How to remove/resize partitions on external USB Hard Drive?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Use partition magic 8.0
FAT32 will be limited up to 198Gb (PM8.0 won't let you resize past that
limit)


"busterdog77" <busterdog77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6B2FE2D9-22EC-40CF-8007-929EA26E4EB5@microsoft.com...
> I have had a 60G external hard drive that has worked flawlessly for 2
years
> with both my desktop computer running Win98SE, and my newer laptop with
> Windows XP. This external drive was formatted with FAT 32 and NO
PARTITIONS
> for all 60G. Because I have a Lot of music files and digital pictures, I
> have filled up the 60G drive, so bought an IOGear 160G external drive.
This
> drive arrived partitioned into 6 partitions, of 20-32G sizes. This is
> completely wrong for how I want to use the drive. All my mp3 programs
> requires the library to be all in one volume, so I need 60-80G all in one
> volume just for music. IOGear support says that Windows XP does not allow
> volumes any larger than 60G in FAT 32. (This seems crazy since my older
> drive is all one volume and is FAT 32.) Does anyone know how I can
collapse
> these volumes onto one larger one (say 80-90 G) and have it in a format
that
> both my Win98SE system and my WindowsXP laptop can both access?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"busterdog77" <busterdog77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6B2FE2D9-22EC-40CF-8007-929EA26E4EB5@microsoft.com...
> I have had a 60G external hard drive that has worked flawlessly for 2
years
> with both my desktop computer running Win98SE, and my newer laptop with
> Windows XP. This external drive was formatted with FAT 32 and NO
PARTITIONS
> for all 60G. Because I have a Lot of music files and digital pictures, I
> have filled up the 60G drive, so bought an IOGear 160G external drive.
This
> drive arrived partitioned into 6 partitions, of 20-32G sizes. This is
> completely wrong for how I want to use the drive. All my mp3 programs
> requires the library to be all in one volume, so I need 60-80G all in one
> volume just for music. IOGear support says that Windows XP does not allow
> volumes any larger than 60G in FAT 32. (This seems crazy since my older
> drive is all one volume and is FAT 32.) Does anyone know how I can
collapse
> these volumes onto one larger one (say 80-90 G) and have it in a format
that
> both my Win98SE system and my WindowsXP laptop can both access?

You can get around the FAT32 size limiation of WinXP by using a third-party
product to partition your disk, e.g. PQMagic.

Incidentally, your statement that you had a FAT32 drive with "NO PARTITIONS"
(your caps) is incorrect. It had exactly one partition: a FAT32 partition.
You cannot
store any data on an unpartitioned disk. The sequence is:
1. Partition your disk.
2. Format each drive.
3. Start using it.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Thanks to both of you for your input! I will check it out.

"zibby" wrote:

> Use partition magic 8.0
> FAT32 will be limited up to 198Gb (PM8.0 won't let you resize past that
> limit)
>
>
> "busterdog77" <busterdog77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:6B2FE2D9-22EC-40CF-8007-929EA26E4EB5@microsoft.com...
> > I have had a 60G external hard drive that has worked flawlessly for 2
> years
> > with both my desktop computer running Win98SE, and my newer laptop with
> > Windows XP. This external drive was formatted with FAT 32 and NO
> PARTITIONS
> > for all 60G. Because I have a Lot of music files and digital pictures, I
> > have filled up the 60G drive, so bought an IOGear 160G external drive.
> This
> > drive arrived partitioned into 6 partitions, of 20-32G sizes. This is
> > completely wrong for how I want to use the drive. All my mp3 programs
> > requires the library to be all in one volume, so I need 60-80G all in one
> > volume just for music. IOGear support says that Windows XP does not allow
> > volumes any larger than 60G in FAT 32. (This seems crazy since my older
> > drive is all one volume and is FAT 32.) Does anyone know how I can
> collapse
> > these volumes onto one larger one (say 80-90 G) and have it in a format
> that
> > both my Win98SE system and my WindowsXP laptop can both access?
>
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"busterdog77" <busterdog77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6B2FE2D9-22EC-40CF-8007-929EA26E4EB5@microsoft.com...
> I have had a 60G external hard drive that has worked flawlessly for 2
years
> with both my desktop computer running Win98SE, and my newer laptop with
> Windows XP. This external drive was formatted with FAT 32 and NO
PARTITIONS
> for all 60G. Because I have a Lot of music files and digital pictures, I
> have filled up the 60G drive, so bought an IOGear 160G external drive.
This
> drive arrived partitioned into 6 partitions, of 20-32G sizes. This is
> completely wrong for how I want to use the drive. All my mp3 programs
> requires the library to be all in one volume, so I need 60-80G all in one
> volume just for music. IOGear support says that Windows XP does not allow
> volumes any larger than 60G in FAT 32. (This seems crazy since my older
> drive is all one volume and is FAT 32.) Does anyone know how I can
collapse
> these volumes onto one larger one (say 80-90 G) and have it in a format
that
> both my Win98SE system and my WindowsXP laptop can both access?

It is correct, the XP partition utility cannot create FAT32 partions of
this size. However, if you use a w9x boot disk with fdisk, you *can*
create FAT32 partitions the size you want.

So I'll suggest that you simply get a Win98 or ME boot diskette, perhaps one
of the Ultimate Boot Disks or whatever you can download, reboot the system
and run fdisk.

Reboot without the diskette and format in XP. This will be quick and
inexpensive.

Be *very* careful when you select the drive you want to repartition. It's
not usually a positive experience to suddenly realize you just removed the
partition from your XP drive.

HTH
-pk

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

> "busterdog77" <busterdog77@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:6B2FE2D9-22EC-40CF-8007-929EA26E4EB5@microsoft.com...
>> I have had a 60G external hard drive that has worked flawlessly for 2
> years
>> with both my desktop computer running Win98SE, and my newer laptop with
>> Windows XP. This external drive was formatted with FAT 32 and NO
> PARTITIONS
>> for all 60G. Because I have a Lot of music files and digital pictures,
>> I
>> have filled up the 60G drive, so bought an IOGear 160G external drive.
> This
>> drive arrived partitioned into 6 partitions, of 20-32G sizes. This is
>> completely wrong for how I want to use the drive. All my mp3 programs
>> requires the library to be all in one volume, so I need 60-80G all in one
>> volume just for music. IOGear support says that Windows XP does not
>> allow
>> volumes any larger than 60G in FAT 32. (This seems crazy since my older
>> drive is all one volume and is FAT 32.) Does anyone know how I can
> collapse
>> these volumes onto one larger one (say 80-90 G) and have it in a format
> that
>> both my Win98SE system and my WindowsXP laptop can both access?
>


"Test User" <test@dev.null> wrote in message
news:3F4td.9544$l%5.583500@news20.bellglobal.com...
> It is correct, the XP partition utility cannot create FAT32 partions of
> this size. However, if you use a w9x boot disk with fdisk, you *can*
> create FAT32 partitions the size you want.
>
> So I'll suggest that you simply get a Win98 or ME boot diskette, perhaps
> one
> of the Ultimate Boot Disks or whatever you can download, reboot the system
> and run fdisk.
>
> Reboot without the diskette and format in XP. This will be quick and
> inexpensive.
>
> Be *very* careful when you select the drive you want to repartition.
> It's
> not usually a positive experience to suddenly realize you just removed
> the
> partition from your XP drive.
>
> HTH
> -pk


Unfortunately, Test User's proposed solution is not viable. The OP is
working with a USB external hard drive. AFAIK, you cannot partition/format a
USB EHD using the FDISK/FORMAT commands. Those DOS commands will simply not
"see" a USB EHD. At least that has been my experience. (I have heard reports
that some users have been able to directly use the FDISK/FORMAT commands to
format a USB EHD, but I've never been able to verify this). As we know, XP's
Disk Management utility will not allow you to partition/format a drive in
FAT32 greater than 32 GB.

Assuming the OP needs a single FAT32 partition on his 160 GB, he could, if
possible, remove the hard drive from the USB external enclosure, connect the
drive to his computer and then using a Win9x/Me startup disk (or other
bootable DOS floppy) use the FDISK/FORMAT commands to create a single FAT32
partition on that drive. Then uninstall the drive and reinstall it in his
USB enclosure. The trouble with this "solution" is that the drive may be in
a sealed unit and thus cannot readily be removed and even if he could remove
and subsequently reinstall the drive, it would surely void whatever warranty
that covers his external drive.

I wonder if there's another way. Using Windows XP Disk Management utility,
format the external HD in NTFS and then use a third-party program, e.g.,
Partition Magic, to convert the partition to FAT32. It would be interesting
to hear from anyone who has done this.
Art

To resize and move the external hard disk free, there is a safe guide How to Resize External Hard Drive Partitions?  

So you brought life into a six years old thread to tell us about how to buy your product?

(The site also has an incorrect certificate by the way. Why use https if not configured correctly?)

This topic has been closed by Grumpy9117