Partition

[cchagnon]

I have a 250 gig samsung sata drive. I went to install windows xp pro and it say's there is only 137gig. If I run Ultimate boot disk and select one of my partition utilities, they all see it as 250gigs. I also want to partition it into two drives, but I don't have any software that will let me do NTFS and allow larger then 65gigs.

1) How I format the drive or partition it into two drives?
50gig for OS
200gigs for storage

2) What does XP see only 137 available?

3) What software can I use?

 

[Simmy]

What XP Pro CD are you using? It will need to have service pack 1 installed to see drives larger than 137gb.

If you create a 50gig partition and install windows onto it, you can worry about getting the 200gig partition later, by installing the latest service packs and updates.

 

[greggh]

Simmy is correct. You could also slipstream sp2 into your install cd, then your install cd would just work.

 

[cchagnon]

What do you me by "slipstream"? Do you mean I can add SP2 to my XP Installation?

 

[Simmy]

Yep, he means you can add service pack 2 to an XP CD so it's preinstalled. Download a program called nLite and the full Service Pack 2 and try it out. It's a doddle

 

[greggh]

You dont need nLite to slipstream sp2. Its actually quite simple to do with tools like UltraISO.

1. Put the xp sp2 file into a directory, lets say c:\sp2
2. make a directory inside of that one for the files, lets make it "extracted" so the directory would be c:\sp2\extracted
3. run this command from the run box: c:\sp2\WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe -x
4. It will ask you where to extract it to, point it at the c:\sp2\extracted directory.
5. make a directory c:\sp2\xp
6. copy the contents of your xp install cd into that directory (or extract them from an iso using a tool like UltraISO.)
7. now run this command in the run box: C:\sp2\extracted\i386\Update\Update.exe -S:c:\sp2\xp
8. Now you need the boot image for the cd. Using UltraISO you can go to the file menu and then Open CD/DVD. Next go to the Bootable menu and Save Boot File. Save it to boot.bif in c:\sp2.
9. Start a new iso in UltraISO (or any other program that does this) by going to the File menu and then New and then Bootable CD/DVD Image.
10. It asks for the boot file, navigate to the c:\sp2\boot.bif.
11. now drag all the contents of the c:\sp2\xp\ directory into the cd and save it.

Thats it, you now have a bootable iso image of an XP installer with SP2 integrated. To some it may look like a long process but its actually very simple and quick.

 

[Simmy]

good guide and a fair point, but nlite is much easier and quicker Especially considering the OP has just found out what slipstreaming is.

 

[greggh]

good guide and a fair point, but nlite is much easier and quicker Especially considering the OP has just found out what slipstreaming is.

Easier yes, but prone to bugs. Doing it the microsoft way is usually best. You can read on the msfn forums, neowin too, all about people having problems with nLited installs. It is a great tool and nuhi does a wonderful job on it, but it can cause major problems.

 

[Holzster]

I might be over simplifying it but how about using GParted Live - http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php & create the partitions you need (it is like a partition magic)

Holzster

 

[The Goatboy]

if you're going to be using the XP CD often, then slipstream SP2, otherwise to save time you could just install w/SP1, create your 50GB boot partition and like Greggh said worry about the other partition after you upgrade to SP2.