any computer wizards in here. HELP!

[marcus]

ok i built a computer unfortunetely i got the old xp pro sp1.. loaded it but maximum hard drive read was only 120-130 gig..which i know is the sp1 max.. now i loaded service pack 2..now how do i read the rest of my 320g hard drive.?? anyone.. thanks! :thumbup:

[eTiMaGo]

hmmm won't be easy, AFAIK you'd need to either reformat the whole drive, or you could create a new partition (go to control panel - administrative options - computer management - disk management).

Or you could get a program like Partition Magic or similar that can easily resize partitions.

[Astroman]

Yeah, parition magic would be the way to go

[marcus]

hmmm won't be easy, AFAIK you'd need to either reformat the whole drive, or you could create a new partition (go to control panel - administrative options - computer management - disk management).

Or you could get a program like Partition Magic or similar that can easily resize partitions.

well im tryin not to reformat..coz i got some file already set up on it.. i can try disk management but since i format fr xp sp1 120g..would i see the rest of the memory since i got sp2 loaded? and partition them..thanks etimago! :thumbup:

[marcus]

Yeah, parition magic would be the way to go

thanks, ill check the partition magic.. but i always thought it only partition the current formatted hdd which is 120G but i got 320g drive im missing 200g..

[eTiMaGo]

yeah basically only 120gb of ytour hard drive has been assigned to a drive letter, so you can use partitionmagic to stretch that to the full capacity. Or like I said, you can create a new partition in the extra space, it's not a bad idea either, to keep most of your files, downloads, music, whatever away from your main windows partition, that way when you need to reinstall windows next time, you'll have an easier time carrying stuff over.

[marcus]

thanks guys i will try these.. any other option feel free to drop it in here.. might help other people as well..!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[eTiMaGo]

You could resize the partition through the disk manager, but you might need to convert it to a Dynamic Disk first. There are drawbacks to this so do some research.

Yeah I would advise against that, as many third-party programs like partition magic won't work with dynamic disks.

Reminds me of the days when I was still discovering computers and just for the heck of it partitioned my hard drive into 20 partitions... C all the way to X or something, and Z for the CD drive... that was fun... hahahah

[marcus]

You could resize the partition through the disk manager, but you might need to convert it to a Dynamic Disk first. There are drawbacks to this so do some research.

thanks man.. i was just told try disk management it should detect the rest of the harddrive... and partition them..ill try a couple of different ones.. never heard of dynamic disk though. and the " drawback" that sounds scary! :eek:

[marcus]

partition from c to x.. wow thats alot..

[sherryberry]

holy cow, eTimaGo, that's a LOT of partitions. did you just do that for fun? or was there some kind of actual reason for doing so?

[eTiMaGo]

for fun, and just to see if it would work... and back then it was only like a 1GB hard drive, so the partitions (except for C:) were just tiny :laugh:
Oh and back then it had to be all done through DOS, very slowly...

Yup, I'm a certifiable geek.

[sherryberry]

HAHAHA i'm guessin that pc's not around anymore. or is it still all there?

oh and marcus, have you gotten the issue solved yet?

[marcus]

HAHAHA i'm guessin that pc's not around anymore. or is it still all there?

oh and marcus, have you gotten the issue solved yet?

not yet sherry berry..im at work ill try it when i get home..

[marcus]

ill check that as well vasilios!! thanks bro!

[nsmitchell]

I would use disk manager to create a D: partition for the rest of your drive and use it for bulk storage. That way if your boot partition ever gets funked up, you just wipe out that partition and reinstall. Your data on D: is never touched.

Word of warning: If you ever reinstall, pay attention to the drive letters the OS assigns. I've seen XP take a partiton that was my D: and switch it to my C: when I reinstalled. Caused me to do another reinstall to fix it.

[marcus]

dang too much info marcus getting headaches...!!:confused: :confused: :eyebulge: :eyebulge: :eyebulge:

[marcus]

i will keep everything in mind...atleast u guys helping not to run into trouble..kewl thanks guys and gals!!

[nsmitchell]

FYI - Type compmgmt.msc to access "Disk Management" from an XP commandline.

PS - I don't know your level of knowledge.

[marcus]

well i learn as i go on...1 0ut of five being the highest im in the middle
building the computer from scratch taught me a thing or two...

asus p5b vm se board
intel core 2 duo e6320 1.8ghz 4mb cache 1100 mhz fsb
ocz 6400 800 mhz 2g ram
lg dvd rw/cd/dvd
320 seagate hdd
500 watts power supply
hanns 19 wide screen lcd monitor
200 watts sorroundsound received ( entertainment system)
upcoming: 7900 gs oc video card

[Astroman]

Any luck with partition magic yet? :biggrin:

[marcus]

Any luck with partition magic yet? :biggrin:

havent done it yet im at work ill do it when i get home ..and i cant open emails in here ..but ill let you know if it work.. thanks for the magic. !heheheh

[sherryberry]

go home, marcus!

[marcus]

i will ...

[marcus]

OK update its actually pretty simple just went to disk management the sp2 actually detected the rest of the hard drive.. all i needed to do is choose a drive for partition..i did G then it formatted..now i got my 300g hdd..ou t of 320g seagate drive... thanks to all!!!. i wasnt aware you can format just a portion of ur drive...wow i learn something new...:thumbup: :w00t:

[slvryaris]

Dont forget to defrag :thumbup:

[eTiMaGo]

into the black hole of infinite data that is the difference between advertized capacity and real capacity :laugh:

[marcus]

yah i know..i lost about 15gig ...out of it all but its all good i expected that.. and yah i got to defrag...anyways its all good.. drive g will be filled with videos and soundtracks...kewl!

[sherryberry]

the computer likes to take hard drive space and mem space hehe. it just takes takes takes

[eTiMaGo]

yeah it's like a darn woman...

hee hee hee *runs away*

[sherryberry]

In my experience, it's the guy that keeps taking >_<

my money, my virginity, my heart.... lol

[eTiMaGo]

ah sorry to hear that... my experience has been quite the opposite, then :frown:

[sherryberry]

Then again, I don't think you go for the guys :laugh: so each are just as bad. Let's just say that people take, take, take

[eTiMaGo]

ah yeah that's just human nature... As quoted from a certain movie, "Take all you can, give nothing back"

[sherryberry]

and computer nature too! :biggrin:

[eTiMaGo]

arrr!

[nsmitchell]

Uhh why was it designated as G?

It doesn't matter much, but you can change drive letters in Disk Management. Just assign the drive with the letter you want to another letter, and then take you G and change it to D or whatever. I like to keep my actual D letters in order. Don't do this if you have installed something to run from the G drive. If it is just files sitting there it is fine though.

[marcus]

Uhh why was it designated as G?

It doesn't matter much, but you can change drive letters in Disk Management. Just assign the drive with the letter you want to another letter, and then take you G and change it to D or whatever. I like to keep my actual D letters in order. Don't do this if you have installed something to run from the G drive. If it is just files sitting there it is fine though.

a-floppy
b- unbeknown
c- first hdd 120g sp1 setup
d- dvd, rw
e- for some reason is open for something else
f- same as this drive

system auto set up on this G to z if i want to..

[Astroman]

b is reserved for a 2nd floppy drive. I don't even have a floppy drive in any of my computers anymore. Using P. Magic you can easily switch drive letters around, except for a,b & c. Pretty much you can assign any drive letter you like, as long as it isn't in use. Using P. Magic you can also merge partitions, although I like splitting my drive up so when winblows pukes my files don't run the risk of being deleted or overwritten.