Installing Programs on Two Partitions ?

[Sreedhar]

Hi,

Got 4 partitions on HD. C (System Drive) is NTFS, rest are FAT32. After
Program installations, no space is available on C, hence I would like to
install some more programs on D.

1) Can I install my programs on two drives, especially if the file systems
are different ?

2) If it is necessary, I can format the D partition to NTFS, but how to do
it ?
(I searched this NG about converting to NTFS and the cluster size issue came
up. I couldn't use the BootItNG as my laptap doesn't have a floppy drive. Or,
must I go through all these hoops ? Isn't there a simpler way?)

Thanks for any tips/suggestions/info.

 

[John John (MVP)]

You can install the programs on the D drive and the drive's file system
doesn't matter. Old applications (mostly old DOS type applications) may
not want to install on any other drive than C, this is not much of an
issue with applications that are well written for NT operating systems.
As for BootItNG please note that there is a CD bootable version of the
program.

John

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Hi,

Got 4 partitions on HD. C (System Drive) is NTFS, rest are FAT32. After
Program installations, no space is available on C, hence I would like to
install some more programs on D.

1) Can I install my programs on two drives, especially if the file systems
are different ?

2) If it is necessary, I can format the D partition to NTFS, but how to do
it ?
(I searched this NG about converting to NTFS and the cluster size issue
came
up. I couldn't use the BootItNG as my laptap doesn't have a floppy drive.
Or,
must I go through all these hoops ? Isn't there a simpler way?)

Thanks for any tips/suggestions/info.

1. yes, you can. Take the CUSTOM option when installing and you will get to
pick your location

2. yes, you can. This will tell you how..
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php

OR you move any data in a partition over to another and then use Disk
Management to reformat the empty partition as NTFS

 

[Malke]

Hi,

Got 4 partitions on HD. C (System Drive) is NTFS, rest are FAT32. After
Program installations, no space is available on C, hence I would like to
install some more programs on D.

1) Can I install my programs on two drives, especially if the file systems
are different ?

Sure you can do this. However, please be aware that some files will always
be installed onto the system drive (C: in your case) so you need to make
sure there's enough wiggle room on C:. You can store data on the other
partitions, uninstall unnecessary programs, do regular maintenance, etc.

2) If it is necessary, I can format the D partition to NTFS, but how to do
it ?

It isn't necessary, but you can do this two ways:

1. If there is no data on the FAT32 partitions, just right-click on them
from My Computer and format them to NTFS.

2. If there is data, back it up first to external media and just convert the
partition to NTFS the way you read about it (convert [correct
drive] /FS:NTFS). Don't worry about using BootITNG.

(I searched this NG about converting to NTFS and the cluster size issue
came up. I couldn't use the BootItNG as my laptap doesn't have a floppy
drive. Or, must I go through all these hoops ? Isn't there a simpler way?)

Malke

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi,

Got 4 partitions on HD. C (System Drive) is NTFS, rest are FAT32.

Why are the rest FAT32?

After
Program installations, no space is available on C, hence I would like to
install some more programs on D.

A very common situation when you have two partitions. Why do you have
two? I recommend that you read this article I recently wrote:
"Understanding Disk Partitioning" at

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

1) Can I install my programs on two drives,

Yes.


especially if the file systems
are different ?

Yes, that's completely irrelevant.

2) If it is necessary, I can format the D partition to NTFS, but how to do
it ?

To convert to NTFS, you use the CONVERT command. But first read
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an important issue
regarding cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on your
drive. When you take such a big step, no matter how unlikely, it is
always possible that something could go wrong. For that reason, it's
prudent to make sure you have a backup of anything you can't afford to
lose before beginning.

Again, also consider converting to a single partition which might make
more sense for you.

(I searched this NG about converting to NTFS and the cluster size issue came
up.

Yes. Read the link cited above.

 

[Sreedhar]

2. If there is data, back it up first to external media and just convert the
partition to NTFS the way you read about it (convert [correct
drive] /FS:NTFS).

There is no data on D: hence I can either format it or convert it, whichever
is simpler.

Don't worry about using BootITNG.

How can I know my partition's cluster size is 4K ?

 

[Sreedhar]

Why are the rest FAT32?

All the four drives were FAT32 when I bought the machine. I had to
re-install the OS sometime ago, during which I formatted C as NTFS.

A very common situation when you have two partitions. Why do you have
two? I recommend that you read this article I recently wrote:
"Understanding Disk Partitioning" at
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

That's very informative. However, I don't want to change the existing setup
if it requires re-install of my OS and other programs.

Yes. Read the link cited above.

How can I know my partition's cluster size is aligned correctly as per
NTFS's requirements, without using BootItNG ?

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Malke]

2. If there is data, back it up first to external media and just convert
the partition to NTFS the way you read about it (convert [correct
drive] /FS:NTFS).

There is no data on D: hence I can either format it or convert it,
whichever is simpler.

Format it. Or, depending on the size of the entire hard drive, use
third-party partitioning tools to make one large partition instead.

Malke

 

[DL]

You can use a third party tool, eg Acronis Disk Director or Partition Magic
to merge partitions without usually the need to reinstall anything

 

[JS]

Yes you can, either to different partitions on the same
hard drive or to a partition on a second hard drive.

As Malke mentioned, in most cases some applications
will also install at least some files/folders on the
C: partition even if you have picked the "Custom" option
and specified your D: drive as the install location.

 

[Olórin]

2. If there is data, back it up first to external media and just
convert the partition to NTFS the way you read about it (convert
[correct
drive] /FS:NTFS).

There is no data on D: hence I can either format it or convert it,
whichever is simpler.

Don't worry about using BootITNG.

How can I know my partition's cluster size is 4K ?

Quickest way: open a command prompt:

Start > Run > type "cmd", press Enter

and at the prompt type

fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo d:

Look under "Bytes per Cluster"; 4096 bytes = 4KB.

Alternatively do an analysis of the partition with XP's defragmenter utility
(no need to actually defragment it):

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter

Select the partition, click Analyze, then View Report. Cluster size is given
under Volume Information.

As for establishing the alignment of clusters beforehand (on the FAT32
partition) without BootItNG, I don't know. But you could just go ahead and
convert and then check cluster size *after* the event and then format if
needs be. But I'd go with Malke's suggestion and just format anyway, not
bothering with the convert (except perhaps as an exercise).