Small HD problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dummy
  • Start date Start date
D

Dummy

Please...

I was given a computer with a very small (5.4G) HD. To make matters
worse, the HD is partitioned to three parts: 1.99G, 1.99G, & 1.4G.
All data is on first partition (drive C:), and it has less than
200 MB free space remaining. The system uses Windows 98, has a
Pentium II 266 MHz processor, and has 192M of RAM.

Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ?? 2) Are these partitions even necessary? 3) If
not, how do I remove the partitions? 4) Is it possible to move some
of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of drive D: ?? 5) How ??

Thanks....Dummy
 
Please...

I was given a computer with a very small (5.4G) HD. To make matters
worse, the HD is partitioned to three parts: 1.99G, 1.99G, & 1.4G.
All data is on first partition (drive C:), and it has less than
200 MB free space remaining. The system uses Windows 98, has a
Pentium II 266 MHz processor, and has 192M of RAM.

Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ?? 2) Are these partitions even necessary? 3) If
not, how do I remove the partitions? 4) Is it possible to move some
of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of drive D: ?? 5) How ??

Thanks....Dummy
Click to expand...

"IT" is possible.

Question is, how exactly do you want it set up, instead?

Given that "all data is on first partition", one thing you can do is
delete both of the logical (2nd & 3rd, D & E) partitions with FDISK, then
create a single logical partition in that (extended partition) space, so
you'd then have a 3.30G 2nd partition.

If you want to resize the first, primary C partition without reinstalling
everything, you'll have to either make a backup elsewhere (Driveimage or
Ghost are two popular programs to do this) to backup the data then delete
all the partitions, use FDISK to create whatever you want, OR use a
program like Partitionmagic to rearrange the partitions, delete any if
desired, and resize the rest. Partitionmagic will do this without having
to do any further backup up or copying data, but it is highly advised to
make a backup first anyway if the data or system config is of any value at
all.
 
Dummy's log on stardate 12 ožu 2004
Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ??
Click to expand...

Partition Magic.
2) Are these partitions even necessary?
Click to expand...

That depents on you. For that small drive, IMHO and IME, no.
3) If not, how do I remove the partitions?
Click to expand...

Do you whant to remove them, or join them in one big partition?
4) Is it possible to move some of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of
drive D: ?? 5) How ??
Click to expand...

Temp files and useless programs/files?
 
Dummy said:
Please...

I was given a computer with a very small (5.4G) HD. To make matters
worse, the HD is partitioned to three parts: 1.99G, 1.99G, & 1.4G.
All data is on first partition (drive C:), and it has less than
200 MB free space remaining. The system uses Windows 98, has a
Pentium II 266 MHz processor, and has 192M of RAM.

Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ?? 2) Are these partitions even necessary? 3) If
not, how do I remove the partitions? 4) Is it possible to move some
of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of drive D: ?? 5) How ??

Thanks....Dummy
Click to expand...

although there is a non-destructive re-partitioning utility called partition
magic...
since you have so little free space on your C: drive..it may not actually
work.

since you've just gotten the machine...
and if there is nothing on there you need...
and if you have the win98 cd
you may be better off running fdisk and deleting everything
then run fdisk again and enable large drive support...then create
one active primary partition using the whole drive

next you'd have to reboot, format the drive and reinstall the operating
system
 
Dummy said:
I was given a computer with a very small (5.4G) HD. To make matters
worse, the HD is partitioned to three parts: 1.99G, 1.99G, & 1.4G.
All data is on first partition (drive C:), and it has less than
200 MB free space remaining. The system uses Windows 98, has a
Pentium II 266 MHz processor, and has 192M of RAM.

Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ?? 2) Are these partitions even necessary? 3) If
not, how do I remove the partitions? 4) Is it possible to move some
of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of drive D: ?? 5) How ??
Click to expand...

Possibly. Those sizes are about the limits for FAT16, which may
well be needed for compatibility with older OSs, such as DOS 6
and/or Windoze 3.1.

If the other partitions are empty you could back up everything,
repartition, and reload. You could also take a (fairly small)
chance with the data, install Partition Magic, and have it do the
repartioning and conversion to FAT32. You still should probably
not exceed 4 GB per partition.

It should make a very useful Linux box if you are willing to dump
the present contents.
 
Please...

I was given a computer with a very small (5.4G) HD. To make matters
worse, the HD is partitioned to three parts: 1.99G, 1.99G, & 1.4G.
All data is on first partition (drive C:), and it has less than
200 MB free space remaining. The system uses Windows 98, has a
Pentium II 266 MHz processor, and has 192M of RAM.

Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ??
Click to expand...

Possibly...depending on the current setup of that partition. If its
FAT16, you'll need to convert it to FAT32 in order to make it larger.
You can do all this easily with a program called Partition Magic...and
other programs like it.
2) Are these partitions even necessary?
Click to expand...

No...not on a drive that small.
3) If
not, how do I remove the partitions?
Click to expand...

If you don't want to save any of the data, get DOS 7.0 or higher
FDISK...boot into that system floppy...delete each of the
partitions...and then repartition the drive as one partition. Or, as
stated above, get PM.
4) Is it possible to move some
of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of drive D: ?? 5) How ??
Click to expand...

You can put your swap file on one of the other partitions.

Also, there are programs like Drive Mapper that can move programs to
another partition without too much difficulty.

Good luck.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!
 
Dummy said:
Please...

I was given a computer with a very small (5.4G) HD. To make matters
worse, the HD is partitioned to three parts: 1.99G, 1.99G, & 1.4G.
All data is on first partition (drive C:), and it has less than
200 MB free space remaining. The system uses Windows 98, has a
Pentium II 266 MHz processor, and has 192M of RAM.

Questions: 1) Is it possible to change the partitions to give drive C:
more than its 1.99G ?? 2) Are these partitions even necessary? 3) If
not, how do I remove the partitions? 4) Is it possible to move some
of the "stuff" to the unused 1.99G of drive D: ?? 5) How ??

Thanks....Dummy
Click to expand...

Thanks all for your suggestions. Looks like "Partition Magic" is the best
avenue for me.

Is "Partition Commander 8" similar to "Partition Magic" ?? Which is
preferred? Will they both work with about 240 MB of free HD space?
(I did some HD cleanup.) I am thinking of simply removing one partition,
and having one 3.98 MB drive for C: and one 1.4 MB drive (unused) for D:

Opinions?
 
CBFalconer's log on stardate 13 ožu 2004
If the other partitions are empty you could back up everything,
repartition, and reload. You could also take a (fairly small)
chance with the data, install Partition Magic, and have it do the
repartioning and conversion to FAT32. You still should probably
not exceed 4 GB per partition.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Why not? 4GB limitation only aplies for size of single file.
 
Bubba said:
CBFalconer's log on stardate 13 ožu 2004

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Why not? 4GB limitation only aplies for size of single file.
Click to expand...

Because the allocation size will double, even for FAT32, resulting
in extra wastage.
 
CBFalconer said:
Because the allocation size will double, even for FAT32, resulting
in extra wastage.
Click to expand...
Double?

FAT32 uses 4K allocation sizes, (clusters), up to 8GB, which is the
same size used for 4 GB.

Virg Wall
 
CBFalconer said:
VWWall wrote:


Ulp. Well, I _finally_ made a mistake :-)
Click to expand...

It's easy to do, even if you try to figure it out logically.
FAT32 reserves 4 bits, which leaves only 28 bits to address the
clusters on the hard drive. Each sector is 512 bytes, so the
clusters have to contain enough sectors so that 28 bits can address
the whole drive.

Virg Wall
 
Thanks all for your suggestions. Looks like "Partition Magic" is the best
avenue for me.

Is "Partition Commander 8" similar to "Partition Magic" ?? Which is
preferred? Will they both work with about 240 MB of free HD space?
Click to expand...

Sorry...don't know anything about Commander 8.
(I did some HD cleanup.) I am thinking of simply removing one partition,
and having one 3.98 MB drive for C: and one 1.4 MB drive (unused) for D:

Opinions?
Click to expand...

The first thing you need to find out is how the drive was initially
set up.

Boot into a system floppy...then try to read the C drive. This will
tell us whether or not you have translation software installed for the
boot. Because of the size of the partitions, I doubt if you do.

Then boot into the hard drive again...and check the properties of the
C partition...to see if it is FAT16...or FAT 32.

If its FAT16, you'll need to convert it to FAT32 before you can change
the size of the C partition.

As you can see, there's no easy answer to your questions at this
point. We need more info.

Good luck.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!
 
Trent© said:
Sorry...don't know anything about Commander 8.


The first thing you need to find out is how the drive was initially
set up.

Boot into a system floppy...then try to read the C drive. This will
tell us whether or not you have translation software installed for the
boot. Because of the size of the partitions, I doubt if you do.

Then boot into the hard drive again...and check the properties of the
C partition...to see if it is FAT16...or FAT 32.

If its FAT16, you'll need to convert it to FAT32 before you can change
the size of the C partition.

As you can see, there's no easy answer to your questions at this
point. We need more info.
Click to expand...

"Microsoft System Information" lists the drive partitions as [FAT].

(Is this the reason the drive was originally set up with 1.99GB size
partitions?)

"System Tools" has a program called "File Converter (FAT32)." It says
it will convert FAT or FAT16 drives to FAT32.

IF I do this (before I use Partition Magic), do I have to transfer all
of the data on the drive? Is it lost in the FAT -> FAT32 process? Does
"Partition Magic" have the FAT -> FAT32 utility included?

Questions...questions...
 
The first thing you need to find out is how the drive was initially
set up.

Boot into a system floppy...then try to read the C drive. This will
tell us whether or not you have translation software installed for the
boot. Because of the size of the partitions, I doubt if you do.

Then boot into the hard drive again...and check the properties of the
C partition...to see if it is FAT16...or FAT 32.

If its FAT16, you'll need to convert it to FAT32 before you can change
the size of the C partition.

As you can see, there's no easy answer to your questions at this
point. We need more info.
Click to expand...

"Microsoft System Information" lists the drive partitions as [FAT].

(Is this the reason the drive was originally set up with 1.99GB size
partitions?)
Click to expand...

More than likely. But we still don't know if you have translation
software installed on your hard drive.

And we need to know what size the BIOS says that drive is when it
boots up.
"System Tools" has a program called "File Converter (FAT32)." It says
it will convert FAT or FAT16 drives to FAT32.

IF I do this (before I use Partition Magic), do I have to transfer all
of the data on the drive?
No.

Is it lost in the FAT -> FAT32 process?
Click to expand...

No...unless something goes wrong, of course.
Does
"Partition Magic" have the FAT -> FAT32 utility included?
Click to expand...

Yes.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!
 
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