Partitioning my hard drive

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Guest

I posted a question before, but i can't seem to find it - not sure why.

I have windows xp home. If I go to my administration area, and under the
management, I can click on the current partition, but there is no option to
create a new partition.

I want to install a duel boot so that I have linux on here, and I've done it
at least 30 times in the past but those times were all with windows 98 on my
computer. The only time I tried it with this computer, which has the xp,
linux completely took over my windows. Now it was most likely an option that
I selected, and I think I know where I went wrong, but I want to make sure
before I even attempt.

Is there a FREE way to partition my hard drive? I can't afford to go out
and buy anything, so I was hoping someone here had some ideas :)

Muchly appreciated, sorry for the long story!

Thanks,

Bunni
 
Seems to me that if you really partitioned your hard disk "30 times in the
past" you would know the answer to your question, since it doesn't depend on
which operating system you have.

If there is no unpartitioned space on your hard disk you will need third
party partitioning software.

Modem Ani
 
As long as there is not unpartitioned space, you cannot create a new
partition from the area you describe. The only way you can do it as you can
do it for free is to delete the current partition, something you can do from
XP setup, and start over. Because the entire hard drive will be
unpartitioned, you can then create the partitions you and the size you want.

Other than that, you'll need third party software such as Partition Magic or
System Commander as there is no capability in Windows XP to resize
partitions on the fly.

The procedure would be as follows and understand, this will wipe the hard
drive losing all files on it:

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, boot with the XP
CD in the drive. If it isn't or you are not sure, you need to enter the
system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter setup press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

A few screens into the boot process, if you see the message on the boot
screen to "Press any key in order to boot from the CD," do so.

After loading drivers and files, you should be taken to a screen with
the following:

To Setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R.
To Quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

In your case, press ENTER.

Agree to the License agreement by pressing F8.

You will then be taken to a screen with two options.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation press R.
To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing,
press ESC.

This will bring you to a partition map where you
can delete, create and format partitions.
Select the drive you wish to format, delete the partition, then create a new
partition, format as desired and continue with XP installation.


--
In memory of our dear friend, MVP Alex Nichol.

Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
 
I wrote "I want to install a duel boot so that I have linux on here, and I've
done it
at least 30 times in the past but those times were all with windows 98 on my
computer."

I have installed a DUEL BOOT at least 30 times, on windows 98, but never
successfully on windows xp.

Please read what I said again, there was no reason to be rude Modem Ani.

Thank you both for the answer. I probably wont bother with the duel boot.
 
BunniBunni wrote
I posted a question before, but i can't seem to find it - not sure
why.

I have windows xp home. If I go to my administration area, and
under the management, I can click on the current partition, but
there is no option to
create a new partition.

I want to install a duel boot so that I have linux on here, and
I've done it at least 30 times in the past but those times were all
with windows 98 on my computer. The only time I tried it with this
computer, which has the xp, linux completely took over my
windows. Now it was most likely an option that
I selected, and I think I know where I went wrong, but I want to
make sure before I even attempt.

Is there a FREE way to partition my hard drive? I can't afford to
go out and buy anything, so I was hoping someone here had some
ideas :)
Click to expand...

Modem said:
Seems to me that if you really partitioned your hard disk "30 times
in the past" you would know the answer to your question, since it
doesn't depend on which operating system you have.

If there is no unpartitioned space on your hard disk you will need
third party partitioning software.
Click to expand...
I wrote "I want to install a duel boot so that I have linux on here,
and I've done it at least 30 times in the past but those times were
all with windows 98 on my computer."

I have installed a DUEL BOOT at least 30 times, on windows 98, but
never successfully on windows xp.

Please read what I said again, there was no reason to be rude Modem
Ani.

Thank you both for the answer. I probably wont bother with the duel
boot.
Click to expand...

"Dual" booting should be setup when one initially sets up the computer for
use. Although it is possible to repartition later, it is much more
difficult and requires third party applications - most of which are not
free - because NTFS (the likely format of your partitions) is proprietary
and hard to work around (with other operating systems) now that you are
Windows XP. I wouldn't trust "fly-by-night" partitions managers for fixing
your issue.

However, you could back-up your stuff (likely doing this anyway since you
used to "dual" boot so much - you likely follow a good back-up regime) and
begin again - finding a good guide through a Google search for "dual"
booting the two OSes of your choice.

In the end, it looks like you have decided not to "dual" boot, which is
probably good - because in your version, they are fighting like warriors.
 
In BunniBunni <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
I posted a question before, but i can't seem to find it - not sure
why.

I have windows xp home. If I go to my administration area, and under
the management, I can click on the current partition, but there is no
option to create a new partition.

I want to install a duel boot so that I have linux on here, and I've
done it at least 30 times in the past but those times were all with
windows 98 on my computer. The only time I tried it with this
computer, which has the xp, linux completely took over my windows.
Now it was most likely an option that I selected, and I think I know
where I went wrong, but I want to make sure before I even attempt.

Is there a FREE way to partition my hard drive? I can't afford to go
out and buy anything, so I was hoping someone here had some ideas :)

Muchly appreciated, sorry for the long story!

Thanks,

Bunni
Click to expand...

Umm... Most *NIX distros come with partitioning utilities, it's enabled
during setup and right on the CD. When you boot to CD their install CD
you'll find it's an option during the installation process and *most* manage
to get along moderately well with NTFS so long as they're not going to write
to it in any major way. You can, depending on your choice of distro, install
and partition right at the same time. If you want to dual boot, however,
you'll need to either edit the boot.ini on the root drive if it's Windows or
use LILO (or something similar) from *NIX. Go on and install your distro and
you SHOULD find the options within it to partition the drive before any
changes are made. Go with Blue, Mandrake, or Redhat and you should already
have that ability native on the CD long before files are copied.

Galen
 
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