partitioning and other info.....

[Technology1]

what the purpose to partitioning and what does it do, im now installing a copy of windows xp pro that my laptop came with onto my new fully built computer. i have no idea on what partitionig is. when installing the os i used 10000 mb and installed ntfs. is that good or bad? i also wanted to know if windows will work for me since im using the os and key from my original laptop.....

 

[Kage]

PARTITIONS

Basically partioning is where you split the hard drive into two, or 3 or 4 even, to make it act like seperate drives, though it's one.
You'll find that when you boot up in windows, you'll have 2 drives, maybe C and D.

I use it for example to split my family up, so that we can't damage each others drives, and get blaimed for it (has happened many times)

AMOUNT

10,000mb is approx 10gig, though this will be a bit less, because there are 1024mb in a gig.
How big is your full drive? If it was 60 for example, 10 would be fine to install the operating system, and then you'd have about 50gig spare to install programs and other data which is fine You only need something like 2gig I think to install Windows, though to keep it running efficently I'd have at least 5, so 10 is not bad at all

NTFS FILE SYSTEM

NTFS is a new standard for saving the data on your drive, compared to the old FAT32 file system, and contains new features like compressing data, having passwords, and just makes it safer if you have a large network.
You probably wouldn't notice a difference between the two though. Because it is new, I assume you do have Windows XP or 2000 or something near that to support the NTFS system.

This is taken off the google, define:ntfs

"The file system designed to the operating system Windows NT. This file system is more advanced than the FAT file system used by the earlier Windows operating systems, with regards to data structures, filenames, security and access control." "works on Windows NT/2000/XP Operating Systems"

CONCLUSION

It is actually good that you have done this, since for example if you needed to format Windows for any reason, you could just wipe the drive with windows on, re-install, and still have all your programs on the other partition

I would consider backing up though every week or so though using any means possible, of any important data, since you nerver know when a drive will go caputt.

I hope this helps

 

[Technology1]

ok that means i just made a mistake, i just finished installing like 75 % of drivers and progs, right now im using the new computer. i believe its still on the same partition i made since the harddrive only reads about 10 gb. how do i use the full harddrive?
how can i access and switch between partitions? how do i make them? lol im new at this....

 

[wozelbeak]

You Can Get A Program Called Partition Magic Free. Once You Have Finished Installing You Can Easily Make Partitions Or Remove Them With This Tool. I Am No Brain Box On Technical Matters, But I Found Using Partition Magic Easey.

 

[Kage]

Yeah that should sort you out, so don't worry.

How big is your drive?

Its an easy mistake to only partition one though, so on't threat. If you had to, it wouldn't be hard to reformat again and set up at least two partitions the next time.

Though that program should work for you and unlock the other part of your hard drive.

It might be best to only have windows and only a few progs on that 10gb partition, then when you unlock the rest, use this to store data and all the main things.

EDIT: Partion 8, the latest version is only a trial, and you have to buy the full version. I don't know how much the trial would work, and let you do...

Hope this helps

 

[semtex]

^^^ Kage, i think you've just killed this thread - you've covered everything that needs to be. (thats a good thing of course)

Back on topic, Buying Partition Magic would certainly be your best bet. It's very easy to use; Should you decide your windows partition is too small you can always re-size at a later date. without having to format

 

[Kage]

Thanks I do try my best

 

[Technology1]

my hard drive is 200 gb and its now currently on 10 with all the drivers installed and a few utilities, what should i do then? i just need to know how to run windows on a full harddrive and how to access these partitions

 

[Technology1]

is it possible for u to give me step by step instruction on partition magic 8.0? i just finished downloading it and i really want to play wow on my new computer and see the ati graphix own the game.

 

[Kage]

Well the easiest way would be to download and possibly buy that program Wozelbeak suggested which will work and partiton the second part of your drive.

You could also reformat and start again, this time creating a second partition to, because doing it the way you have, there is no point installing programs on the drive that should just have windows on it to speed it up, and to protect your programs.

Another way (but seems mad) is to put the windows disc in again, and install another partition ontop of that one, for the remaining 90Gb, and this will install windows on that drive as well (it'll see the first partition), which will give you two drives with it on. You'd now get a boot menu though saying which drive to boot from, but you could change this and set it to boot from the 10gb drive (if you don't know how, we could assist)
Then maybe delete the windows on the second partition because it'd be booting from the first, though I wouldn't know a safe way of doing this. maybe by formatting the second partition once the second ones installed, so that you'd have this blank again. This would unlock it

Hope this helps