How to partition computer without floppy disk?

[dannydanny]

Hi,

I have a laptop with only an internal CD.
Is there a program like FDisk, or partition Magic on a bootable CD?
I would like to partition the HD of this laptop but I only have the above programs on disk....

Would it be possible to burn a copy of Fdisk onto CD, and make the computer boot from the CD? Would this work?

Thanks for any info.
Danny

 

[goense]

if you are using windows xp just put in your xp disk and follow the prompts an option is there to fdisk. if you are not using xp I would upgrade to it. mark g

 

[jrbarnett]

If the partitioning software can fit on a boot floppy disk with operating system, you should be able to create it using any good cd burning software.

John

 

[jehanzebn]

Hi! i have made a start up disk through the normal proceder n then rite the codes in config.sys and autoexec.bat, in config.sys u rite ur menu and in autoexec.bat u rite ur command, then burn those files into cd n it'll work perfectly.

if that doesnt work then as other guy said try usin windows xp

 

[rockerfellerz]

If you are using win98se then use the cd to start up. It is bootable; choose "with cd suport" and then fdisk...

If you're going through Hell...keep going... (Winston Churchill)
RocKeRFelLerZ

 

[CSCWheels]

If you have a dsesktop with a BIOS that supports it, you can boot the machine from the CD drive.
I've done that with my box once or twice with success when I replaced the HDD.

 

[wolluf]

dannydanny - you've left out a good deal of necessary information.

If you have an operating system installed, taking up the whole hard drive as one partition, then you'd need something like Partition Magic to repartition drive without losing info. PM should be available on a CD or downloadble.

If you have no operating system installed, then:-

If installing NT/2k/XP - these can all be installed by booting from install CD & all include partitioning/formatting tools as part of the install.

If installing 9x/ME, you have a problem (98 & ME install CD's are bootable, but include no partitioning tools. They will format an existing, unformatted fat/fat32 partition). In this case, as jrbarnett said, you should be able to burn a bootable floppy image to CD (eg, just a win98 boot floppy would do fine, as it includes fdisk). Your CD burning software should tell you how to do this (I'd use something like winimage to create an image of a win98 boot floppy, then just burn that image to CD).

 

[benpollinger]

Hi dannydanny,

The current version of Partition Magic (v8) boots from CD - see

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id536.cfm

2. Is there a way to use a bootable CD as the PartitionMagic rescue disk?

There is no need to make a bootable PartitionMagic CD. The PartitionMagic 8.0 program CD is already bootable and allows you to run PartitionMagic from it.

Don't know about previous versions.

Alternatively, if you have access to a desktop PC with a floppy, you could install the laptop HDD and work from there. You'll need the right cable though.

http://www.pollinger.org.uk

http://www.psyclick.org.uk

 

[goense]

wow lets keep it simple i will stand bye my first response and see nothing better yet

 

[dannydanny]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies.
The operating system I am using is Win2k Pro. Its our company standard so I can`t use XP. (don`t have a XP CD either).

Since I don`t have PQ for W2k, I might boot from the W2k CD and see what options it gives me, but it`ll take a while cos I`m working for a Japanese company and my Japanese isn`t so good....
I might try try burning a bootable CD with Fdisk on it too. Failing that, I`ll order PQ for W2k if I have to.

Thanks again for all your replies.
Danny

 

[wolluf]

Danny,

You still haven't said if there is already an operating system on the laptop or not. If you just want to install one (ie, 2k), then you can just boot from the 2k install CD (as I said earlier) - it has partitioning tools.

If there is an operating system & its partition taking up whole drive, you will need something like Partition Magic to repartition it without losing data.

goense - XP doesn't have fdisk.

 

[ceh4702]

If you have more than one logical drive, you can copy a win98/95 CD onto the hard drive and install it from the hard drive.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[pctechnician]

Just burn that good ol' partition magic to a CD and you should be fine.

 

[pctechnician]

Just burn that good ol' partition magic to a CD and you should be fine.

A+,Net+,MCP

 

[ceh4702]

If you can boot from the CD you can install XP. On a new install with XP you have the option to completely delete all partitions and set up new ones. XP has the equivalent of FDISK. Becuase XP prefers NTFS it is not the same as FDISK, but it does the same thing. Try changing the BIOS to boot from the CDROM as the first option and reboot. XP can install on fat32. XP may be able to convert fat32 to NTFS but it can not go back to fat32 once you have converted it to NTFS.

There is also an option to remove the hard drive and use an adapter to install the hard drive in another PC for the install. This is not always the safest option. It can be hard to remove a hard drive from a laptop.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[spool]

Use your 2000 CD to partition, format and load the OS onto your hard drive.

If you need to make a boot CD go to

http://www.bootdisk.com

they have every boot configuration you can think of.

Good Luck,

spool