Partition Help needed

[Guest]

I have a new laptop with XP Home SP2 and applications preinstalled. I
want to make a separate partition for my Documents. How can I do
that?


Awaiting your responses with baited breath, I remain, yours truly,

<*(((><

 

[DL]

Didn't you like the responses to your other multi post?

 

[Tom Willett]

DL:

<*(((><"

Does a lot of multi-posting on many issues in many newsgroups, and doesn't
even do simple things like Google, read help files ... or follow
instructions that she/he has been given ;-)

 

[Alec S.]

I have a new laptop with XP Home SP2 and applications preinstalled. I
want to make a separate partition for my Documents. How can I do
that?

Separate partitions are an excellent idea. They make backups and reinstallation infinitely simpler.


The first step is to create a new partition. Take a look at my reply here: for some
suggestions on a partition application.

Next, copy the My Documents folder to the new partition.

Finally, you need to point to the new folder. Get Tweak UI XP if you don't already have it:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx and install it. Open the Control Panel and run Tweak UI.
Expand the "My Computer" branch and select "Special Folders". Now select "My Documents" from the list box and click "Change
Location". Read the warning, click Yes, and browse to the new folder (the one on the new drive). Click okay and you're done, well
almost, reboot and then you're done. (You may not have to reboot but it's better to be sure.)

Make sure that no files were created or changed after you copied them (it's possible). If there are, then copy them over now, and
then you can delete the old "My Documents".

You can change the location of several other folders like this as well, which I recommend (but don't go overboard, not all of them
need to be changed).


That tab in Tweak UI gives you a tip. It tells you that you can skip the Tweak UI step by just moving the folder to the new
location. This does work sometimes, with some folders; it will move the files and alter the special folder to point to the new
location in one step. However, it won't work if the desktop.ini file in the folder is missing or damaged, and may not be able to
move the folder or files if they are locked (in use). You will have to manually point to the new folder and move the remaining
files after rebooting.


HTH

 

[Guest]

Hi Alec,

Thanks for your encouraging help. I tried to go to your reply
but my newsreader could
not find it. Can you tell me where it is located? Thank you.

<*(((><

Separate partitions are an excellent idea. They make backups and reinstallation infinitely simpler.


The first step is to create a new partition. Take a look at my reply here: for some
suggestions on a partition application.

Next, copy the My Documents folder to the new partition.

Finally, you need to point to the new folder. Get Tweak UI XP if you don't already have it:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx and install it. Open the Control Panel and run Tweak UI.
Expand the "My Computer" branch and select "Special Folders". Now select "My Documents" from the list box and click "Change
Location". Read the warning, click Yes, and browse to the new folder (the one on the new drive). Click okay and you're done, well
almost, reboot and then you're done. (You may not have to reboot but it's better to be sure.)

Make sure that no files were created or changed after you copied them (it's possible). If there are, then copy them over now, and
then you can delete the old "My Documents".

You can change the location of several other folders like this as well, which I recommend (but don't go overboard, not all of them
need to be changed).


That tab in Tweak UI gives you a tip. It tells you that you can skip the Tweak UI step by just moving the folder to the new
location. This does work sometimes, with some folders; it will move the files and alter the special folder to point to the new
location in one step. However, it won't work if the desktop.ini file in the folder is missing or damaged, and may not be able to
move the folder or files if they are locked (in use). You will have to manually point to the new folder and move the remaining
files after rebooting.


HTH

Awaiting your responses with baited breath, I remain, yours truly,

<*(((><

 

[Alec S.]

Thanks for your encouraging help. I tried to go to your reply
but my newsreader could
not find it. Can you tell me where it is located? Thank you.

Sure, it's right here in this newsgroup:
(microsoft.public.windowsxp.configuration_manage)
under the thread titled
"Could i put win2000 on spare 30 gig of current 'xp' hdd"
by
"Fred C"
made on
Aug.15.06-6:33pm
my reply was made on:
Aug.19.06-1:28pm

 

[Guest]

Hi again Alec,

My filters deleted those messages. Any chance you could do a copy and
paste? Thanks!

<*(((><

Sure, it's right here in this newsgroup:
(microsoft.public.windowsxp.configuration_manage)
under the thread titled
"Could i put win2000 on spare 30 gig of current 'xp' hdd"
by
"Fred C"
made on
Aug.15.06-6:33pm
my reply was made on:
Aug.19.06-1:28pm

Awaiting your responses with baited breath, I remain, yours truly,

<*(((><

 

[Alec S.]

My filters deleted those messages. Any chance you could do a copy and
paste? Thanks!

Here's what I wrote for Fred C:

First thing you need to do is to create the second partition. You've got enough space which is good. You need to get a

partitioning program to create it for you. There are commercial options both full retail and shareware, as well as freeware
options. I personally use the older PartitionMagic (8 for DOS) but there are plenty of others available. I don't know which is
best since I stopped looking a long time ago, but I've heard good things about Acronis and Ranish.

Here's a few promising free ones:

The Ultimate Boot CD has several:
http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/

This one is designed for resizing:
http://zeleps.com/

Whatever you pick, you will need to resize the XP partition down. You may want to make the XP partition (it's using 50GB?) about

60-70GB and give the last 10-20GB to 2000. Since you are manipulating the OS partition, the program will have to reboot and run in
DOS (or native) mode-you can alter the Windows partition while in Windows. It will have to move all files from the part of the disk
being freed up to the part being shrunken. This part can take a while, but you can probably speed it up by defragmenting
beforehand. You then need to create a new partition in the now unallocated space. You can do this with the partition program or
with Windows' own diskmgmt.msc. Either way, you need to choose whether to make it FAT32 or NTFS (you can pick which ever your XP
partition is.)