Question about partitioning Windows during new xp install

[jimdagys]

When I installed Windows, there is a screen near the beginning of the install that asks about partitioning. If I recall, my hard drive is about 39GB, so I typed in 20000MB for the C drive and then just clicked Enter several times to have the remaining space as the D drive. However, there was still about 9 MB that seemed to be in no man's land, ie, not in the C partition or the D partition. My question is: what is the remaining 9 MB space and what is it used for, since it is in neither the C nor D drive?

[edDV]

When I installed Windows, there is a screen near the beginning of the install that asks about partitioning. If I recall, my hard drive is about 39GB, so I typed in 20000MB for the C drive and then just clicked Enter several times to have the remaining space as the D drive. However, there was still about 9 MB that seemed to be in no man's land, ie, not in the C partition or the D partition. My question is: what is the remaining 9 MB space and what is it used for, since it is in neither the C nor D drive?

This is normal especially when both primary and extended partitions are created. The 9MB is just empty left over space. It has no purpose. You could try Partition Magic for more comprehensive partition control.

[drjtech]

It should have been 8MB.

Setup Reserves Disk Space for Upgrading to Dynamic Disk

-drjtech

[ranchhand]

That is normal, and the correct amount is 8 megs. This is standard and cannot be changed, for some reason XP insists on allowing 8 megs of raw space to exist. In the paritioning/format screen, XP defaults to creating the largest partition possible (and allows 8megs of raw disk as we have been discussing) so if you want the largest just go with the default.

[drjtech]

...for some reason XP insists on allowing 8 megs of raw space to exist.

The reason is pretty clearly explained in the link I provided above. Here it is again:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=225822

-drjtech

[ranchhand]

Yes, I saw your post after I posted mine - I was working on mine the same time as you were doing yours, but your finger made it to the mouse-click before mine did. Very informatinve, thanks

[wtsinnc]

If you want to eliminate the 8mb of raw space the first link will take you to a download page for GPARTED which is an open source partitioning application. It is extremely useful for creating, resizing, deleting, and formatting partitions and works with NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, as well as other file systems. I have used it with W2K, XP, and Vista; it is a good program to have.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gparted/

The next link gives screenshots and other information.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/screenshots.php