Repartitioning HD WinXP/98

[Oleander]

Hi,
When I first installed WinXP I had a scanner that XP wouldn't support so I
partitioned my hard drive and set up a multiboot C: = Win98 and E: = WinXP.
Now that I've bought a new, XP compliant, scanner I'd like to get rid of 98,
and meld it's partition into one XP partition/drive. Is there any way to do
this without losing all my data, settings etc.?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Harry Ohrn]

You will need third party software. Acronis Disk Director is a good tool for
doing this http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Oleander.

To get rid of Win98 is an easy 2-step project. Easier to do than to
explain.

1. To delete Win98's operating system files, just delete C:\Windows,
Win98's boot folder, including all its subfolders and files. This reclaims
the multi-megabytes of space those files are using. Do this while booted
into WinXP, of course; Win98 won't delete its own boot folder.

2. There are several ways to remove Win98 from the opening menu. One way,
after doing Step 1, is to run msconfig; on the Boot.Ini tab, click Check All
Boot Paths.

Combining partitions is another matter. You really have only two choices:

1. Invest your time: Backup your data; repartition and reformat; reinstall
WinXP; reinstall applications; restore data, or

2. Invest your money: As Harry Ohrn said, use third-party software.
Microsoft sells no product to do this job.

RC

 

[Bob Harris]

One clarification about removing stuff from C:\. When XP was installed on
E:\, it probably placed a few files on C:\, specifically: NTLDR,
NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI

Whatever you do, do NOT erase these files, or XP will cease to function.

Further, if you do combine C:\ with E:\, then you will need to modify
BOOT.INI to point to the XP installation that is on C:\, since there will
not be an E:\. If the partition is FAT32, you can use a DOS bootdisk and
EDIT.COM. If the partition is NTFS, you will need some other tool, or edit
the file just prior to rebooting, the reboot during whihc the third-party
software will combine paritions. Note that the XP CDROM is bootable, and
from it you can run the recovery console, which has a command called
FIXBOOT, which can find all windows installation on the computer and make a
new BOOT.INI.