Can I safely partition a hdd with data on it?

[trancend1]

Hi there, I recently built my first machine and used a 60 Gig Maxtor for the HDD. However, I failed to partition the drive during its initial installation and was wondering if I can safely do it now without damaging any data. I would appreciate any instructions on how do do this ( if I can ) and also any recomendation on data groupings and where to put what (e.g. system files, mp3s, programs and the like).
thanks for your time.

 

[Zlash]

Possibly with partition magic.

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[OldBear]

Zlash is correct. I use Partition Magic 7. It will add, delete or merge partitions. It will also
format fat32, ntfs by using your OS. It can also change ntfs back to fat32. All safely.

<font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue>

 

[camieabz]

BTW Partiton Magic 6.0 does exactly the same thing.

Anyone know the differences between the two?

I've not spotted them.

<b><font color=red> DELETE THE "EVERYTHING'S GONE QUIET" THREAD!!! </font color=red></b>

 

[HonestJhon]

how much is partition magic? sounds like it would be quite the program to have handy....

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[OldBear]

I think the only difference is compatibility with WinXP and upto 80gig hd.


<font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue>

 

[OldBear]

I believe I paid $49 for it but it's worth it to me.

How's "Detail Man"?




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[HonestJhon]

detail man, is that my new nickname?
hehe


-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[OldBear]

Yep! If it's ok with you. It's our marketing tool.


<font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue>

 

[camieabz]

Is 80GB the limit on PT 6.0?

Strangely enough, I run a 79GB array, so I can't test to find out.

I would probably move up to a larger array later in the year, so it would be handy to know.

<b><font color=red> DELETE THE "EVERYTHING'S GONE QUIET" THREAD!!! </font color=red></b>

 

[HonestJhon]

hehe...marketing tool eh?
okie!
i s'pose that wood be oh kay! AHYUK!

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[OldBear]

I don't know about 6 but 7 says it will do upto 80gig. I haven't tried it
on my 120gig yet. It is unclear as to whether it will work on a maximum
80gig partition in a larger drive or just not work at all. I may try it
after my next backup.


<font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue>

 

[camieabz]

Well I fancied adding another 1 or 2 40GB drives to my current array so I would have 3 or 4 x 40GB RAID 0.

I figure it would be an important issue here.

<b><font color=red> DELETE THE "EVERYTHING'S GONE QUIET" THREAD!!! </font color=red></b>