Create Partition 1

[oneartist]

For a new instalation of XP Pro on a newly built computer, is there any reason to create a partition during setup? And, what size should it be? Or should I just keep pressing enter and let setup use its' own space? I have two Raptor harddrives

Chuck

 

[wolluf]

Well - you have to create a partition of some sort (or XP or any other o/s will have nowhere to install). Its up to you whether you let it take up a whole disk or not - that's why the options are there.

 

[bcastner]

You never said how large these hard drives are.

If <= 40 gig, 1 partition
If >40 I would say it is divided:
. For the hard core traditionalist, ultra conservative stand-alone setting, do a system partition of 32 giabytes FAT32, all other partitions NTFS.

. If multi-user or networked, 1 40 system gig NTFS, all other partitions NTFS. This simplifies doing an image backup.

 

[outonalimb]

As Wolluf says, you need at least one partition for Windows XP to install on.

However, you may want multiple partitions as they are handy for a variety of reasons. I tend to use them when I need a dual-boot system that will load, for example, Windows XP and Windows 98.

Another common use is to create a system partition for the operating system to live on and a data partition for your data to reside on. This can help speed up your PC and help protect against data-loss. i.e. you could wipe the system partition and leave your data intact. However, it won't protect against a drive failure.

You could also create multiple partitions for different users on the computer (XP Pro only). If you format the drive using NTFS, you can implement disk quotas and additional security measures.

Regards,

 

[linney]

HOW TO: Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP (Q313348)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q313/3/48.asp

Pay special attention to the paragraph,
&quot;How to Partition and Format Your Hard Disk by Using Windows XP Setup.&quot;


For more help (shows enlargeable screenshots) go here.

http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/InstallXPPro/installxppro1.htm

 

[oneartist]

&quot;You never said how large these hard drives are.&quot;

There are two WD Raptor 10,000RPM drives. I'll put the OS on the 35GB drive and the Audio file drive is 74GB. I built a P4 3.0GB with ASUS P4P800mobo. This is a audio only computer using Samplitute Pro software. If I keep XP Pro on a partition of the 35GB drive and use the rest for additional audio storage, what would be an adequite size for XP Pro?

 

[bcastner]

Minimum 10 Gigabytes. I would still make one partition and just create folders for extra storage needs without creating additional partitions on the boot volume.

 

[oneartist]

I just spent the better part of two days (plus I just got a tooth implant and I look like a squirrel) fighting XP Pro and I finally won! Like a dummy, I partitioned my 35GB Raptor to 10GB for XP because I wasn't accurately following good advice. As soon as I did it I knew it was a mistake. Everytime anything updates or downloads, it goes for C drive and all I had on C drive was XP. It took me nearly two days to unpartition, reformat and reinstall. For those of you who don't know, the OS sits on a sacred partition that can't be touched or formatted in XP and FDISK has no effect on NTFS. I got the bright idea to disconnect the 35GB with XP and install XP on the 74GB disk. Then I had double trouble. Through a series of many new installs, deleting partitionsunplugging drives, and a little luck, I finally got C drive on the whole 35GB(less 8MB) and the 74GB ready for audio tracks.
I really like this forum because it is so responsive and helpful.


Chuck

 

[bcastner]

The Win98 Fdisk can remove the NTFS partitions, they are just listed as being &quot;Non-DOS&quot;