Repartitioning problem

[Matt]

Hey Folks,

I had a dual boot setup between Mandrake 9.1 and Win XP, but want to
get rid of the Mandrake partition and resize the WinXP partition. I
already rewrote my MBR, so I boot straight into WinXP now. So, time to
repartition. I have partition magic and here are my partitions in
order:

FAT (DELLUTILITY) - 39 megs
Linux Ext2 - 102 megs
Extended - 10 gigs
Linux Ext2 - 9 gigs
Swap - 1 gig
NTFS (C - 28 gigs

If I try to delete the Ext2 and the Extended partition and then try
and resize the NTFS partition, I'm told that the NTFS will not be
bootable, so I've done nothing yet. What's the solution to removing
the unnecessary partitions and reclaiming the additional 10 gigs for
my WinXP partition without causing any boot problems?

Much thanks,

Matt

 

[Guest]

I have partition magic and here are my partitions in order:

FAT (DELLUTILITY) - 39 megs
Linux Ext2 - 102 megs
Extended - 10 gigs
Linux Ext2 - 9 gigs
Swap - 1 gig
NTFS (C - 28 gigs

If I try to delete the Ext2 and the Extended partition and then try
and resize the NTFS partition, I'm told that the NTFS will not be
bootable, so I've done nothing yet. What's the solution to removing
the unnecessary partitions and reclaiming the additional 10 gigs for
my WinXP partition without causing any boot problems?

You can delete the ext2 and extended partitions, and create a new NTFS partition.

Your existing NTFS partition will still be drive C, but the partition sequence number will probably change. NTLDR counts primary and logical partitions in sequence, not the way Linux assigns partition numbers. So you'd better make sure your boot.ini has been updated with its new partition number still referring to the C drive.

I don't know if the new NTFS partition will automatically be assigned drive letter D. If it isn't, you can open Administrative Tools - Computer Management - Disk Management and assign it a drive letter.

If you want to create one big NTFS partition instead, then I think you have to lose your existing Windows XP installation and reinstall.

 

[william-digging a hole]

do you have one physical drive or two? (Why is C: last?)
is NTFS C: active? if C: is not your first drive, then
maybe move it to the first partition,,, seems like the
boot must be first partition, but that might only be for
98?? i would make your PM rescue disks and do what you
want.. i don't think you will have a problem.. i get
that warning all the time and nothing ill has happened.
(My XP is in the first partition as is my 98se (but on a
second drive) and they are both set to go active.) *make
rescue disks!!!!*

 

[william-digging a hhole]

you can extend your existing NTFS partitiion to use all
the existing freespace on the drive, without loosing data.

-----Original Message-----


You can delete the ext2 and extended partitions, and create a new NTFS partition.

Your existing NTFS partition will still be drive C, but

the partition sequence number will probably change.
NTLDR counts primary and logical partitions in sequence,
not the way Linux assigns partition numbers. So you'd
better make sure your boot.ini has been updated with its
new partition number still referring to the C drive.

I don't know if the new NTFS partition will

automatically be assigned drive letter D. If it isn't,
you can open Administrative Tools - Computer Management -
Disk Management and assign it a drive letter.

If you want to create one big NTFS partition instead,

then I think you have to lose your existing Windows XP
installation and reinstall.