My Dad's laptop's running Win98 wight now, an' I wanna load XP on it. How do I partition the C:\ so that XP can run as well, as a dualboot?
C:\ Has 7gb free, so I plan on giving XP about 6gb (it's only a laptop for my Mum, so she'll not need any more).
The XP Setup lets you delete partitions and create new ones, but I have a feeling that if i tried deleting C:\ partition and creating 2 new ones in its place, I'd lose the files already on it...?
I've never done much with PC installation, so this a new area for me. Consider newbie status in this regard, lol
Instead of deleting one partition and splitting it into 2, you need to split an existing partition, without formatting the original side (otherwise you'd lose everything on it)
Try looking for tools that partition without formatting.
Indeed there are. I successfully installed a dualboot 98/XP setup on my lappy awhile back. Use something like fips or presz. If you can't find them I'll upload the zips I have. The process is very straightforward, but I would recommend defragging the hard drive at least twice and backing up your files. (Defragging is necessary if you want much space on the secondary partition.) Leave at least a gig on the first partition.
I used to know all the command prompt doodah for this but all I remember is format c:\s or something. I don't even know that now! You're going to need a partition app and possibly a boot manager to sort out which Windows is booted (I know XP can do this but boot managers bring in a little more flexibility).
If you have access to a Mac just mount the HDD, open Disk Utility. Select Partition and set the sizes. Unmount the drive and ta-da.
Oh, if you have an XP computer and a way to connect the HDD, you may be able to resize the partition using Admins' tools. format C: /s just makes the drive bootable. Windows XP's boot manager will do you fine, as you don't really need flexibility since you aren't using linux. I can still upload the partition resizers if you need.
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