? XP's installer will let me create
multiple partitions, but apparently it will only format
one of the partitions.

Creating and when to use Diskpart scripts.. (left side
menu.)
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkb_cnc_boaj.asp

 

[Jim Fischer]

Fantastic! I wrongly assumed that the recovery console stuff was only useful
for recovery tasks on an existing Windows installation. Thanks for the tip.

FWIW, the 'diskpart' program that's p/o XP's recovery console lacks the
partitioning features I need. Consequently, I'm using the 'fdisk' program
from a Knoppix Linux CD to set up the partitions. Once the partitioning is
done, I boot using XP's recovery console and format the NTFS partitions.
This seems to work pretty well.


Jim

You can boot into the Recovery Console and use the Diskpart command.

With your computer set to boot from your CD drive, put the XP installation
CD in the drive and restart your computer.
Hit any key when prompted to boot from the CD.
When the "Welcome to Setup" page is displayed, hit the R key to enter the
Recovery Console.
Enter Diskpart at the prompt. Press C to create a partition.
Hit the backspace key until the highlighted box next to "Create partition
of size (in MB)" is empty.
Enter the size in MB that you want for your C drive.
Hit the Enter key.
Use the down arrow on your keyboard to highlight the remaining
unpartitioned space on your HD.
Use the same procedure to create your D drive.
Once you've set up all your partitions, hit the Escape key.
At the prompt enter Format C:
Keep in mind that the default is to format the drive NTFS.
Once C is formatted, do the same for your D drive.
To restart your computer type Exit at the prompt and hit the Enter key.

Here are a few articles that you may find useful:

To start the computer and use the Recovery Console
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../all/proddocs/en-us/recovery_run_console.mspx

Diskpart
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_diskpart.mspx

Format
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_format.mspx

Good luck

Nepatsfan


(e-mail address removed),

[snip]