XP Pro Upgrade from NT4

[Guest]

How can I upgrade to such a small C drive ?

I have installed a new larger hard disk and it now has two partitions in NT
c: FAT 2GB (almost full and limited to 2Gb because that is all NT can support)
d: NTFS (75GB)

I want to upgrade using XP Upgrade which requires 1.5Gb to install.
I know the best solution is do do a clean install and reinstall my
applications but I have a lot of programs that have been patched, downloaded
etc. so I want to go for the upgrade path. According to the upgrade checker
I shouldn't have any problems with my existing software.

I have Acronis to image the whole disk so can repartition later.

What's the best approach.

 

[Donald L McDaniel]

How can I upgrade to such a small C drive ?

I have installed a new larger hard disk and it now has two partitions
in NT c: FAT 2GB (almost full and limited to 2Gb because that is all
NT can support) d: NTFS (75GB)

I want to upgrade using XP Upgrade which requires 1.5Gb to install.
I know the best solution is do do a clean install and reinstall my
applications but I have a lot of programs that have been patched,
downloaded etc. so I want to go for the upgrade path. According to
the upgrade checker I shouldn't have any problems with my existing
software.

I have Acronis to image the whole disk so can repartition later.

What's the best approach.

Your best and ONLY solution (short of doing a new, clean install of XP, or
purchasing a new, larger HD and installing XP clean on a larger partition
than NT4 is currently installed on) is to use a third-party partitioning
utility, which will allow you to resize your existing partitions without
data loss.

Don't forget to resize the partition your existing NT4 is residing on to at
least 10 gig. Give XP plenty of room to "breathe". By the way, FAT
partitions (those which will only format to 2.2gig or smaller) cannot be
enlarged beyond the limit of 2.2gig)

In fact, the larger you make your system partition, the better off you will
be. If you keep it small, and install XP, you will eventually have to
resize it upward again.

If Im not mistaken, while XP will partition a HD as a FAT partition, XP
won't install to a FAT partition. It must be installed either on a FAT32 or
NTFS partition. You might be able to convert the FAT partition to a FAT32
partition. Then it can be resized by a third-party partitioning utility.
Partition Magic in particular will allow you to convert FAT partitions into
FAT32 or NTFS partitions. You must use Partition Magic 8.x and above,
however, if you want to convert your FAT partition to an NTFS partition in
order to resize it, since the version of NTFS used by XP is not compatible
with older versions of NTFS.

Personally, I strongly advise you to repartition your largest HD as a single
partition, and install XP on it "clean". You will lose some settings, and
probably some software, but settings can be backed up using the XP Files and
Settings Transfer Wizard, straight off the XP install CD. This can be done
within any version of Windows above Win95. Just start the Windows installer
from within your current Windows, and run the F.&.S.T.W. straight from it.
Take the plunge, and install XP "clean".

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

You have too many "what-if" issues here, based on having only a 2GB FAT
partition and adding most of your applications sound as if they are of the
NT era, most likely making them incompatible with XP. Your best bet, format
and clean install, make sure the hardware and software you wish to reinstall
are XP compatible.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your Service!

http://www.google.com
Google is your "Friend"

 

[AlanD]

How can I upgrade to such a small C drive ?

I have installed a new larger hard disk and it now has two partitions in NT
c: FAT 2GB (almost full and limited to 2Gb because that is all NT can support)
d: NTFS (75GB)

I want to upgrade using XP Upgrade which requires 1.5Gb to install.

I have Acronis to image the whole disk so can repartition later.

What's the best approach.

Try this:-

1 Downsize the d: drive, by say 10GB or so
2 Convert the c: to NTFS in situ using the MS tool supplied in NT ( I think
the syntax is "convert c: /ntfs")
3 Up size c: to say 12GB
4 Install XP on C:

HTH

AlanD