5 Questions - please help

I bought new HP laptop which has Vista home premium. Please help me for
below. ( I am not a software/tech guy)

1. Can I do partition to C:/ drive which has OS files?
2. Is it possible to do partition to C:/ drive, with out deleting or
formating?
3. Please let me know how to do partition to C:/ drive
4. What is the space required in C:/ drive to run system fast (for Vista)?
5. Can I add XP to D:/ drive and login with XP or Vista when I start system?

Thanks in advance

Hi,

> 1. Can I do partition to C:/ drive which has OS files?

Yes, but read on...

> 2. Is it possible to do partition to C:/ drive, with out deleting or
> formating?

Again, yes but read on....

> 3. Please let me know how to do partition to C:/ drive

Ok, first HP likely has used the entire drive (minus a small section,
perhaps 8-10GB, for the recovery partition) for C:. What you will need to do
first is shrink C: using disk manager (diskmgmt.msc) to create some free
space. Then you can create a new volume from the free space. This can be
done without destroying the existing installation, but you should still
backup data as a safeguard against disaster.

> 4. What is the space required in C:/ drive to run system fast (for Vista)?

You need to keep 15% free space ata minimum, and I wouldn't have Vista on a
volume less than 20GB. In addition, you will want to be liberal about drive
space for programs.

> 5. Can I add XP to D:/ drive and login with XP or Vista when I start
> system?

As you stated "I am not a software/tech guy", I would not recommend this
without the use of VistaBootPro (from the .org site of the same name).
Installing XP will overwrite your proprietary bootloader for both Vista and
access to your Recovery Partition. In general, Windows versions in a
multiboot scenario should be installed oldest to newest, not the other way
around. The older versions will overwrite the bootloader with their own code
which will be unaware of Vista and unable to load it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Maruthi" <> wrote in message
news:BB22F282-6290-40E0-86CB-...
>I bought new HP laptop which has Vista home premium. Please help me for
> below. ( I am not a software/tech guy)
>
>
> Thanks in advance

"Maruthi" <> wrote in message
news:BB22F282-6290-40E0-86CB-...
>I bought new HP laptop which has Vista home premium. Please help me for
> below. ( I am not a software/tech guy)
>
> 1. Can I do partition to C:/ drive which has OS files?
Yes. See Windows Disk Management.
> 2. Is it possible to do partition to C:/ drive, with out deleting or
> formating?
Yes. Windows Disk Management.
> 3. Please let me know how to do partition to C:/ drive
Google for information. Or use Windows Help. All the information you need
is available either way.
> 4. What is the space required in C:/ drive to run system fast (for Vista)?
Vista can probably run on a drive with about 10GB. It takes up less actual
drive space than that. But you probably want at least 10GB as an absolute
bare minimum.
> 5. Can I add XP to D:/ drive and login with XP or Vista when I start
> system?
Google for "dual boot" and you will get more information than you can
possibly imagine on the subject. In short, Google is the place to ask your
questions. Also helpful is Windows Help or even, amazingly, the Microsoft
website.
>
> Thanks in advance

Many have answered this already. But I will continue.

1.) Yes you can create a partition with your free space from Vista.
2.) Yes. It just moves the information to the front of the drive and then
creates the free space at the end where you would create the partition.
3.) GParted will be your best tool. It is a LiveCD and will allow for you
to shrink the partition (As described above) and create a new partition.
4.) At least 20GB. Unless you plan on installing more software.
5.) At first after you install XP it will only allow you to boot to XP since
XP uses boot.ini to boot with while Vista uses what is called the BCD to
boot with. You will have to restore the BCD and then add XP to it. For all
the info you need on this visit:

http://neosmart.net/

The application you will use is called EasyBCD. Go to the forums for help.
There is a Wiki there as well with all sorts of info to help you out.

--
~Alex T~
..:~A.K.A. Makaveli213~:.
..:MVP Windows Shell/User:.

"Maruthi" <> wrote in message
news:BB22F282-6290-40E0-86CB-...
> I bought new HP laptop which has Vista home premium. Please help me for
> below. ( I am not a software/tech guy)
>
> 1. Can I do partition to C:/ drive which has OS files?
> 2. Is it possible to do partition to C:/ drive, with out deleting or
> formating?
> 3. Please let me know how to do partition to C:/ drive
> 4. What is the space required in C:/ drive to run system fast (for Vista)?
> 5. Can I add XP to D:/ drive and login with XP or Vista when I start
> system?
>
> Thanks in advance

THANK YOU BOTH RICK AND ALEX.

"~Alex~.:MVP Windows Shell/User:." wrote:

> Many have answered this already. But I will continue.
>
> 1.) Yes you can create a partition with your free space from Vista.
> 2.) Yes. It just moves the information to the front of the drive and then
> creates the free space at the end where you would create the partition.
> 3.) GParted will be your best tool. It is a LiveCD and will allow for you
> to shrink the partition (As described above) and create a new partition.
> 4.) At least 20GB. Unless you plan on installing more software.
> 5.) At first after you install XP it will only allow you to boot to XP since
> XP uses boot.ini to boot with while Vista uses what is called the BCD to
> boot with. You will have to restore the BCD and then add XP to it. For all
> the info you need on this visit:
>
> http://neosmart.net/
>
> The application you will use is called EasyBCD. Go to the forums for help.
> There is a Wiki there as well with all sorts of info to help you out.
>
> --
> ~Alex T~
> .:~A.K.A. Makaveli213~:.
> .:MVP Windows Shell/User:.
>
> "Maruthi" <> wrote in message
> news:BB22F282-6290-40E0-86CB-...
> > I bought new HP laptop which has Vista home premium. Please help me for
> > below. ( I am not a software/tech guy)
> >
> > 1. Can I do partition to C:/ drive which has OS files?
> > 2. Is it possible to do partition to C:/ drive, with out deleting or
> > formating?
> > 3. Please let me know how to do partition to C:/ drive
> > 4. What is the space required in C:/ drive to run system fast (for Vista)?
> > 5. Can I add XP to D:/ drive and login with XP or Vista when I start
> > system?
> >
> > Thanks in advance
>