Lost c: partition on Win XP install

D

DougUWW

1
In the course of using the CD to install XP Prof, I followed somebody's instructions and deleted the existing c: partition, expecting that XP would recreate the c: partition and install itself there. However, it created a new i: partition and installed itself there instead. It then renamed my second (slave) drive c: and renamed the rest of the partions on my primary hd d:, e:, and f:, and the CD ROM as g: (but left the second CD ROM unchanged as j:). I want to have Win XP on c: but I can't move it to c:, so I suppose I'll have to reinstall. But in order to install Win XP to the now non-existent drive c: I'll have to create it again. How can I do that? I don't want to lose any data on the other partitions on my primary drive, so I copied them to my slave drive (well, most of them, anyway).
 
Duracell

Duracell

1
create a new "C-partition":
- got to Control Panel > Administration > Administratio Tools > Drive Management
- there you create a new NTFS partition on the free space at your primary HDD; name this new partition "System";
- then you change the drive letters, so that this new partition is C:\

fresh XP installation:
- during (boot) setup when its time to choose the XP destination drive select your already created "System" partition;


and a warm "Welcome to our forum!"
from Duracell
 
D

DougUWW

1
Duracell said:
create a new "C-partition":
- got to Control Panel > Administration > Administratio Tools > Drive Management
- there you create a new NTFS partition on the free space at your primary HDD; name this new partition "System";
- then you change the drive letters, so that this new partition is C:\

fresh XP installation:
- during (boot) setup when its time to choose the XP destination drive select your already created "System" partition;


and a warm "Welcome to our forum!"
from Duracell
Click to expand...
Thank you for your advice, and also for the welcome! One more question: I don't have any more space on my HDD, but I do have Partition Magic 8, so I can create a new NTFS c: partition using PM8. But I will still have my existing installation of WinXP on the i: drive. Will I be able to install a second copy of WinXP on c: with the existing copy of WinXP on i: intact, or should I first delete the existing WinXP? Again, thanks for your help!

doug
 
ipdave

ipdave

1
Easiest and shortest way is to highlight the first disk partition (unused space since you deleted it) during install and create the partition, format it with NTFS as you go. You could have "deleted" this during booting and setup from the XP CD. No need to delete separately.
 
D

DougUWW

1
Thank you for your advice. Apparently, I missed the opportunity to name a new partition. I did delete the old c: partition but as I recall, the WinXP installer just went ahead and created the i: partition without asking me. So now I have WinXP on the i: partition. WinXP also renamed my old slave drive as c: and my other partitions on my master drive as d: e: f: etc. and created the new I: partition on which it installed itself. I used disk management to relabel the slave drive as d: (as it used to be), and the other partions on my master drive in ascending letters. But if I now create a new c: partition and install WinXP on that, what will happen to my old i: partition and the copy of WinXP on that? Won't it still be active? Will it create a conflict with the new WinXP on the c: drive? Sorry this is so confusing.
doug
 
ipdave

ipdave

1
Did you boot from the XP CD, or insert into a windows session and choose install?
If you boot from CD, you will always have the choice to pick the first (unformatted in this case) partition on the first hard drive. It will be named C: on bootup of the XP you install.
Just make sure you highlight the first part with the arrow keys when booting from the cd, choose to delete that partition (be sure which one you delete!). Then highlight it again and hit enter to install on it. Remember, you will not have this choice unless you boot from the cd.
When you are finished installing XP, you can choose to rename the OTHER partions/drives, just not the system drive you installed on...
 
Duracell

Duracell

1
DougUWW said:
I don't have any more space on my HDD, but I do have Partition Magic 8, so I can create a new NTFS c: partition using PM8
Click to expand...
Where is the free space from your old "C:\" gone?


the WinXP installer just went ahead and created the i: partition without asking me.
Click to expand...
the XP setup routine does nothing without your command;


But if I now create a new c: partition and install WinXP on that, what will happen to my old i: partition and the copy of WinXP on that? Won't it still be active? Will it create a conflict with the new WinXP on the c: drive?
Click to expand...
if you don't delete the old "I:\ XP" before or during setup, you will get a multi boot system with two working XP installations side by side;
 
D

DougUWW

1
ipdave said:
Did you boot from the XP CD, or insert into a windows session and choose install?
If you boot from CD, you will always have the choice to pick the first (unformatted in this case) partition on the first hard drive. It will be named C: on bootup of the XP you install.
Just make sure you highlight the first part with the arrow keys when booting from the cd, choose to delete that partition (be sure which one you delete!). Then highlight it again and hit enter to install on it. Remember, you will not have this choice unless you boot from the cd.
When you are finished installing XP, you can choose to rename the OTHER partions/drives, just not the system drive you installed on...
Click to expand...
Yes, I did boot from the XP CD. But based on some information I saw somewhere (I forgot) I *deleted* the c: drive rather than reformtted it. Then when I continued the installation of WinXP, the WinXP installer created a new partition, i:, onto which it installed WinXP. My old d: (the slave HDD) was renamed c: and the other partitions on my master disk named d:, e:, f:, etc. I used the console to change the drive letters of the partitions so they are now as they were before, that is , slave drive is now d:, and the other partitions on the master drive now e:, f: g: etc. But I can't rename the WinXP partition, i: to what I want it to be, which is c:. So I think I'll have to reinstall the WinXP. My problem is that I need to create a partion c: in order to install it. I can do that with Partition Magic 8. But then should I delete the i: partition (on which I now have WInXP) and then go ahead with the reinstall of WinXP, or should I leave the i: partition (and WinXP) intact and try to install another copy on the new c: partition? After reading what I've just written, it seems more reasonable to me to just delete the i: partition, but I would like some expert advice.

Thanks again, you folks are really great!

doug
 
D

DougUWW

1
Duracell said:
Where is the free space from your old "C:\" gone?

It is now the i: partition, on which WinXP resides.


the XP setup routine does nothing without your command;

Well, it did manage to create, without my "permission," an i: drive, and then installed WinXP on that, instead of what I hoped it would do: recreate the deleted c: drive and install on that.


if you don't delete the old "I:\ XP" before or during setup, you will get a multi boot system with two working XP installations side by side;
Click to expand...
As long as I end up with only one working copy of WinXP on the c: partition, I don't care about the in between details. But as I understand you, you are saying that I should go ahead and delete the i: partition and then reinstall on the newly created c: partition. Can that be done in one install? - i.e., will the installer program allow me to both delete an existing WinXP on the i: partition and install a new copy on the c: partition? (This assumes that I use Partition Magic to create a new c: partition by resizing the existing i: partition.)

Again, thanks for all of your help, and I apologize for the goofiness of this problem.

doug
 
S

scarecrow

1
Why so much fuss?
Simply disconnect your slave harddrive and use the XP CD to delete and recreate the XP installation partition. Since it will not find another primary partition it will name it C:
After finishing the XP installation, simply shutdown the computer and reconnect the slave HD.
Forget Partition Magic, you are not an IT, the thing you want to do is dead simple.
 
D

DougUWW

1
scarecrow said:
Why so much fuss?
Simply disconnect your slave harddrive and use the XP CD to delete and recreate the XP installation partition. Since it will not find another primary partition it will name it C:
After finishing the XP installation, simply shutdown the computer and reconnect the slave HD.
Forget Partition Magic, you are not an IT, the thing you want to do is dead simple.
Click to expand...
Sounds good! I will definitely try this. Again, many thanks. But since I've already renamed my slave drive as d: and there is no c: drive, won't the WinXP installer now create a c: drive even if I don't disconnect the slave drive?

Sorry to be so persistent about this, but there is a history here. I have to disagree with you that anything about MS Windows is dead simple. The first time I installed WinXP (a different computer) it went so well that I thought it was finally a smooth operation. But the next time I did (as un upgrade over Win98), it crashed, and then seemed to think I had entered an Administrator's password (I had not), so I had to reinstall and I lost all of my programs and settings, email and IE favorites, etc. because I forgot to back these up and I could not get onto the system. So I'm trying to be extra careful about this install.

Best wishes,
 
D

DougUWW

1
scarecrow said:
Why so much fuss?
Simply disconnect your slave harddrive and use the XP CD to delete and recreate the XP installation partition. Since it will not find another primary partition it will name it C:
After finishing the XP installation, simply shutdown the computer and reconnect the slave HD.
Forget Partition Magic, you are not an IT, the thing you want to do is dead simple.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I forgot to add my last (I hope!) questions.

Here is my current drive/partition configuration, after I relabeled the partitions: no c: partition, slave drive relabeled as d:, extended partitions on primary drive labeled e:, f:, g:, and i: [i: containing the WinXP OS], CD ROMs are named h: and j:. As I understand it, I can now (1) boot WinXP from the CD, and (2) delete the existing copy of WinXP on the i: partition. (3) The WinXP installer will then create a c: partition on the primary HDD and install on that partition. Is this correct?

Best wishes,
doug
 
Duracell

Duracell

1
DougUWW said:
... partitions: no c: partition, ... extended partitions on primary drive labeled e:, f:, g:, and i: [i: containing the WinXP OS],
Click to expand...
this is simply impossible; No primary partition only extended partitions on your pirm. HDD?
please go to the Drive Management, make a scrennshot and attach the pic here; as an example i will post my HDD's pic;
 

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Duracell

Duracell

1
DougUWW said:
Sorry, I forgot to add my last (I hope!) questions. As I understand it, I can now (1) boot WinXP from the CD, and (2) delete the existing copy of WinXP on the i: partition. (3) The WinXP installer will then create a c: partition on the primary HDD and install on that partition. Is this correct?
Click to expand...
you can do that, if I:\ is currently the first and a primary partition on your prim. HDD; and you should not delete the partition, you should only format (NTFS) this partition;
 
S

scarecrow

1
It does not matter at all which letters are assigned on your partitions currently. The XP installation will assign its own ones, and c: will be the first existing primary partition (filesystem does not matter).
 
D

DougUWW

1
Duracell said:
create a new "C-partition":
- got to Control Panel > Administration > Administratio Tools > Drive Management
- there you create a new NTFS partition on the free space at your primary HDD; name this new partition "System";
- then you change the drive letters, so that this new partition is C:\

fresh XP installation:
- during (boot) setup when its time to choose the XP destination drive select your already created "System" partition;


and a warm "Welcome to our forum!"
from Duracell
Click to expand...

Just wanted to let you know that I finally got the installation the way I wanted it, but it was a bit odd. As I said below, I couldln't create a new c: partition because all of the space was taken up by the i: partition. However, I rebooted from the CD anyway in hopes of finding a way out. One of the options was to "repair" the existing installation, which was reported as on the (nonexistent) c: partition. So I gave that a try, in hopes that it would correct the drive letter problem. It didn't. So I rebooted again from the CD and opted to do a "new install." Among the selections there was to delete the existing OS, which I did, and then to create a new partition to install the new version, which I also did. It then created a new c: partition and installed OK there.

You folks have been great, and I really appreciate the help.

best wishes,

doug
 
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