partitioning a basic hard drive

[Brian White]

How do you partition a basic hard drive? I know you go to disk management.
The instructions in help say to then do the following:
1.. Right-click an unallocated region of a basic disk, and then click New
Partition, or right-click free space in an extended partition, and then
click New Logical Drive.
2.. In the New Partition Wizard, click Next, click Primary partition,
Extended partition, or Logical drive, and then follow the instructions on
your screen.
However, my whole basic disk is allocated, and I can not right- click and
choose New Partition.

Brian

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Brian.

Right. You just answered your own question, and the answer is not what you
hoped. :>(

DM can create and delete partitions, but it cannot resize one, either up or
down. And, of course, it can't create a partition out of thin air. If all
the space on the disk has already been included in a partition, then there
is no space left over to put into a new partition. "Free space" is not the
same as "unallocated space". If you have only 1 GB of files in a 20 GB
volume, then you have 19 GB of free space in that volume, but that space is
still allocated to that volume and can't be used for a new volume until the
existing volume is deleted - or resized by a product like Partition Magic.

The typical arrangement for a newly-purchased computer is to have a single
primary partition covering the entire disk. This makes it simple for the
vendor and the newbie user because they have to deal only with Drive C: and
never discuss the exotic subject of "partitions".

If that is the situation with your computer, Brian, then I know of only two
ways to partition your HD:

1. Invest your time and effort: Backup everything (or at least your data);
repartition; reformat; reinstall; restore; or

2. Invest your money: Partition Magic (about $70) or a similar product.

If you already have multiple partitions, then you can delete one of them and
create one or more new ones in that space. You must backup any files on
that partition that you want to keep, of course, perhaps on a different
partition if there is room, then restore them to your new partition later.

If you decide to use Method 1, then boot from your WinXP CD-ROM to do the
repartitioning and reformatting. No OS will do this to its own System or
Boot volume, so you can't just boot into WinXP (from Drive C and use Disk
Management; you'll have to boot from another device (the CD).

RC