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  1. Member
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    Hello,

    I have a Sony Vaio pc that has a partitioned hard drive. Drive C is 20gb and Drive D is 60gb. All of the Windows XP and other stuff is on the 20 GB and it will not update to sp3..... not enough hard drive space. It is acting very slow lately and having issues. I think I need to reinstall Windows XP since it has never been done since it was new(6years). If I use wipe drive and reinstall windows can I reformat the hard drive to use the full 80gb's during or before the reinstall? Or do I need to do this with a program before I reinstall Windows. It is a Pentium(R) 4cpu 2.22 Ghz with 736 Mb of Ram.
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  2. Member edDV's Avatar
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    If you wipe the drive you can use partitioning software or the XP install disk to adjust sizes or make one large partition.

    But, do you have the MS Windows XP OEM CD or a restore disc? If a restore disc, it will restore from a disk image and reset partitions so do that first then use software like Partition Magic or similar to resize partitions that contain installed software.
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    Originally Posted by edDV View Post
    If you wipe the drive you can use partitioning software or the XP install disk to adjust sizes or make one large partition.

    But, do you have the MS Windows XP OEM CD or a restore disc? If a restore disc, it will restore from a disk image and reset partitions so do that first then use software like Partition Magic or similar to resize partitions that contain installed software.
    Yes I have the OEM XP cd. So I will just wipe the drive and install XP cd. Will it will ask to refomat to full one hard drive?
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  4. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by neworldman View Post
    Originally Posted by edDV View Post
    If you wipe the drive you can use partitioning software or the XP install disk to adjust sizes or make one large partition.

    But, do you have the MS Windows XP OEM CD or a restore disc? If a restore disc, it will restore from a disk image and reset partitions so do that first then use software like Partition Magic or similar to resize partitions that contain installed software.
    Yes I have the OEM XP cd. So I will just wipe the drive and install XP cd. Will it will ask to refomat to full one hard drive?
    I haven't done a full XP upgrade for a few years. Vista and Win7 allow partitioning before install.
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  5. DVD Ninja budz's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by neworldman View Post
    Originally Posted by edDV View Post
    If you wipe the drive you can use partitioning software or the XP install disk to adjust sizes or make one large partition.

    But, do you have the MS Windows XP OEM CD or a restore disc? If a restore disc, it will restore from a disk image and reset partitions so do that first then use software like Partition Magic or similar to resize partitions that contain installed software.
    Yes I have the OEM XP cd. So I will just wipe the drive and install XP cd. Will it will ask to refomat to full one hard drive?
    Use the xp disc which will allow you to delete the partition that has xp on it. Then you can make one large partition to install xp.
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    Originally Posted by budz View Post
    Originally Posted by neworldman View Post
    Originally Posted by edDV View Post
    If you wipe the drive you can use partitioning software or the XP install disk to adjust sizes or make one large partition.

    But, do you have the MS Windows XP OEM CD or a restore disc? If a restore disc, it will restore from a disk image and reset partitions so do that first then use software like Partition Magic or similar to resize partitions that contain installed software.
    Yes I have the OEM XP cd. So I will just wipe the drive and install XP cd. Will it will ask to refomat to full one hard drive?
    Use the xp disc which will allow you to delete the partition that has xp on it. Then you can make one large partition to install xp.
    Great thanks. Does wipe drive software do the same thing? I want to make sure I get the HD clean before I reinstall XP.
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  7. DVD Ninja budz's Avatar
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    when u delete the partition that has XP on it, it will be clean...i never use a wipe drive software when i reformat/reinstall a operating system....IMHO easier just to use the XP disc to delete the partiton. One less step to do by using just the XP disc.
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  8. Is it better to have two partitions? I've read that some people put all their programs into a different partition than C:. This keeps the C drive small and easy to backup and replace, but I've always had all programs on C: and now have to backup as much as 30G (less when compressed). I try a lot of freeware and always feel safe that I can get back to a previous state with all programs. System restore points don't seem to wipe out all traces of some programs, but restoring the backup seems to take care of all traces (I realize that rootkits, etc. might not be replaced) and so far have had good luck. I would like to have just the system files on C: drive but it seems some programs automatically go to C: without you getting a chance to redirect them so never a completely program-free C: drive. Any thoughts on this matter?
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  9. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Many people like to separate data to a different partition (including My Documents etc.) so you can restore an OS+programs disk image without affecting data. If you separate programs from the OS, you may increase boot time due to disk seeks.
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    Alternatively, if you don't want to re-install XP, download "GParted Live CD" and follow the instructions. It will create a bootable CD. Booting from the CD will run GParted (a Gnome/Linux based application) which will allow you to manage partitions; you could resize/expand the XP partition into the second partition space.

    jmohn
    Last edited by jmohn; 17th Mar 2010 at 14:06.
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  11. Keep in Mind that it is a Sony. Check to see if you can get all the drivers from Sony's website first. If you still can make the Restore discs first.

    Slow could be a Virus
    Full means that the data isn't being stored on the larger data partition.

    Sonys and Toshibas can be a bit funny to setup from scratch with reference to doing it in the proper order.
    If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.
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  12. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    One thing to be aware of when working with laptops is there is often a hidden restore partition. If you wipe the entire drive and delete all partitions, you may destroy that partition and not be able to use your Sony restore discs to reinstall the OS. I would look into that. Alternatively, I have wiped the whole drive and created a single partition and used a MS XP install disc and just started over, but this is a added expense. You would also need all the correct Vaio drivers.

    Or you can use your present restore discs and complete the factory restore with the same partition setup. Then uninstall all the usual 'crap' that the restore usually adds, including trial programs and stuff you never use. Update your OS at that point. Add your most important programs to the 20GB boot partition, keeping about 1/3 free space or not less than 1/4 freespace. When adding more programs, install them to the second partition. Keeping enough freespace on your boot partition will allow you to defrag the partition easily. If you have almost no freespace, defragging is difficult and slow.
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