Very quick questions about partitioning.

[snow patrol]

I'm looking to partition my hard disk, and put Win 98 on the primary, and Win 2000 Proffesional on the secondary.

Do I need to format my hard disk before partitioning?
If not, can I just install partition magic, make a secondary FAT32 partition and Install Win2K on that and that's it?

thanks

 

[Locutus of Board]

w2k will see the blank partition and can format it during the install.

 

[Rigoletto]

hmm I wrote what I think about it in another thread just recently....
you shouldn't say secondary partition, because the word primary means something rather specific in partitioning. There's no secondary. Win2K should go on another primary partition, at the end of the disk I recommend.
I wouldn't limit myself to 2 partitions. Use another one or two for data and applications.
Partition magic is good, I like it, but strange errors have happened to WinME and 2K the other day with it. Like essential files have been lost after resizing and adding partitions.
I personally think NTFS is the way to go with 2K

 

[snow patrol]

Ok, thanks. So I'm guessing I won't need to reformat at all? Can I just run the partioning software from within Win98 SE and create 1 or 2 more partions, and install Win 2K on one of those?

Also, am I right in thinking that I can't download Partition Magic for free?

 

[BCYL]

Can I just run the partioning software from within Win98 SE and create 1 or 2 more partions, and install Win 2K on one of those?

Provided that you have room on your harddrive to create the new partitions, yes, you can create the partitions without formatting...

 

[Rigoletto]

I got partition magic with Scott Mueller's "upgrading and repairing PCs". Might not be the most recent version but it really works.

 

[Hawk]

You can split your existing partition into 2, but if you don't want to reformat, you need to use Partition Magic. It's not free, but you can probably find it from a friend (er...or somewhere on the internet). You don't even have to format it or anything, Win2k can do it for you during the install process.

 

[snow patrol]

Thanks guys, I'm going to have a 'hunt around' for Partition Magic then ahem.