Help with Partitioning and dual boot

[majbach]

Hi all. I want to install WinXP onto my HD as a dual boot system. Currently, I have an 80 Gig drive that is partitioned thusly:
C: 10Gig (WinME),
D: 26 Gig
E: 39 Gig
All are Fat 32 and all are about half full, but D: and E: are just for data and multimedia stuff, nothing runs off it. I would like to add another partition to the drive so that the overall structure is: C:, D: = 10 Gig each and E: and F: = 30 Gig each. I have partition magic version 7 and version 8 but have never used either. I have also never installed WinXP. I have a number of questions.
1. Can I use partition magic (which version?) to make these partitions without having to remove all data from my drive first?
2. Can I install Win XP onto one of those partition (obviously I would remove the data on that partition first and place it on another) and select which OS I want to boot into?
3. Should I use NTFS or fat 32 for the WinXP partition?
4. If I format it NTFS, I realize I will not be able to read the data on it when booted into win ME, BUT I will be able to read the data from the FAT32 partitions when I boot into XP. However, can I copy data from the fat 32 into the XP partition when booted into XP and even moreso, can I copy files from the NTFS partition (while booted into XP) back into the fat 32 partition? Example: I boot into XP. I want to copy a document I created in XP over to say, my f: drive which I use to store files. The f: drive is fat 32 though. Will XP copy it there successfully and if so, will I be able to retrieve it when I boot into ME?
5. How do I install XP once I have the partitions set up properly?
6. I have heard that there are problems with HD partitions bigger than 32 G. Obviously I circumvented this since I have one already that is bigger (I don?t remember how I did this), but I will change the size of this partition. Is there any significance to the size of the partitions I have chosen as it pertains to file systems?
7. One last thing. In the past, I have manually (cut-and-paste) copied my entire C: drive onto another drive. I then replaced the original drive in my PC with this new one. When everything worked fine, I tried copying the contents of the C: drive to another partition, wiped out the C: drive and then copied the data back ? it worked. ?Course, you have to tell Windows to display hidden files first. So, I do this as a matter of routine now and since I have the extra disk space. I copy my entire C: drive onto another partition and if ever I run into trouble that warrants a clean install of windows, I just format the partition and copy the data back.
Based on this logic, why can I not set up a dual boot system this way? I would throw in a blank HD into my PC and then install XP to it. Once finished, I put my current HD back in and slave the one with XP on it and copy the XP files to the blank partition. Could I not configure the BIOS to boot to the desired parition so as to choose either ME or XP? If the answer is no, could I do this with a dual HD system rather than multiple partitions, so that one drive has ME, the other XP?

Any other advice, no detail to small, is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
MajBach

 

[Green Man]

1. Can I use partition magic (which version?) to make these partitions without having to remove all data from my drive first?

In theory, yes. I'd make a backup first. I think the current version is 8.

2. Can I install Win XP onto one of those partition (obviously I would remove the data on that partition first and place it on another) and select which OS I want to boot into?

Yes. When you install XP, it will ask you to choose the partition you want it installed on. When you choose the second 10GB partition, it will create the dual boot menu for you.

3. Should I use NTFS or fat 32 for the WinXP partition?

I recommend NTFS


4. If I format it NTFS, I realize I will not be able to read the data on it when booted into win ME, BUT I will be able to read the data from the FAT32 partitions when I boot into XP. However, can I copy data from the fat 32 into the XP partition when booted into XP and even moreso, can I copy files from the NTFS partition (while booted into XP) back into the fat 32 partition? Example: I boot into XP. I want to copy a document I created in XP over to say, my f: drive which I use to store files. The f: drive is fat 32 though. Will XP copy it there successfully and if so, will I be able to retrieve it when I boot into ME?

You'll have no problem reading or writing to the FAT32 drives from XP. You can freely copy files from NTFS to FAT, but you'll obviously lose the NTFS properties of the files.

5. How do I install XP once I have the partitions set up properly?

Boot to ME. Insert the CD - it should autorun. It will ask you if you want to do an upgrade or an install, choose an install. It will ask you what partition you want to install it to, choose the second 10GB partition.

6. I have heard that there are problems with HD partitions bigger than 32 G. Obviously I circumvented this since I have one already that is bigger (I don?t remember how I did this), but I will change the size of this partition. Is there any significance to the size of the partitions I have chosen as it pertains to file systems?

WinXP can't create FAT32 partitions larger than 32MB, but it has no problem reading them. Win98 and WinME can have no problem creating FAT32 partitions larger than 32GB as long as the hardware supports it.

7. One last thing. In the past, I have manually (cut-and-paste) copied my entire C: drive onto another drive. I then replaced the original drive in my PC with this new one. When everything worked fine, I tried copying the contents of the C: drive to another partition, wiped out the C: drive and then copied the data back ? it worked. ?Course, you have to tell Windows to display hidden files first. So, I do this as a matter of routine now and since I have the extra disk space. I copy my entire C: drive onto another partition and if ever I run into trouble that warrants a clean install of windows, I just format the partition and copy the data back.
Based on this logic, why can I not set up a dual boot system this way? I would throw in a blank HD into my PC and then install XP to it. Once finished, I put my current HD back in and slave the one with XP on it and copy the XP files to the blank partition. Could I not configure the BIOS to boot to the desired parition so as to choose either ME or XP? If the answer is no, could I do this with a dual HD system rather than multiple partitions, so that one drive has ME, the other XP

no need to go through all that to dual boot. WinXP will create the boot menu when you install it.