Partition a new drive?

Ok.. I'm in Malware h*ll and I think I'm close to being out - I'm being optimistic (thanks to chaslang and matt.chug). Once I do, I thought it might be a good idea to partition my operating system away from the rest of my files. This would allow me (God forbid) to re-install my operating system without losing all my other stuff if I had to, right?

So when the time comes I'd like to do that.. I know I have an existing partition (C) that uses all of my space (80Gb). I'd like to setup a second partition (I guess D or something) where I can copy all of my other stuff. Is this possible without totally messing up my pc?

I'm running Windows XP Home SP2 on an Intel Celeron 2.4Ghz machine with 512mb. My harddrive is 80Gb.

Whatcha think? Am I crazy?

 

BEFORE I tell you one way to accomplish this, keep in mind that if anything goes wrong, you can hose your drive and lose your existing Windows installation, though that could happen no matter WHICH method you choose...

If you consider yourself computer literate (and brave), you can try this method:

First, defrag the C: drive; it might take hours, depending on how much data you have on the drive, but do it no matter what.

Next, download just about ANY Linux .ISO file, and burn it to a CD-R. You can find MANY Linux distributions here:

http://www.distrowatch.com

If you choose a smaller Linux distro (Damn Small Linux, or Puppy Linux), the download shouldn't take too long, unless you're using a dial-up connection.

Then, you can use a CD-burning program you already have to burn the .ISO file to CD, or you can download and install BurnCDCC from here:

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html

BurnCDCC will burn ANY .ISO file to a CD or DVD; it ONLY works with .ISO files. BurnCDCC is TINY, only 69KB, so it will download very quickly; best of all, BurnCDCC is FREEWARE, so it won't cost you a dime.

Now, reboot the system, enter the CMOS Setup program, and change the boot order so the PC will boot from the CD / DVD drive first.

Next, reboot and load the CD-R into the optical drive, and let Linux take over. Linux will offer to repartition your existing harddrive, to make room for Linux itself. You can begin the repartition process, then stop it before Linux begins to install. You will now have a second partition on the drive. Boot into XP and use the Computer Management options to format the new partition with NTFS. Then, reboot the system one more time, and check the drive with Windows Explorer to be sure the newly formatted partition is visible.

Obviously, I don't have time to type a step-by-step for this, but you should be able to figure out the rest of it as you go along.

Of course, you could always spend money on Partition Magic, install it in Windows, and accomplish the same end result, but if you want to learn new skills and use a no-cost workaround to reach the same goal, Linux can help you accomplish the mission, and teach you some new tricks in the process.

Good luck; let us know how this turns out.

 

It's a lot easier to download knoppix and use qtparted. It does the same thing, but you don't have to mess around with the installer. Btw, some linux distros partition your drive and then immediately install, without the option to cancel. Note that knoppix is a linux distro too, but it's a live CD. No need to install anything.