delldude10
join:2007-03-31
| [XP Home] HDD Missing space????
My brother tried to do a reinstall of Win XP Home upgrade of his computer.When he tried to install SP2 it tells him that he doesn't have enough space?He has 2 hdds,the c drive is a 20 and the slave is a 40.The 2 of them are showing that they're 1.99 gigs each.What did he do wrong?  |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio | Formatted them as FAT16 using DOS? |
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clydedell10
join:2008-03-12 | reply to delldude10
How will I get back this space?Any suggestions? |
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delldude10
join:2007-03-31 | reply to delldude10
I didn't realize I had 2 accounts!The mind isn't as sharp as it use to be!Sorry.This has been fixed. |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio | You mean the original problem has been fixed?
What was the solution? (for the benefit of other readers) |
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delldude10
join:2007-03-31 | reply to delldude10
I didn't get it fixed.I'm going to have to reinstall everything including 98se and then XP Home upgrade.Does anyone know of a link that would show me how to do this properly?Thanks. |
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redwolfe_98
join:2001-06-11
 ·RoadRunner Cable
2 edits | reply to delldude10
no.. with a win xp upgrade cd, you do not need to install win 98 before installing win xp..
to solve the the problem with the "formatting", you need to use some program to overwrite the "MBR" (master boot record).. there are different programs that you can use for that.. "DBAN" seems to be one of the most popular ones.. personally, i use an "old" program from my harddrive manufacturer..
after using some program to overwrite the "MBR", to install win xp, put the win xp cd in the cd rom drive and reboot the computer.. the computer should boot from the "win xp" cd, then follow the prompts to install win xp.. however, in order to boot from the win xp cd, you may need to adjust the settings in the "bios", moving the cd-rom drive up to "first boot device".. (personally, i have my floppy drive as "first boot device", the cd-rom drive as second, and the harddrive as third) but the usual, standard instructions are to "move the cd-rom drive up to 'first boot device'", in the bios-settings..
to access the bios settings, i am not sure about the computer in question, but, with some computers, particularly ones that are older, you can access the bios settings by pressing the "delete" key as the computer is booting up.. with some other, and newer, computers, you can access the bios settings by pressing "F2" as the computer is booting up..
you can try to find information about accessing the bios settings on the particular computer in question..
with the win xp upgrade cd, when you are installing win xp, during the install-process, it will prompt you to insert your win 98 cd, to verify that you qualify for the win xp upgrade cd..
during the install-process, the harddrive will be formatted.. it will ask you what format you want to use.. normally, you should use the "NTFS" format, and do NOT select "quick format".. |
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delldude10
join:2007-03-31 | reply to delldude10
Thanks so much redwolf_98,he did indeed use the quick format method you suggested.Perhaps that's why his hdds shrunk in size so much.Would I want to run dban on the other hdd as well? |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Verizon FIOS
| It's not the 'formatting' (=making file systems in partitions) that's the problem, it's the 'partitioning' (=splitting the disk into partitions).
If you make a FAT16 partition, you've got a 2GB limit. Since this is an upgrade from a DOS-based OS, that's probbaly the source of your trouble.
I don't think you necessarily need to wipe the MBR, since XP Setup allows you delete all existing partitions and then create some decent-sized ones. You may need to run Setup in 'custom' mode to do that. Still, overwriting the MBR with any tool beforehand won't hurt, if you're not sure.
Quick format/full format won't affect the size; it only affects whether or not a bad-sector check is executed. At this point a full format might be a good idea. |
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redwolfe_98
join:2001-06-11
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to delldude10
dave, i am afraid that your post is going to confuse "delldude"..
said by delldude10  :Would I want to run dban on the other hdd as well? well, if you use the "NTFS" format, which is the standard for "win xp", if the second harddrive is formatted in "FAT32", which is the standard for "win 98", i don't think that "win xp" will be able to "read" the data on the second harddrive since it is formatted with the "FAT32" format, so yes, if you are going to use the second harddrive along with the first one, and the first one has the "NTFS" format, you should also format the second harddrive with the "NTFS" format.. however, note that all data on the harddrives with be lost when the harddrives are reformatted, so your friend should back up any data on the harddrives that they don't want to lose.. |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio | Maybe you're right about the 'confuse' part.
However, Windows XP has no problem reading FAT32 volumes. |
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redwolfe_98
join:2001-06-11
·RoadRunner Cable
2 edits | said by dave :Windows XP has no problem reading FAT32 volumes thanks.. i didn't know, but (obviously) i was thinking that when xp was using "NTFS", it couldn't read data in a "volume" that was using a "FAT32" format..
maybe i had that backwards, where an operating system that was using a "FAT32" format couldn't read from a "volume" that was using a "NTFS" format.. |
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redwolfe_98
join:2001-06-11
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to dave
said by dave :It's not the 'formatting' (=making file systems in partitions) that's the problem, it's the 'partitioning' (=splitting the disk into partitions) overwriting the "MBR" will take care of the whole problem, whatever the problem is..
p.s. delldude, tell your friend not to format the harddrive before installing win xp.. the harddrive will be formatted as part of the installation-process.. in other words, your friend should not use "fdisk" to format the harddrive before installing win xp.. |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
·Verizon Online DSL
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to redwolfe_98
There's no such problem for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/etc. Each disk is treated independently, and there's no interdependencies between 'what the system disk is' and 'what other disks can be read'.
Win9x/WinMe natively used FAT32 and could not read NTFS. Maybe that's the origin of your misunderstanding? |
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