Re: Recommended size of OS partition?

On 28/03/2008 in message <biepu3pkh37tq35oka0572diiba1ue9v1k@xxxxxxx> Terry Pinnell wrote:

MESH will deliver the PC with XP Pro installed, but they don't do any
partitioning. So will I be able to partition it with no risk? I don't
want to have to re-install Windows again - the task of getting my
hundreds of programs transferred is daunting enough!

I don't think you can expect "no risk" - if you have a power cut in the middle of re-sizing all bets are off!

Partition Magic will resize a partition - but it costs, others may be able to suggest a free equivalent.

The other possibility is to:
Install your imaging software
Create a recovery CD with the imaging s/w
Use your imaging software to create an image (save it on the second HD)
Delete the existing primary partition
Crate a new primary partition (about 16-32GB) - you can boot to a DOS floppy and use FDISK but it will get a headache from the size of the HD, tell it to create a partition of x% rather than using a figure.
Use the recovery CD to restore the image to the smaller partition (most of them seem to be able to do this)

Again there may be better partitioning s/w than FDISK, perhaps somebody could recommend a free one - if you have a proper XP install disk then you can boot form that, delete the existing partition, tell it to create a new one then F3 to abort the installation once it has.

If you do have a proper XP CD it may just be easier to re-install while you have no apps/data on the new PC. You can avoid putting all the crud on that PC suppliers seem to think is essential.

--
Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK
Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
.

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