Big D Little C 1

[tmandu]

I inherited several Windows NT workstations that were configured with both a C Drive and a D drive. 2 gb and 8 gb respectively. We are now running out of space on C mainly because of WINDOWS NT overhead. When a program gets installed it usually wants to go to the C drive. If I can force it to go to D which I have in certain instances the setup files inf and misc always wind up on C. ANyways, to make a long story short -what is the best way to reconfigure the system to either have one big C drive or to expand the size of C without to much hassle. I am willing to buy a program that does this ---Partition Magic ?? Anyone have any experience with this ??

Thanks

Drives loook like this

Drive c
FAT
2045MB

Drive D
NTFS
7494MB

So do I use partition magic or something like it to make C bigger? make one giant C drive ??which format FAT or NTFS

Thanks

 

[Dilyias]

You'll most likely want to make one giant C drive . Use the NTFS format since you are using the NT OS. I reccommend partition magic, but BE SURE to BACKUP any data you value before attempting to perform the opperation. Better yet re-partition and do a clean install if this possible. Hope this info helped!

 

[2ffat]

The reason for having two drives is that NT isn't supposed to boot from an NTFS drive but required FAT to boot. FAT has a 2GB limitation on the size of the hard drive. I know the FAT limitation still exists but I don't know about booting from NTFS. What service pack are you using?

What we did was use TweakUI to tell NT that the D drive was the Program Files directory. That way everything that would have gone into C:\Program Files instead went to the D: drive.

Since your are inheriting this problem, you may have to do some administration. Cleaning up some of the cache and temp directories and moving them to the D: drive may help, too.
James P. Cottingham

I am the Unknown lead by the Unknowing.
I have done so much with so little
for so long that I am now qualified
to do anything with nothing.

 

[kjonnnnn]

The reason for the two drives is that they formatted the system drive C: with FAT, and FAT can only go to 2gig, as you know. The advantage of this was that should something go wrong you can boot from a floppy and at least see and have access to the C Drive, you can't do that with NTFS.

What you can do is convert the FAT C Drive to NTFS. You will have alot more room on it. This is the easiest remedy short of reformatting your complete drive with NTFS. Remember FAT32 cant be seen by NTFS.

I know your situation because most of our computers here are formatting in the same way.

 

[Andronium]

You should be able to boot to an NTFS partition just fine, but I believe that there is a 8GB limit for an NTFS system partition. If you choose this route I don't think you can use partition magic to convert from FAT to NTFS and you'd have to do a fresh install, but if I'm wrong, somebody please jump in.

 

[kjonnnnn]

You dont need to do a fresh install to convert. Run the command below from the RUN line.....

THE COMMAND IS:

convert [drive:] /fs:ntfs [/v] [/nametable:filename]



Convert

Converts FAT volumes to NTFS. You cannot convert the current drive. If convert cannot lock the drive it will offer to convert it the next time the computer reboots.






The Parameters MEAN:

drive --- Specifies the drive to convert to NTFS.

/fs:ntfs --- Specifies to convert the volume to NTFS.

/v --- Specifies verbose mode. All messages will be displayed during conversion.

/nametable:filename --- Creates a name-translation table in the root directory of the converted volume using the specified filename. Use this switch if you encounter difficulty converting files with unusual filenames.

 

[johncurtis]

I'd leave the partition sizes as they are; 2GB should be more than enough for a system partition.
Convert the C drive to NTFS. Clear out any temp files etc and set the path for temp files to d:\temp. If necessary uninstall programs from C and then install them on D, and move the paging file to D.

John

 

[Kjonnnn]

I think he's saying some programs wont let you reinstall on D. Office 2000 is one.

 

[tmandu]

I've moved the pagefile.sys to the D drive. Little did I know that it was only 78 MB. So that helped a little on one machine. So are you saying Kjonnnn is that I don't need Partition Magic or lets say DriveImage? Then I can use
the CONVERT command you so nicely outlined. SO I will run the command on C and since its current drive it will ask me to reboot then start the CONVERT ?

So my command would look something like this;
CONVERT c: /fs:ntfs/v/nametable:filename
or
do I give a "fake" name to nametable

CONVERT c:/fs:ntfs/v/nametable:deltaflnme.log
, this confuses me. Should I just leave it as you typed it? are spaces in right spots.

Do I rectify filenames ??

So when "CONVERT" is done;

A.) I will have a C: drive the same size, or as you said I will have a lot more room on it(with NTFS can I further enlarge the size of the C drive???)How big will it be.

B.) I will not be able to boot to a floppy and access drive
C in an emergency.

So if I have a problem I must reinstall WindowsNT from scratch. UGH!

All this so I can continue to load programs. The other alternative was 2ffat's "TweakUI" program suggestion which I never heard of.

Thanks -

 

[Kjonnnn]

1. You wont be able to boot with a FAT Floppy disk.

2. You'll have alot more free space (sometimes 100s of megs)

3. You dont need a 3rd party software, just run from RUN line.

4. When you run the command, it will tell you to boot, or will boot the system it self.

5. Use this: convert C: /Fs:ntfs /v /nametable:convert

Everthing else will be the same, just instead of C: being FAT, it will be NTFS.


Read through the directions found under START / HELP then in the Index go to Convert Command.

 

[2ffat]

FYI, TweakUI is an unsupported Microsoft program. Another really good program is Xteq S-Setup. Both are free. You can download them from CNet, ZDNet, Tucows, etc.

James P. Cottingham

I am the Unknown lead by the Unknowing.
I have done so much with so little
for so long that I am now qualified
to do anything with nothing.

 

[2ffat]

I almost forgot. Another useful little utility is COA2. This is a free utility from ZDNet, or more specifically, PCMagazine. If you move a program from C: to D:, you would then use this utility to change all registry references to look for the program on the D: drive. It doesn't move the program, it changes the references after you manually move it. Not too shabby.
James P. Cottingham

I am the Unknown lead by the Unknowing.
I have done so much with so little
for so long that I am now qualified
to do anything with nothing.