XP and Hard Disk Partition Question

[K. Bell]

Hello,

I am a new XP user, so forgive me for being the bit in the dark
about this issue. I purchased a Sony Vaio Laptop last month and
am only now finding time to sit down and set it up/migrate my
files from my old pc ect....

When installing programs/files last night I ran out of room on
drive C. This shocked me, but then not when I realized my
computer had my 60 GB partitioned between drives C: and D:. I
quick call to Sony verified that I wasn't seeing things. My hard

disk is partitioned as follows:

C: 13.9 GB
D: 41.9 GB

With all the Windows OS and Sony software going to drive C, and
since I've put my music/mp.3 files in "My Music" (also in C I
have less than 656 kb left in C, and now need to move to D. Can
someone point me to a resource to help me organize XP better or
at the very least enlighten me as to how to change the
partitioning ratio to make C: a little larger. The Sony rep on
the phone said most people using XP use C: to install programs
and D: to store documents, and that the drive is partitioned to
help it run better. He said the larger hard drives tend to crash

if they are not partitioned.

Here are my computer specs if needed:

Sony Vaio PCG-Z1RA Laptop
1.50 GHz Intel Pentium M
512 MB DDR SDRAM
60 GB Hard Disk
CD-RW: 24x (read), 8x (write), 4x (rewrite); DVD-ROM: 8x;
Windows XP Home Edition

Also (this is a long time question)....Why is it that the total
hd space never adds up to the size of your actual hd? For
example I supposedly have a 60 GB hd but the 2 numbers above only

add up to 55.8. I know it's probably system software ect, but
why don't they give the actual "available" GB's as well?

Thanks in Advance,

KBell

 

[Gordon Burgess-Parker]

Hello,

I am a new XP user, so forgive me for being the bit in the dark
about this issue. I purchased a Sony Vaio Laptop last month and
am only now finding time to sit down and set it up/migrate my
files from my old pc ect....

When installing programs/files last night I ran out of room on
drive C. This shocked me, but then not when I realized my
computer had my 60 GB partitioned between drives C: and D:. I
quick call to Sony verified that I wasn't seeing things. My hard

disk is partitioned as follows:

C: 13.9 GB
D: 41.9 GB

the idea of putting OS and programs on one partition and data on another is
that when (not if!) you need to re-install the OS, you don't (in theory)
have to do anything with your data first.

 

[Apparition]

Complicated issue this. I don't think you can upgrade
your partitions to dynamic ones in Windows XP so your
only option really is to back up all of your data and re-
partition you disk if you wish to. (You would do this
from within the WIndows XP setup program).

That said, you probably don't need to as you could just
move all of your MP3's into a folder on the D: drive, and
update your media player accordingly. This should give
you more space on the C: drive.

As for your other question, hard disk capacities are
always slightly less than the advertised 'rounded-up'
amount. I think this is something to do with binary code
calculations but I'm not sure exactly.

 

[Jon_Hildrum]

WinXP has not utility that will allow you to change the size of the
partitions without starting from scratch. In this case you would loose all
data on both partitions and be required to reinstall. There are third party
applications that will allow you to resize partitions without loosing any
data. Partition Magic from powerquest may be the simpler to use. However, I
believe bootitNG has a free trail version. It is a little more difficult to
use but will also do what you want.
www.powerquest.com

http://www.bootitng.com/

A 13G partition should be more than adequate for an winXP installation. I
would suggest you consider moving items like your music files to D drive.
Actually, as suggested by the Sony Rep, it is not a bad idea to use the D
drive for data files. You can't move program files easily without
deinstalling them and then reinstalling them thus I would leave program
files and applications alone. However, you should be able to move files
like the music files without much problems.

The drive manufacturer defines drives in decimal meaning 1000= 1000 As you
would think about it. In computer technology the definition is slightly
different.
1KB =1024 (decimal). This is because computers operates basically on a
binary system (or powers of 2) rather than a decimal system (powers of 10)

Thus a 60GB (as advertised ) would show up as 55.9GB

 

[Mike]

"K. Bell" <[email protected]> schreef:

| Hello,
|
| I am a new XP user, so forgive me for being the bit in the dark
| about this issue. I purchased a Sony Vaio Laptop last month and
| am only now finding time to sit down and set it up/migrate my
| files from my old pc ect....
|
| When installing programs/files last night I ran out of room on
| drive C. This shocked me, but then not when I realized my
| computer had my 60 GB partitioned between drives C: and D:. I
| quick call to Sony verified that I wasn't seeing things. My hard
|
| disk is partitioned as follows:
|
| C: 13.9 GB
| D: 41.9 GB
|
| With all the Windows OS and Sony software going to drive C, and
| since I've put my music/mp.3 files in "My Music" (also in C I
| have less than 656 kb left in C, and now need to move to D. Can
| someone point me to a resource to help me organize XP better or
| at the very least enlighten me as to how to change the
| partitioning ratio to make C: a little larger. The Sony rep on
| the phone said most people using XP use C: to install programs
| and D: to store documents, and that the drive is partitioned to
| help it run better. He said the larger hard drives tend to crash
|
| if they are not partitioned.
|
| Here are my computer specs if needed:
|
| Sony Vaio PCG-Z1RA Laptop
| 1.50 GHz Intel Pentium M
| 512 MB DDR SDRAM
| 60 GB Hard Disk
| CD-RW: 24x (read), 8x (write), 4x (rewrite); DVD-ROM: 8x;
| Windows XP Home Edition
|
| Also (this is a long time question)....Why is it that the total
| hd space never adds up to the size of your actual hd? For
| example I supposedly have a 60 GB hd but the 2 numbers above only
|
| add up to 55.8. I know it's probably system software ect, but
| why don't they give the actual "available" GB's as well?
|
| Thanks in Advance,
|
| KBell

You can move the location of your My Documents lolder to D. Right-cilck the
Desktop icon- Properties.

The difference between 60 GB and 55.8 GB :

Manufactor : 1 KB=1000 Bytes
Windows : 1 KB=1024 Bytes

 

[K. Bell]

WinXP has not utility that will allow you to change the size of the
partitions without starting from scratch. In this case you would loose all
data on both partitions and be required to reinstall. There are third party
applications that will allow you to resize partitions without loosing any
data. Partition Magic from powerquest may be the simpler to use. However, I
believe bootitNG has a free trail version. It is a little more difficult to
use but will also do what you want.
www.powerquest.com

http://www.bootitng.com/

A 13G partition should be more than adequate for an winXP installation. I
would suggest you consider moving items like your music files to D drive.
Actually, as suggested by the Sony Rep, it is not a bad idea to use the D
drive for data files. You can't move program files easily without
deinstalling them and then reinstalling them thus I would leave program
files and applications alone. However, you should be able to move files
like the music files without much problems.

The drive manufacturer defines drives in decimal meaning 1000= 1000 As you
would think about it. In computer technology the definition is slightly
different.
1KB =1024 (decimal). This is because computers operates basically on a
binary system (or powers of 2) rather than a decimal system (powers of 10)

Thus a 60GB (as advertised ) would show up as 55.9GB

--
Jon Hildrum
DTS MVP
(e-mail address removed)
www.hildrum.com

Thanks to all for the quick responses. They are very much appreciated. I'll
move my music files to D: and that should more than take care of the problem.
When I do, can I actually move the "My Music" (with the WinXP Icon) and the
"My Pictures" Folder to D: without causing any problems? What I am trying to
accomplish with this computer is some semblance of organization from the
beginning so I can keep up better with where things are. I figured it's easier
to accomplish from the start rather than waiting until I begin installing all
my files from my other computer and the other programs I use (Frontpage,
Photoshop, The Sims, Palm.....ect....) I am posting this from my old Dell
Desktop and don't have the laptop near me right now to check about being able
to move the files or not. It seems like all the Win XP media stuff My Music,
My Pictures is associated with C:


Thanks Again,

KBell

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Your simplest option would be to move all of your data files to
the larger partition. Moving the My Documents folder will also move
its sub-folder and contents, freeing essential space on your system
partition.

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q310147

As for the apparent discrepancy in your hard drive size:

1 Kb = 1024 bytes
1 Mb = 1024 Kb = 1,048,576 bytes
1 Gb = 1024 Mb = 1,073,741,824 bytes

Windows is accurately reporting the true size of your hard drives.
55.8 x 1,073,741,824 = 59,914,793,779.2 bytes, which your hard drive's
manufacturer is rounding off and calling 60 Gb. This is a common
marketing practice (trying to assign an even 1,000,000,000 bytes to
the
gigabyte) used by hard drive and PC manufacturers to make their
products seem
a bit larger than they really are.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Plato]

When installing programs/files last night I ran out of room on
drive C. This shocked me, but then not when I realized my

To compete on price, sony uses a hidden partition for your custom/sony
XP install files. This saved you money when you bought the system as you
didnt have to pay for a real MS XP CD.

 

[Alex Nichol]

When installing programs/files last night I ran out of room on
drive C. This shocked me, but then not when I realized my
computer had my 60 GB partitioned between drives C: and D:. I
quick call to Sony verified that I wasn't seeing things. My hard

disk is partitioned as follows:

C: 13.9 GB
D: 41.9 GB

With all the Windows OS and Sony software going to drive C, and
since I've put my music/mp.3 files in "My Music" (also in C I
have less than 656 kb left in C, and now need to move to D.

You should have data files like this on the D, not C:. Open a My
Computer window (not maximised) on
C:\Documents and settings\you\
so you can see 'My Documents

Open another on D:\
With the *right* mouse button down, drag My Documents across to D:, let
go and take *Move* here.

Repeat for other folders that may show - My Pictures, My Music, My
Videos (and anything starting 'My'). I can't remember if they are
inside My Documents or separate

Also in Outlook Express, go to Tools - Options - Maintenance, click
Store Folder, and Move folder to D: as well.

Also with Control Panel - Internet Options, click the Settings button in
Temporary Internet Files and move that - while you are about it I
suggest reducing the space allowed, 50 MB should be plenty


With that, 13.9 GB is generous for system and Programs, and that is all
you should have in C: