Creating partitions with WinXP Pro....?

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rnmcd

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May 2, 2000
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It appears as if partitions can be created with WinXP Pro but somewhere I read/heard that this is not a good thing to do--partitioning should be left up to applications such as Partition Magic.

Has anyone tried creating a partition with WinXP Pro? Are there any downsides to be concerned about?

Thanks.
 
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Heisenberg

Lifer
Dec 21, 2001
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You mean during the install or in the OS? I've done it both ways (although only once or twice actually in the OS) and haven't had problems.
 
Nohr

Nohr

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Jan 6, 2001
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Originally posted by: Heisenberg
You mean during the install or in the OS? I've done it both ways (although only once or twice actually in the OS) and haven't had problems.
Click to expand...

Same here, works fine.
 
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rnmcd

Platinum Member
May 2, 2000
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I am talking about within the OS.

Maybe I spoke too soon. I went into Computer Management >> Storage >> Disk management and right-clicked the hard drive but I couldn't find an option to create a partition...
 
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Tripleshot

Elite Member
Jan 29, 2000
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I lost a partition in a raid 0 array and XP will not fix it. I will use PM to see if it will do it for me. If it does, I will report the problem to Microsoft.
 
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teqwiz

Senior member
Sep 8, 2002
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Originally posted by: Tripleshot
I lost a partition in a raid 0 array and XP will not fix it. I will use PM to see if it will do it for me. If it does, I will report the problem to Microsoft.
Click to expand...

Sure that it's not your HDD?
 
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SuperSix

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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He must be having a similar problem creating posts in the correct forum as well...

** EDIT **

Thanks for moving from Off-Topic, mods.. :D
 
911paramedic

911paramedic

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2002
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You can make dynamic partitions and change them at will. Be warned, there is no going back from that unless you format. Pretty sure that is the case...
 
911paramedic

911paramedic

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2002
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It is in computer management, then the disk management on the tree. You just right click on the drives and the properties come up, you can change letters, format, etc.
 
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rnmcd

Platinum Member
May 2, 2000
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More and more I have been finding that the "Help and Support Center" in WinXP Pro does not relate to XP Pro very well.

For example, the instructions for creating a partition says,"click New Logical Drive"...that option is not available to me under XP Pro.

Also, the instructions "To redirect special folders to the local profile location" aren't do-able they way the Help and Support Center describes.

Do I have the wrong version of Help and Support ?
 
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Tal

Golden Member
Jun 29, 2001
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I think you need to have space free before using the XP disk management tool (or Win2k's tool for that matter). If you already formatted your drive when ya installed XP and took up all the space, I would definitely use Partition magic. -TAL
 
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RustyNale

Platinum Member
Apr 14, 2001
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Originally posted by: Tal
I think you need to have space free before using the XP disk management tool (or Win2k's tool for that matter). If you already formatted your drive when ya installed XP and took up all the space, I would definitely use Partition magic. -TAL
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. To create any more partitions in win2k and xp you must have un-used space available. You'll have to use 3rd party software such as Partition magic to re-size your existing partition to have space to create another partition. You can then use disk manager or Partition magic to do it.
 
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rnmcd

Platinum Member
May 2, 2000
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Apparently "unused space" is different than "free space" right? I see that I have 81% of my C: drive free.

How can i determine if I have "unused space"?

Thanks.
 
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RustyNale

Platinum Member
Apr 14, 2001
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Unused space or free space is space on an existing partition--OR-- it can mean space left on a drive that isn't formatted or partitioned. If you're looking at an existing partition ( ie. "C" ), any space left over would be unused or free. If you're looking at the whole hard drive you could be talking about extra space that is left from creating your C drive partition. It can be confusing, sorry if I was misleading with using "un-used space" in my previous post. What I meant was space on your hd that wasn't already partitioned or formatted.

As for seeing if you have any "un-used" space on your hd, right click on your C drive, go to properties and it will show you how much space you have used, how much if free, and what the total of your C partition (or drive) is. Compare this with the size of your hd and you'll know how much you have to play with.
 
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teqwiz

Senior member
Sep 8, 2002
603
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Originally posted by: rnmcd
More and more I have been finding that the "Help and Support Center" in WinXP Pro does not relate to XP Pro very well.

For example, the instructions for creating a partition says,"click New Logical Drive"...that option is not available to me under XP Pro.

Also, the instructions "To redirect special folders to the local profile location" aren't do-able they way the Help and Support Center describes.

Do I have the wrong version of Help and Support ?
Click to expand...

The option is not available because, You are using basic disks or you only have one patition. Raid 0 has no fault tolerance. You should format raid 1 or 5. If you are using a Raid chip on the MOBO or a periph card, then it may or may not support dynamic disks, If you really want to use them. Dynamic disks will allow you to create a mapped folder of unused hard drive space and give it a drive #. Once you convert to dynamic disk, it is irreversable, but only if you want to keep all your data. Any change in raid is the same.

You can not change your system or boot partitions if they were created in basic, to dynamic, this would have the OS commit suicide, so it will not work.Your best bet is to install another HDD and with a couple of 4 gig partitions already installed and use those two for boot and sys volumnes and convert the rest of the disk to dynamic Raid xx. Dynamic disks are for managing data so this scenario is best to use them.

Since it sounds like you have to reinstall anyway, you might as well plan it out. MS KB has alot of disk help on it. Good luck.
 
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rnmcd

Platinum Member
May 2, 2000
2,507
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Thanks for the replies.

I sounds like I'm going to have to install Partition Magic 8.0 to create a partition because I don't have any hard drive space that is unformatted.

My question now is: can I uninstall Partition Magic after I create a partition? I want to have the space available for something else.

 
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RustyNale

Platinum Member
Apr 14, 2001
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Originally posted by: rnmcd
My question now is: can I uninstall Partition Magic after I create a partition? I want to have the space available for something else.
Click to expand...
Yes, you can.
 
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Tripleshot

Elite Member
Jan 29, 2000
7,218
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I just fixed my partition problem with PM 7. I have restored my music files and root files that where there and added another partition as well. Partition Magic is done with 2 floppy disks. That is the only way to do this properly IMHO.

I will notify Microsoft tomorrow about this problem in XP.
 
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