Best partition scenario for installing WinXP

[kuk]

Here is my situation:
46GB HD, divided into three partitions
- WinME, with 5GB (4.3GB free)
- Win2k, with 5GB (1.4GB free)
- Shared partition, with 31GB (4.1GB free)

Out of these options, which one would be the best ... I can't mess up this system, and neither format or repartition it:
1.) Upgrade the WinME installation to WinXP ... and pray for the Win2k bootloader to recognize the new OS.
2.) Install XP over 2k ... and pray that I don't loose any data and all programs work well.
3.) Do a triple boot ... but is this possible without partitioning?

Option number 1 would be the most logical ... but if 3 is possible, it would be the best solution.


Opinions?

 

[Citadel535]

There seems to be a lot of stuff on those drives based on how much is free. There are some programs like partition commander and partition magic that will allow you to partition drives without losing data. I suggest whichever partition has the least important data on it should be used. Back up before hand too no matter what you do!

 

[Citadel535]

Also you could simply edit the boot.ini file to allow for Windows XP to boot following the syntax that is already there from Windows 2000's boot.ini.

 

[SuperSix]

I let it "upgrade" W2K.. Flawless.. for the most part. Easy upgrade.

 

[konichiwa]

IMO, upgrading Windows from an older version to a newer version is simply a bad idea. However, YMMV. I would suggest using PM6 and just repartition your drives -- it will let you do that without losing data.

 

[hclarkjr]

partition magic 6 partitions are not seen by WINXP, i lost all my data on hard drive i had partitioned nor will partition magic 6 run under WINXP.i partitioned the drive under winme then upgraded and lost my 2nd hard drive in the process, i had to format from within XP for it to see it again. just a little warning for you

 

[IamDavid]

<< partition magic 6 partitions are not seen by WINXP, i lost all my data on hard drive i had partitioned nor will partition magic 6 run under WINXP.i partitioned the drive under winme then upgraded and lost my 2nd hard drive in the process, i had to format from within XP for it to see it again. just a little warning for you >>



Why didn't anyone tell me this before I ruined mine.

 

[hclarkjr]

that was only bad experience i had with xp, luckily i had most of it backed up.

 

[kuk]

hclarkjr: Thanks for the info!! I was thinking about using Partition Magic, but now I should forget about it.

Any drawbacks with option number 1?

 

[hclarkjr]

i had no trouble upgrading from winme but i didn't have win2k instaled like you. you shouldn't need to have all those anyhow with XP, it will replace all them IMHO

 

[konichiwa]

Whoa, whoa, Partition Magic Partitions aren't seen under WinXP? What the hell? It's not as if PM formats the partitions as the &quot;PM Filesystem&quot; -- that makes no sense. Anybody know why XP doesn't recognize them?

 

[hclarkjr]

yes, i would like the answer to that also and why partition magic will not install on WINXP.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

WINXP does see PM's partition. Don't know what the guy was talking about. What's weird is
that after I installed XP, PM was the one that didn't recognize the partition used by XP.
I installed XP in a triple boot setting with 98 and 2000 Server. After everything was installed, I went back into PM (under 98), and I couldn't resize or do anything with the XP partition. Well, the only thing i could do was delete it.

XP is under NTFS and I'm using PM 6.0. It's very weird.

 

[easternerd]

Hi ,
As far as im concerned ...
Option 1 :Upgrading Winme is possible and Bootloader does recognise
the new OS !! But its always better to leave an Os like
Win9X or WinMe in the primary partition . And i also
suggest it for a compatibility problems and other boot
failures through which u can easily recover if theres a FAT
Os in the primary partition

Option 2 :The second option Upgrading Win2k is the most feasible
and the one i would recommmend. The Upgrade is flawless
and perfect ,Cause ive been doing an upgrade as well as
testing it with a complete new install on ll the builds
and ive seen succes almost 95% .

Option 3 :This is Lame as u would recognise within a few days that
u are wasting ur resources as well as the fact that
there's no point in running two OSes of the same nature
As well as the fact that u would feel at home in WinXP
as a win2K user .. U would feel the compulsion to remove
it later.. that would only complicate matters .. as
removing an OS in the middle is no easy job


## Conclusion !! UPG WIN2K is the way to go !!!

 

[kuk]

easternerd:

Great ideas there. But my problem with #2 is that I can't mess up this Win2k installation in any way whatsoever. I can mess with the WinME partition, since I really hate that OS.

And besides, I always maintain my partitions as FAT32, so maintaining WinXP and Win2k is not really a problem.

 

[CQuinn]

Okay, I think a little more clarification is in order.

I've installed XP on a FAT32 partition created by Partition Magic 6, and
I've resized some other FAT32 partitions after the install without problems
when I went back into WXP or Windows 98SE.

kuk, I hope you have a way of backing up the WinME install before upgrading
(Driveimage or Ghost), that would make it easier to restore incase something
on the install flakes out. The Bootloader should be essentially the same
from Win2K to WinXP.

 

[zzzz]

the NTFS used by winxp is slightly different from that of win 2k, hence PM6.0 doesn't support those partitions. If you install it on fat 32, there should be no problem (IMO, I haven't tried it yet). Also PM will have a patch soon for xp support.