Partitions

[Jim McKinley]

My hard drive is 160 Gb and I am running XP SP3. When my machine came it
had two partitions, a C: drive with 148 GB in NTSF and a D drive with 15 GB.
FAT 32. This was in 2002 when the machine was new. == I want to buy a new
Windows XP, format my hard drive and reinstall everything. Do I need
partitions or can I have one drive with 160 GB? == Do I need to do anything
about the drive being FAT 32 or will the reformat take care of that?

Thanks,

--

Jim
*******************************************
Baseball is the Only Game Where
the Defense Controls the Ball
*******************************************

 

[peter]

You do not need 2 partitions on a HD...some people use a 2nd partition for
saved work or program installations.
During the XP installation you can delete the small partition and then
format the entire drive as NTFS.
Save yourself some time when you buy XP buy it with SP3 included.

peter

 

[Twayne]

My hard drive is 160 Gb and I am running XP SP3. When my machine
came it had two partitions, a C: drive with 148 GB in NTSF and a D
drive with 15 GB. FAT 32. This was in 2002 when the machine was new.
== I want to buy a new Windows XP, format my hard drive and reinstall
everything. Do I need partitions or can I have one drive with 160
GB? == Do I need to do anything about the drive being FAT 32 or will
the reformat take care of that?
Thanks,

No, you do not need to have more than one partition and drive letter.
One partition will do you just fine.

It's possible on the old setup that you had recovery partition or
someting that made up a partition too; sometimes they're even hidden
partitions. Those are often FAT too, which is what reminded me of this.
But if you're buying your own copy of XP (retail version) don't
worry about those - your new XP is all you'll need unless there was some
bundled software you don't have disks for and want to keep on using.
Hope fully you have disks for everything.

Be srue to back up to DVD or an external drive, whatever, all of your
important data on the drive. You'll get warnings to this effect, but
installing XP will do away with ALL data anywhere on the drive. So be
srue to get your important files all copied, backed up and stored
someplace safe, other than on the hard drive. That way you can't lose
your data. And don't forget things like IR Favorites, emails, address
book, things like that. Any files you downloaded from the interenet and
want to reinstall, and so on. Give it a few minutes' though before you
dig into creating the partitions/s you want.

Yes; the reinstall of XP will take care of the FAT 32. You'll want to
tell it to be all NTFS unless you have a very valid reason to keep
something in FAT format, which is very unlikely. Watch the screens
during the install and it'll guide you through everything you need to
do. The only part it doesn't really guide you on is the
deletion/recreation of partition/s in the very beginning. That's the
first thing you want to do as a rule.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Mick Murphy]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx

Above is the step by step MS guide on how to install XP.
In step 6, make sure you delete there, so you have one partition, the full
size of the HD to install on.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

My hard drive is 160 Gb and I am running XP SP3. When my machine came it
had two partitions, a C: drive with 148 GB in NTSF and a D drive with 15
GB. FAT 32. This was in 2002 when the machine was new. == I want to buy a
new Windows XP, format my hard drive and reinstall everything. Do I need
partitions or can I have one drive with 160 GB? == Do I need to do
anything about the drive being FAT 32 or will the reformat take care of
that?

Partitions are not optional. You need at least one, and the partition is
what gets formatted. The questions are to size and number of partitions.

Two things. If your drive is from 2002, it's at the end of its life and
should be replaced. for reference, where I am, 250 gig drives are now under
$70. Remove the old drive, set it aside, set the jumpers for the new one
the same, and do the install without reattaching the old one.

I don't understand why you think you need a "buy a new XP". Just get a
*new drive* and do a new install wth the *old disk*. Update it right away.

I would suggest that you allow Setup to create one partition, the entire
size of the drive, and format it NTFS.

There are very very few real reasons for requiring FAT formatted partitions;
these are only needed when giving another OS that doesn't understand NTFS,
such as DOS or WIn9X, direct access to the disk (not via network).

HTH
-pk

 

[Daave]

Partitions are not optional. You need at least one, and the partition
is what gets formatted. The questions are to size and number of
partitions.

Two things. If your drive is from 2002, it's at the end of its life
and should be replaced. for reference, where I am, 250 gig drives are
now under $70. Remove the old drive, set it aside, set the jumpers
for the new one the same, and do the install without reattaching the
old one.

I don't understand why you think you need a "buy a new XP". Just get
a *new drive* and do a new install wth the *old disk*. Update it
right away.

I would suggest that you allow Setup to create one partition, the
entire size of the drive, and format it NTFS.

There are very very few real reasons for requiring FAT formatted
partitions; these are only needed when giving another OS that doesn't
understand NTFS, such as DOS or WIn9X, direct access to the disk (not
via network).

Although I agree with you that OP shouldn't have to purchase XP all over
again, I'm wondering if he even has an installation disk (that
information would have been helpful!). It sounds like he may just have a
hidden recovery partition (D. If so, I would just use the cloning
software that comes with the new hard drive and then restore the image
on D: for a fresh install.

 

[Jim McKinley]

Although I agree with you that OP shouldn't have to purchase XP all over

again, I'm wondering if he even has an installation disk (that information
would have been helpful!). It sounds like he may just have a hidden
recovery partition (D. If so, I would just use the cloning software that
comes with the new hard drive and then restore the image on D: for a fresh
install.

Actually, when I got the computer in 2002, I had an OEM restore disk and my
HD was smaller, 60 GB.
Recently I got a new computer, copied all of my files to my new 160 GB
drive. It has a lot of junk on it now, I have no installation disk since it
is a new computer. I just want to get a retail XP and start over. This
will probably be alot of work, but in the end I will feel better about
things. == I appologize for not including this in my first message, but I
tried to keep things as simple as possible. Thanks for all of your help on
this.

Jim

 

[Daave]

Sorry, Jim, but I'm confused! Comments inline.

Actually, when I got the computer in 2002, I had an OEM restore disk
and my HD was smaller, 60 GB.

What is the make and model of this PC that you bought in 2002? What
exactly is an OEM restore disk? Is it a disk that contains an image of a
fresh-from-the-factory hard drive (which often includes many trial
programs)?

Recently I got a new computer, copied all of my files to my new 160 GB
drive.

Hmmm... You eventually replaced your 2002 PC's original hard drive with
a newer 160GB hard drive? Am I right? And then when you got a new PC
(make and model, please), you copied which files? And I'm not clear
where this 160GB drive is! Is it in the 2002 PC? In an external USB
enclosure? Sorry, but I'm just not following.

It has a lot of junk on it now, I have no installation disk since it
is a new computer.

Lots of new computers come with installation disks! Perhaps you meant
that your new computer contains a hidden recovery partition on your hard
drive and it's for Vista?

I just want to get a retail XP and start over.

That's an option, but a costly one. I'm not sure retail disks are even
available anymore (unless you buy an older one from a reputable seller).
I do know that generic OEM disks (for "System Builders") are still for
sale. Here's one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511

What OS did your new PC originally come with? If it was Vista, then the
CD in the link above would work for you, but you would never be able to
legally transfer it to another PC; that is, the license would be tied to
that one PC forever.

This will probably be alot of work, but in the end I will feel better
about things.

Post back with complete information and we will be happy to guide you.

== I appologize for not including this in my first message, but I
tried to keep things as simple as possible. Thanks for all of your
help on this.

No worries.

 

[Jim]

My hard drive is 160 Gb and I am running XP SP3. When my machine came it
had two partitions, a C: drive with 148 GB in NTSF and a D drive with 15
GB. FAT 32. This was in 2002 when the machine was new. == I want to buy a
new Windows XP, format my hard drive and reinstall everything. Do I need
partitions or can I have one drive with 160 GB? == Do I need to do
anything about the drive being FAT 32 or will the reformat take care of
that?

Thanks,

There is something in that FAT32 partition. It could contain hardware
diagnostics. It could contain restore software for your system. You need
to consult the manual for the computer to learn what is inside this
partition. I would not proceed until I knew what I was deleting.

Jim