Set Partition Inactive

[Guest]

I am installing a fresh copy of xp and want to avoid the problem I had last
time where it installed onto d: due to the fact that I have another partition
with a lot of data on it. I can currently boot into windows so want to set
the d partition inactive so theat the fresh install defunately goes onto c.
My question is - how can I set a partition inactive to achieve this? I have
read some references to fdisk but that only appears to work with fat32.

Any advice appreciated

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am installing a fresh copy of xp and want to avoid the problem I had last
time where it installed onto d: due to the fact that I have another partition
with a lot of data on it. I can currently boot into windows so want to set
the d partition inactive so theat the fresh install defunately goes onto c.
My question is - how can I set a partition inactive to achieve this? I have
read some references to fdisk but that only appears to work with fat32.

Any advice appreciated

fdisk.exe can set any partition active, even NTFS partitions.
However, it cannot remove the active flag. You would need
a partition table editor such as ptedit.exe.

However, you won't need to remove the active flag since
the installation process pays no attention to it. It does
exactly what you tell it to do: You will get a choice of
partitions where Windows should go. If you select drive C:
then this is where it will go.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply but this wasn't what happened when I tried it. This was
the process I followed:

I started with two partitions c (boot) and d (storage)

I booted from the xp disc

I deleted the partition c and created a new partition in the old location

Everything worked fine except windows installed onto d and swapped the
storage drive letter to c!

Why did that happen?

 

[Seahawk60B]

Thanks for the reply but this wasn't what happened when I tried it. This was
the process I followed:

I started with two partitions c (boot) and d (storage)

I booted from the xp disc

I deleted the partition c and created a new partition in the old location

Everything worked fine except windows installed onto d and swapped the
storage drive letter to c!

Why did that happen?

Since you deleted the partition (C, the drive letters were
reassigned and D: now became C:
Your new partition then became D:
You can easily avoid this, because there's no need to delete the old
partition, just reformat it to install a fresh copy.

 

[Guest]

Therein lies the rub because I now want to re install to a new os and want to
make sure that the boot partition is on c. So now I have the incorrect letter
I want to set my storage drive (currently c) inactive so that the new os will
install as c.

Unless there is another way to effectively swap the drive letters?

 

[Ron Sommer]

Where is boot.ini located?
--
Ronald Sommer

: Therein lies the rub because I now want to re install to a new os and want
to
: make sure that the boot partition is on c. So now I have the incorrect
letter
: I want to set my storage drive (currently c) inactive so that the new os
will
: install as c.
:
: Unless there is another way to effectively swap the drive letters?
:
:
: "Seahawk60B" wrote:
:
: > > Thanks for the reply but this wasn't what happened when I tried it.
This was
: > > the process I followed:
: > >
: > > I started with two partitions c (boot) and d (storage)
: > >
: > > I booted from the xp disc
: > >
: > > I deleted the partition c and created a new partition in the old
location
: > >
: > > Everything worked fine except windows installed onto d and swapped the
: > > storage drive letter to c!
: > >
: > > Why did that happen?
: > >
: > > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
: > >
: > > >: > > > > I am installing a fresh copy of xp and want to avoid the problem I
had
: > > > last
: > > > > time where it installed onto d: due to the fact that I have
another
: > > > partition
: > > > > with a lot of data on it. I can currently boot into windows so
want to set
: > > > > the d partition inactive so theat the fresh install defunately
goes onto
: > > > c.
: > > > > My question is - how can I set a partition inactive to achieve
this? I
: > > > have
: > > > > read some references to fdisk but that only appears to work with
fat32.
: > >
: > > > > Any advice appreciated
: > >
: > > > fdisk.exe can set any partition active, even NTFS partitions.
: > > > However, it cannot remove the active flag. You would need
: > > > a partition table editor such as ptedit.exe.
: > >
: > > > However, you won't need to remove the active flag since
: > > > the installation process pays no attention to it. It does
: > > > exactly what you tell it to do: You will get a choice of
: > > > partitions where Windows should go. If you select drive C:
: > > > then this is where it will go.
: >
: > Since you deleted the partition (C, the drive letters were
: > reassigned and D: now became C:
: > Your new partition then became D:
: > You can easily avoid this, because there's no need to delete the old
: > partition, just reformat it to install a fresh copy.
: >
: >

 

[Guest]

Off the top of my head I don't know for definite but I think it is on c

Matt

 

[Ron Sommer]

Do you have one hard drive or two?
If you have two, disconnect a drive and install XP.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
--
Ronald Sommer

: Off the top of my head I don't know for definite but I think it is on c
:
: Matt
:
: "Ron Sommer" wrote:
:
: > Where is boot.ini located?
: > --
: > Ronald Sommer
: >
: > : > : Therein lies the rub because I now want to re install to a new os and
want
: > to
: > : make sure that the boot partition is on c. So now I have the incorrect
: > letter
: > : I want to set my storage drive (currently c) inactive so that the new
os
: > will
: > : install as c.
: > :
: > : Unless there is another way to effectively swap the drive letters?
: > :
: > :
: > : "Seahawk60B" wrote:
: > :
: > : > > Thanks for the reply but this wasn't what happened when I tried
it.
: > This was
: > : > > the process I followed:
: > : > >
: > : > > I started with two partitions c (boot) and d (storage)
: > : > >
: > : > > I booted from the xp disc
: > : > >
: > : > > I deleted the partition c and created a new partition in the old
: > location
: > : > >
: > : > > Everything worked fine except windows installed onto d and swapped
the
: > : > > storage drive letter to c!
: > : > >
: > : > > Why did that happen?
: > : > >
: > : > > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
: > : > >
: > : > > >: > : > > > > I am installing a fresh copy of xp and want to avoid the
problem I
: > had
: > : > > > last
: > : > > > > time where it installed onto d: due to the fact that I have
: > another
: > : > > > partition
: > : > > > > with a lot of data on it. I can currently boot into windows so
: > want to set
: > : > > > > the d partition inactive so theat the fresh install defunately
: > goes onto
: > : > > > c.
: > : > > > > My question is - how can I set a partition inactive to achieve
: > this? I
: > : > > > have
: > : > > > > read some references to fdisk but that only appears to work
with
: > fat32.
: > : > >
: > : > > > > Any advice appreciated
: > : > >
: > : > > > fdisk.exe can set any partition active, even NTFS partitions.
: > : > > > However, it cannot remove the active flag. You would need
: > : > > > a partition table editor such as ptedit.exe.
: > : > >
: > : > > > However, you won't need to remove the active flag since
: > : > > > the installation process pays no attention to it. It does
: > : > > > exactly what you tell it to do: You will get a choice of
: > : > > > partitions where Windows should go. If you select drive C:
: > : > > > then this is where it will go.
: > : >
: > : > Since you deleted the partition (C, the drive letters were
: > : > reassigned and D: now became C:
: > : > Your new partition then became D:
: > : > You can easily avoid this, because there's no need to delete the old
: > : > partition, just reformat it to install a fresh copy.
: > : >
: > : >
: >
: >

 

[Guest]

No they are both on the same disk hence the problem. Coupled with the fact
that my storage drive cant be backed up due to the size = headache.

 

[Noncompliant]

So far have learned, from the replies and your concurrent replies, that you
have one hard drive and two partitions on that hard drive. Both are primary
partitions.

In your original post, you insinuate that the data partition is in fact an
NTFS partition. But, don't come out and say that.

If the data partition is active, that means your XP boot files are located
there. It cannot be set inactive while in windows.

I won't talk about the drive letters until I have more information.

 

[Guest]

Aplogies if the information was unclear, but to re-iterate:

I have one 250Gb disc split into two partitions

both are set as active currenly with windows installed onto the smaller
partition (d

I want to swap the drive letters so that the smaller of the two discs is c:

I don't mind if this drive is formatted (and I assume that this will be a
necessity) but the larger of the two contains some sensitive data that I need
to keep so that it remains intact. The easiest way I can think of for doing
this is two set the current c: drive inactive and re-install xp. That will
force the drive letter back to c:

Advice please!

 

[Guest]

And they are both NTFS partitions

So far have learned, from the replies and your concurrent replies, that you
have one hard drive and two partitions on that hard drive. Both are primary
partitions.

In your original post, you insinuate that the data partition is in fact an
NTFS partition. But, don't come out and say that.

If the data partition is active, that means your XP boot files are located
there. It cannot be set inactive while in windows.

I won't talk about the drive letters until I have more information.

 

[John John]

The file system doesn't make a hill of beans of difference. You can
toggle the active partition with the built-in Disk Management tool, but
that probably isn't what you need to do, based on the information that
you provided the right partition is already active. Others have told
you why the drive letter assignment was changed when you deleted and
recreated the partition. To have the Windows installation on C again
you can start the setup again, delete and recreate the partition then
*exit* and *restart* the setup again. Or you can use a third party tool
like BootIt NG to prepare the partition beforehand.

As far as I'm concerned you are playing with fire if your data is not
backed up to another (independent) hard disk. Anything can happen when
you install Windows or do partition work, disaster is one keystroke and
one second away, one wrong move and it's bye-bye data! Your grasp of
partitions and their working is not sufficiently advanced to ignore this
warning! And if it were, before making the decision to proceed without
a backup you would already know the risks and possible consequences of
doing so without a backup!

John

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the note John John.

I fully appreciate that working with partitions is potentially fatal to my
data and in fact it is backed up, but not all in one place so I don't want to
have to re-create it from my several CDs of backups. I will, however try your
suggestion to exit and restart the setup.

 

[Guest]

Just to let you and everyone else know that I tried starting the setup again
deleting the partition, quitting and starting the setup again but it just
changed the d: drive to e: but the c: drive remained c:

 

[John John]

How many Windows installations do you have on the Hard Drive? You have
another Windows installation or leftover NT boot files on there
somewhere on the active partition, or the first partition is not active.
If you are *sure* that the above is not the case boot with a Windows
98 setup boot disk and issue the following dommand:

fdisk /mbr

That will rewrite the disk signature. While you are booted with the W98
disk check the active status of the partitions. Windows 98 setup boot
diskettes are available at bootdisk.com

John