newbie: how to repartition/resize hd

  • Thread starter Thread starter peter
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peter

hi,

just a tourist here but i would appreciate help and constructive
comments as how to setup a multi-boot laptop with one hd (C: is 221G
with 152 free. there is also a D:recovery of 11.7G with 1.99 free).

so ,
1) does MS-Vista have tools to setup a multi-boot disk or should I use
ca_thy's suggested free-ware tool?

2) would a second disk be a better choice?

while we are at it, I defrag'd the disk in preparation and was a bit
disconcerted with the lack of a progress graph with the defrag tool,

3) is there a way to have a graph or meter display?

tia,
peter
 
Vista does have tools to create/shrink/enlarge partitions but, while the
process is relatively easy, you do need to know what you are doing. The
tools are available by clicking the Start button and then clicking Control
Panel. In control panel, Click the Administrative tools icon. When the
administrative tools window opens, Click Computer management and then, in
the next window, Click disk management. Right that's the easy bit.

To create a new partition you need 'unallocated space' Your C: drive is, as
you say, 221GB in size and has 152GB free. Your next partition, the D: drive
is a recovery partition, so leave that well alone. From the information you
provided I am assuming, rightly or wrongly, that the C and D partitions take
up 'all' of your hard drive space? So you don't have any 'unallocated space'
left. This means that you need to 'shrink' part of the C: drive to give you
some unallocated space; sadly, though, Vista isn't very good at this.
Personally I always prefer third party partitioning software such as Acronis
Disk Director to perform these tasks. I'm not sure what ca_thy suggested so
I can't comment on the 'free-ware tool'

On the your second point, a second disk drive is always useful but (there's
always a but) you have a laptop which means you could only use a removable
USB/Firewire drive and trying to install a second operating system onto a
removable drive would only result in an error message saying that the
procedure is not supported. People have done it, but it isn't as simple as
one imagines.

Finally, the graphic display for defragmenter was removed from Vista because
Microsoft believe it isn't necessary. Many people disagree. If you want a
graphic display for defragmenting then you need to go for third party
software - the best free defragmenter is Auslogic Disk Defrag
(http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/index.php)

Some useful links from my websites:

http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm

http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_create_a_dual_boot_syst.htm

This link from the Elder Geek's website will explain more about creating a
partition and show you what I mean about 'unallocated' space.

I will have to get round to writing an article for my website on the actual
partitioning procedure as it is difficult to explain fully in a newsgroup
post. You really need screenshots to explain it more fully.

Hope this helps


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
John Barnett MVP said:
always a but) you have a laptop which means you could only use a removable
USB/Firewire drive and trying to install a second operating system onto a
removable drive would only result in an error message saying that the
procedure is not supported. People have done it, but it isn't as simple as
one imagines.
Click to expand...

Two points here: many modern laptops now have the facility to replace the
DVD/CD drive with a HDD and secondly, many of the modern Linux Distros
specifically allow booting from an external device as long as the BIOS
supports it...
 
How would you install any new programs if you remove the DVD/CD drive and
replace it with another hard drive. Just curious is all as I see nothing but
problems in doing so.
 
Richard Urban said:
How would you install any new programs if you remove the DVD/CD drive and
replace it with another hard drive. Just curious is all as I see nothing
but problems in doing so.
Click to expand...

External CD drive or network location....
 
John said:
Vista does have tools to create/shrink/enlarge partitions but, while the
process is relatively easy, you do need to know what you are doing. The
tools are available by clicking the Start button and then clicking
Control Panel. In control panel, Click the Administrative tools icon.
When the administrative tools window opens, Click Computer management
and then, in the next window, Click disk management. Right that's the
easy bit.
Click to expand...
I used the SCO Xenix tool "divvy" years, (decades?) ago...you had to be
very careful with that one as there was NO conflict checking and no
pretty graphs :)
To create a new partition you need 'unallocated space' Your C: drive is,
as you say, 221GB in size and has 152GB free. Your next partition, the
D: drive is a recovery partition, so leave that well alone. From the
information you provided I am assuming, rightly or wrongly, that the C
and D partitions take up 'all' of your hard drive space? So you don't
have any 'unallocated space' left.
Click to expand...

THIS IS CORRECT

? This means that you need to 'shrink'
part of the C: drive to give you some unallocated space;
Click to expand...
yes, this is the term i heard used but thought it was jargon
sadly, though, Vista isn't very good at this.
Click to expand...
MS does like providing power user or admin tools does it?


Personally I always prefer third party
partitioning software such as Acronis Disk Director to perform these
tasks. I'm not sure what ca_thy suggested so I can't comment on the
'free-ware tool'
Click to expand...
back on 10/13/2008 she offered this link
http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/help/resizing-and-moving-partition.htm
On the your second point, a second disk drive is always useful but
(there's always a but) you have a laptop which means you could only use
a removable USB/Firewire drive and trying to install a second operating
system onto a removable drive would only result in an error message
saying that the procedure is not supported. People have done it, but it
isn't as simple as one imagines.
Click to expand...
my kid's friend has a similar HP laptop and it has 2 internal hd's (at
least it show 2 discrete hd's in the disk management tab) so I thought I
could add one.
Finally, the graphic display for defragmenter was removed from Vista
because Microsoft believe it isn't necessary. Many people disagree.
Click to expand...
I wonder why it is not an option...
If
you want a graphic display for defragmenting then you need to go for
third party software - the best free defragmenter is Auslogic Disk
Defrag (http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/index.php)
Click to expand...
this is familiar. I think I used this tool quite awhile ago
Some useful links from my websites:

http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_create_a_dual_boot_syst.htm
Click to expand...
i took a look at these...are you from MS or a third party
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
it does

thanks,
peter
 
Peter, the word 'newbie' in your posts subject line gave me the impression
that you weren't too familiar with the way Windows works. Obviously this was
slightly wrong on my part and you do know more than your 'newbie' tag
suggests. From your reply, therefore, you seem more than able to perform the
tasks you wish to do without me having to be too cautionary.

As I pointed out in my original post you are going to have to get some
unallocated space from somewhere and it looks like you will have to 'shrink'
your C: drive in order to create another partition. How much you shrink the
C: drive will depend upon what you want to run on XP when you have installed
it (this link should help when you decide to install XP:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/install_windows_xp_on_machine_running_vista.htm
) I personally run XP on virtual machine software (VMware Workstation) and
allocate a 20GB partition (although you don't need a partition with VM
because it simply creates a file on your C: drive.)

The software ca_thy recommended I can honestly say I have never used, but
reading the details it looks as if it will do the job you need it to do. As
I pointed out in my previous post Vista is quite capable of shrinking the
partition, but it can be very temperamental and, again personally, I
wouldn't trust it to do that task.

As to your second hard drive as Gordon has pointed out you could remove the
CD/DVD drive and insert a suitable hard drive (I've never tried it, so can't
really comment on its viability), but, as Richard points out, you have lost
your CD/DVD drive then and without that you are not going to be able to use
your XP CD to install the software. Of course a removable CD/DVD would be a
suitable option, but that is simply more expense.

And finally, no I am not from Microsoft. I am a Microsoft MVP but am not
employed in any way, shape or form, by Microsoft. My contributions to this
and other newsgroups are, like all other MVPs, totally voluntary.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
As a slight afterthought, while thinking about Virtual Machine software you
might also like to take a look at this link from my website:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/creating_a_virtual_machine_with_vmware.htm

VM is an option and although VMware Workstation isn't free you can actually
download Microsoft's VPC 2007 which is free. It doesn't have USB support
like VMware Workstation but the end result is basically the same.


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Richard Urban said:
How would you install any new programs if you remove the DVD/CD drive and
replace it with another hard drive. Just curious is all as I see nothing
but problems in doing so.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience
Click to expand...

maybe 2 HDDs and a USB CD/DVD
might as well just use a USB HDD as #2...
either way would work
I have used a shared CD/DVD or even a FDD in a networked machine for
installing to a machine with neither.
 
John said:
Peter, the word 'newbie' in your posts subject line gave me the
impression that you weren't too familiar with the way Windows works.
Obviously this was slightly wrong on my part and you do know more than
your 'newbie' tag suggests. From your reply, therefore, you seem more
than able to perform the tasks you wish to do without me having to be
too cautionary.
Click to expand...
Computer Science, yes...Windows, no
How much
you shrink the C: drive will depend upon what you want to run on XP when
you have installed it (this link should help when you decide to install
XP:
Click to expand...
Hope I am not shooting myself in the foot but, it isnt a MS
product...are we still friends :)

as far as the kids laptop, the second drive appears to be internal as I
installed his non_MS product with a DVD drive on his computer.
My contributions to
this and other newsgroups are, like all other MVPs, totally voluntary.
Click to expand...

thanks
 
I wouldn't worry about the partitioning software not being a MS product, you
won't upset MS:-) Besides I don't use the Disk management software built
into Vista I use either Acronis Disk Director (actually many MVPs also use
Disk Director) or Paragon Hard Disk Manager Suite 2008.)


--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
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