Norton Partition Magic

Hi,

I'm looking for more trouble :-D and I hope someone can help me out.

I bought Norton Partition Magic from a friend who couldn't figure it out because she lost the instructions. Without the instruction, I tried to create a partition so that I can install a second os. The partition was created but when I chose to immediately install a second os, the C drive was 'hidden.' I need my C drive for my primary os and it has most of my things on it.

How can I install a second operating system on a separate partition without the C drive becoming hidden?

 

You can find pdf's with "User's Guide" for a lot of versions and programs on Symantec's homepage. This here is for Norton PartitionMagic 8 - click the Product Support tab. I think I would download the right guide for my version and/or print it...

 

Thanks!

 

When you say Norton Partition Magic, you are talking about version 8 correct. The reason I ask is because each version of PM could handle a max HDD size.

In respect of your issue. You repartioned the HDD and created another primary partition to install another o/s. In order to be able to install this (other) o/s you need to make the new partition bootable ie it needs to be made the active partition.

Since only one primary and active primary partition can be visible at any one time all other primary partitions remain hidden.

So as I said above set the new primary partition as active. PM will then remove the active status from your original primary (& active) partition and will also hide it.

A word of advice, I would use the prog disc and create bootable floppies and make all partition changes in dos mode. Safer that way.

Also remember that partition work is always dangerous so back up any important data first.

Once you have made your partition changes, remember to install Boot Magic which will act as your boot manager unless you feel confortable with windows taking on that job.

I hope I have been clear on this. I would in your shoes do a lot more reading on this topic and try to understand the concept of partitions and cluster size also.

Good Luck

 

Yes, I have v 8.0.

From what you said, it's a lot more complicated to install a second os than I thought. I won't do it. I was hoping it would be as easy as chosing which user want to use the pc and log on. No such luck, lol.

Thanks

 

Well it's not difficult but PM is not a forgiving program in that if there is a problem then it could litteraly mean that you can destroy a partition and all its content. Also prior to using any hdd partitioning software you should also back up your MBR / Partition Tables just in case (MBRWork is very good).

I remember buying v6 about 6-7 years ago when it was then made by PowerQuest and it took me 6 months to get fully to grips with it. At that time I also lost a partition because I was trying to use PM6 on a 120Gb drive and v6 could only be used on HDD of up to 60Gb (this was not stated in the manual).

By partitioning a HDD you are making changes at root level ie if you have a 300Gb hdd, you can partition it as follows 100Gb Xp, 100Gb Vista to create a dual boot pc. With the remaining 100Gb you can create and extented partition containing say x4 25Gb logical partitions. Each logical partition could then be used by a different user but these 4 logical partitions would still be visible though the o/s ie in My Computer you would see C:, D:, E:, F: & G: (D,E,F,G being the 25gb logical partitions)

However, all in all I now find HDD partitioning software indispensable.

Good Luck

 

Installing a second OS is fairlystraightforward so long as you follow the rule

Newest Last.

That is if you want XP / Vista dual boot than install XP first and Vista second.

If you want XP/98 dual boot install 98 first and XP second

and so on.

The second, newer installation will handle the multiple boot for you automatically.

Just use Partition Magic to create some free space on the hard drive and perhaps create a blank partition, but let windows setup handle the format.

 

I gave it a shot a couple of nights ago and I was able to create the partition. The instruction state to immediate install the new os in the partition, but when I looked at my 3 partitions (I used to have 2), the C drive was hidden, the other partition was not.

Right now, I have Windows XP Pro x64 and it's hard to get programs for it, some are just not available. I wanted to put my old 2000 XP Pro os in the third partition that I created between C and D.

I'm the only person who uses my computer. I gave the analogy about choosing users because I thought that choosing which os I wanted to use would be as simple as that. If I install 2000 XP Pro over XP Pro x64, I might have problems because it's newer than 2000 XP Pro. I had that problem when I switched from XP Pro x64 to Vista x64 and back to XP Pro x64 because my hardware isn't compatible with Vista x64. Finally, on the 4th try, I was able to install XP Pro x64. Since then, it's been very hard to install my drivers and only by a fluke was I able to install SCSI and RAID. I attempted to find software for my Maxtor One Touch II ext hdds. I knew there isn't any software for it but I thought I'd give it a shot and it downloaded and the software that I needed for SCSI and RAID. For 24 hours I tried to get that done. The software was installed but it didn't work.

I could go on and on but to get to the point, I'm not good enough with computers yet to create a dual boot and then solve the problems that will inevitably arise. I'll give it a shot sometime in the future.

Thanks for your advice. I've copied it all into a Microsoft doc so when I'm ready, I'll have something else to help me out. I downloaded the manual for PM, so between advice and the manual, I won't have some problems that might have arisen.

 

If you want to add Windows 2k after XP you will need to edit some fundamental files, or try Norton Boot Manager.

 

I'm really not ready for this yet but I'm taking the advice and keeping it handy. I will someday install 2000 XP Pro along with my present os, XP Pro x64. If I have to delete XP Pro x64 first, I can do that too. I didn't know that I needed a Boot Manager, so that's really good to know and will save me a lot of headaches when I do it.