Primary drive?

IvySlayer

I have XP, I reformatted recently, I may have made a mistake.

It seems D is my 'primary' drive. Programs will automatically install there, unless I can tell it to go to C.

D is very small 2.7 GB. I keep getting low memory messages. I think XP installed there.

Is a reformat the only solution? Or can I delete the partition and maybe install XP onto C without losing anything..?

yoyo

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/242/xp-change-default-installation-directory/

Theres a simple registry edit which should do it

Nick

IvySlayer

yoyo wrote: »

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/242/xp-change-default-installation-directory/

Theres a simple registry edit which should do it

Nick

*kiss*

That works thanks

But I still have some problems, my printer software won't install, due to not enough memory, it needs 224 MB, my C drive (which I set as primary and rebooted) has at least 30GB. Must be something to do with the windows files.

yoyo

IvySlayer wrote: »

*kiss*

That works thanks

But I still have some problems, my printer software won't install, due to not enough memory, it needs 224 MB, my C drive (which I set as primary and rebooted) has at least 30GB. Must be something to do with the windows files.

I've honestly no idea, that change should tell the installer to check the C: drive once made, if its just the printer driver you need go onto the manufactures website and download the zip version of the driver (most manufactures will provide seperate drivers without a installer), use the add new printer in control panel, choose have disk, point to driver folder you extracted and printer should install

Nick

Redisle

Id imagine the printer drivers would need to be installed to the windows directory which is still on your small partition, hence why your getting the lack of space error.
Can't see an easy fix for what you described.. you could continue as is but you will run into problems with anything that needs to be installed within the windows folder.

Couple of things you could try..

You could delete the "C" (large) partition then extend the small partition to the whole drive using something like a Gparted live cd. You lose anything installed/stored on the C drive but it should be fine after. This could get messy however, you may have to mess around with boot flags, setting partition to active etc..

Similar to above you could take an image of the Windows partition then reformat the drive and put that image back on.
If you have installed software to the large partition while windows is installed to the small one both of these will be messy if you suceed.. lots of left over registry entries etc..

Least hassle would be a complete reinstall tbh.. Just my opinion of course, someone else may have a better idea.

IvySlayer

Redisle wrote: »

Id imagine the printer drivers would need to be installed to the windows directory which is still on your small partition, hence why your getting the lack of space error.
Can't see an easy fix for what you described.. you could continue as is but you will run into problems with anything that needs to be installed within the windows folder.

Couple of things you could try..

You could delete the "C" (large) partition then extend the small partition to the whole drive using something like a Gparted live cd. You lose anything installed/stored on the C drive but it should be fine after. This could get messy however, you may have to mess around with boot flags, setting partition to active etc..

Similar to above you could take an image of the Windows partition then reformat the drive and put that image back on.
If you have installed software to the large partition while windows is installed to the small one both of these will be messy if you suceed.. lots of left over registry entries etc..

Least hassle would be a complete reinstall tbh.. Just my opinion of course, someone else may have a better idea.

Why isn't there a way to 'force' XP onto the bigger partition

I'd do a reformat, but 1) I did do it a few weeks ago and look what happened, and 2) it literally took days for it, I kept getting errors.

EDIT: I probably need to do something quick. D drive is less than 2MB now.

polyfusion

Do you want to have partitions? If it's not a recovery partition, and you don't see the use of having a partition, your best bet is to just reinstall XP, deleting the partitions at the beginning of the installation so that your hard drive is just one volume. I wouldn't bother trying to "fix" the installation.

In your last post, you mention errors - are these the same space errors your refer to earlier? Is the swap file on the small partition?

If you want to keep personal files away from OS/programs/etc, I think people are better off getting another hard drive, and saving important stuff onto that, as well as backing up onto CD/DVD and/or external storage devices.

Remember to backup important docs/mp3s/etc before re-installing or deleting partitions.

IvySlayer

polyfusion wrote: »

Do you want to have partitions? If it's not a recovery partition, and you don't see the use of having a partition, your best bet is to just reinstall XP, deleting the partitions at the beginning of the installation so that your hard drive is just one volume. I wouldn't bother trying to "fix" the installation.

In your last post, you mention errors - are these the same space errors your refer to earlier? Is the swap file on the small partition?

If you want to keep personal files away from OS/programs/etc, I think people are better off getting another hard drive, and saving important stuff onto that, as well as backing up onto CD/DVD and/or external storage devices.

Remember to backup important docs/mp3s/etc before re-installing or deleting partitions.

No, I meant errors while installing XP, I'd tell it to install, and it would say it couldn't load this file. I kept trying and trying and it worked.

polyfusion

How are you re-installing XP? From a recovery partition or a CD/DVD?

IvySlayer

polyfusion wrote: »

How are you re-installing XP? From a recovery partition or a CD/DVD?

I installed it from a CD.

polyfusion

You shouldn't be getting errors from the CD, unless it's damaged or dirty. Any visible scratches on the disk?

Anyway, what are you going to do? My advise would be to just re-install XP, after backing up any important docs, and when starting the installation, when you get to the bit where you need to tell the installation where to install, delete the partitions until you're left with just the one volume. If your PC is a major brand (like Dell or HP), then the partitions may have been set up with a small hidden one with recovery software, but by your previous installation, maybe it's become visible, and your new XP installation is installed there - I'd have to look at it myself to determine, but given the level of hassle you're having, I think a fresh install is the best way to go.

There is a guide here: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxpclean1_7.htm I've linked the page where it outlines about deleting partitions. Basically, you want to be left with one volume before you start installing XP.

IvySlayer

polyfusion wrote: »

You shouldn't be getting errors from the CD, unless it's damaged or dirty. Any visible scratches on the disk?

Anyway, what are you going to do? My advise would be to just re-install XP, after backing up any important docs, and when starting the installation, when you get to the bit where you need to tell the installation where to install, delete the partitions until you're left with just the one volume. If your PC is a major brand (like Dell or HP), then the partitions may have been set up with a small hidden one with recovery software, but by your previous installation, maybe it's become visible, and your new XP installation is installed there - I'd have to look at it myself to determine, but given the level of hassle you're having, I think a fresh install is the best way to go.

There is a guide here: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxpclean1_7.htm I've linked the page where it outlines about deleting partitions. Basically, you want to be left with one volume before you start installing XP.

I'm attempting this now. Thanks for everything. My PC is in a foul mood today. See you

His name is Puter, and he may not live for longer.