NT nightmare! 1

[diagneas]

I have approx 14 machines running NT and for some reason the c drive is only allocated 2gb and the d drives have about 15gb. Everybody's c drive is completely full and for the most part it is with things that they need. I know that an upgrade is needed but I'm just doing research first. I have thought about using parition magic or a similar program to try to give the c drive more space but thought that it might be a bit detrimental to the computer. Also, if I upgrade them to Windows 2000 won't the c and d drive partitions be the same unless I wipe the machine and start with a fresh install? Running out of time!

 

[G0AOZ]

If you don't want to use Partition Magic, how about making an image of the drive (both partitions), then restoring to a bigger drive and at the same time increase the size of the first partition. If you must use the original hard disk(s), then shrink the 2nd partition and re-image.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[diagneas]

This information seems very helpful but I don't actually know the right process' to take to complete this. How do I make an image of the drive and how do I increase the partitions. I'm assuming that this happens in setup. Plus, I do have to use the original hard disk. Do you think that partition magic would be detrimental to this process? Thanks for all of your help!

Richard

 

[G0AOZ]

Making an image as suggested might be a fairly long-winded process compared to using Partition Magic to adjust your partition sizes. However, it's an alternative that could be considered...

Partition Magic has been around for many years and is a well proven utility. Before unleashing it on your hard disk, I'd make sure you have all data safely backed up first. Always think about worst case scenario - what happens if I run this and somehow trash the disk? Do I have the necessary drivers for video, NIC, etc., to hand to do a fresh operating system install?

PowerQuest (now taken over by Symantec) has a very good product called PQDI (PowerQuest Disk Image). This can be run from a floppy disk and enables an image file to be created of your hard disk. The image would be stored on a second hard disk which is temporarily attached to your system. Amongst other things, I use it to clone hard disks where a number of machines all have the same hardware and software setup. I actually have a whole bunch of different images stored on a server, and can run a DOS network boot disk and pull an image across the network.

Hope that helps...


ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[diagneas]

you've helped me more than you would believe. I think I just needed a little boost in the right direction. I know I need to upgrade those people definitely. When I upgrade them to Windows 2000 will the partitions carry over if I don't do a clean install?

Thanks,

Richard

 

[G0AOZ]

A clean install implies a wipe of the disk! You could either wipe each partition leaving them in the existing size, e.g. 2Gb and 15Gb, or you could wipe the whole disk in which case both partitions would completely disappear, along with any data.

On your clean install of W2K you can select the size of the first partition prior the setup procedure formatting the drive (probably choose NTFS). Once you have got W2K up and running, Admin, Disk Management will allow you to make one (or more) partitions on the remaining space, and you can do a quick format at the same time.

Hope that helps.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[diagneas]

Thanks a million, I'd be happy if they'd only have a c drive as the d drive isn't a shared drive. I don't know how the partitions were setup before. Not too keen on NT!! Thanks very much for your help!

Richard