Partition rule(s) for multiple HDDs in an XP-Pro WinTel PC

[henriJ]

On a Dell Precision 650, I installed a second SCSI U320 HDD (drive 1).
When I went to partition it with XP-Pro's Disk Management function my
assumption was that I would simply create more logical drives (volumes)
as part of the existing extended partition that had already been created
on existing SCSI U320 drive 0 (which has a primary partition and two
logical volumes in the extended partition). I was able to create one
additional logical volume on drive 1 but then Disk Management wouldn't
let me create any more logical volumes in the unused space on drive 1;
wanting, instead, for me to create a new primary partition on drive 1.

I'm confused. Does XP require each HDD in a multiple HDD system to have
a primary partition whether you want additional primary partitions or
not? Alternatively, am I doing something wrong?

Any suggestions, advice, or pointers to printed references would be most
appreciated.

 

[3c273]

I believe you can have 4 primary partitions per drive or 3 (or less) primary
partitions and 1 extended partition per drive.
Louis

 

[JS]

The second drive does not require any "Primary" partitions,
you should be able to create one extended partition which
would be as large as the total drive size.

Then you can create multiple logical drives.

The existing "existing extended partition that had already
been created on existing SCSI U320 drive 0" has nothing
to do with the second (drive 1) hard drive you added.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[John John (MVP)]

You can create an Extended partition on the second disk. If you want
your volume to span multiple disks you have to use Dynamic Disks.
Volumes initially created on Basic Disks cannot be extended or spanned,
only volumes created on Dynamic Disks can be extended or spanned.

John

 

[henriJ]

I read your comment as saying that if I want to create (for example) a
d:\ volume and want part of the volume on drive 0 and the rest of the
d:\ volume on drive 1, I have to use the 'Dynamic Disk' approach. I
don't want to do that.

I just want to create several new volumes - e:\, f:\, and g:\ for
example - on drive 1. What both you and JS seem to be saying is that I
just should tell Disk Management to create an extended partition for all
of drive 1 and then proceed to create the logical volumes as needed.

I'll try again and maybe discover what I did wrong the first time
around. Thanks to you both for the advice.

 

[Lil' Dave]

--
Dave

On a Dell Precision 650, I installed a second SCSI U320 HDD (drive 1).
When I went to partition it with XP-Pro's Disk Management function my
assumption was that I would simply create more logical drives (volumes) as
part of the existing extended partition that had already been created on
existing SCSI U320 drive 0 (which has a primary partition and two logical
volumes in the extended partition). I was able to create one additional
logical volume on drive 1 but then Disk Management wouldn't let me create
any more logical volumes in the unused space on drive 1; wanting, instead,
for me to create a new primary partition on drive 1.

I'm confused. Does XP require each HDD in a multiple HDD system to have a
primary partition whether you want additional primary partitions or not?
Alternatively, am I doing something wrong?

Any suggestions, advice, or pointers to printed references would be most
appreciated.

You cannot create logical volumes in empty hard disk space.

Up to 4 primary partitions are allowed per hard disk. If an extended
partition is included, that is part of that count.. Logical volumes only
exist within an extended partition. Use NTFS to maximize use of the hard
drive capacity using disk manager.