Help after installing Win XP

[larry38]

I need some help partitioning the HDD in a new build I have for my daughter.

The system is as follows:
mobo: ASUS A8N-E;
cpu: AMD 3200+;
RAM: Kingston value 2 sticks of 512 Mb (1 gb);
optical drive: Lite-On It;
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 (80 gb);
video card: EVGA e-GeForce 6600GT;
case Antec Sonata II;
psu: Antec Smart Power 2.0 (450 watt.)

I installed XP Home (sp2) today and went through the steps ( at least I thought I was doing this) of partitioning the HDD as follows: C: 24 GB (OS and pgms); D: 5 GB (page file); E: 20 GB (My Documents); F: 20 GB (My pictures) and G:3 GB (Temp files.) I did this, this morning and then installed drivers and software. This evening I started naming the individual drives and found that only C: drive has been partitioned, i.e. although the other drives are shown in Windows Explorer, there is no space allotted and if you click on the local disk icon your get an error message that says the disk in drive E (for instance) is not formatted. Do you want to format it now? Can anyone help me with this? do I just format it? or do I have to go back to the XP installation procedure?

[Panama Red]

Right click on My Computer and select Manage. Then use Disk Management to format the other partitions. They won't show up in My computer until they are formated.

[larry38]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Right click on My Computer and select Manage. Then use Disk Management to format the other partitions. They won't show up in My computer until they are formated.

Thanks for the prompt reply, PR. I noticed that the optical drive is listed as D: and I expected it to be H: When I format the partitions will that change?

[Panama Red]

You can change the drive letters on all but the C: drive using Disk Management too.

[larry38]

Originally Posted by Panama Red You can change the drive letters on all but the C: drive using Disk Management too.

Thanks again for everything.

[larry38]

One other thing - it will be several months before this computer will be used to connect to the internet. What do I have to do to activate the Win XP?

[larry38]

Never mind, I found it in the registration folder under the Windows folder and got it done.

[Panama Red]

You can activate it over the phone. Just use the Windows Activation key and you will be given a phone number to call. Quite painless. If you let it set for more than 30 days without activation, it will lock you out.

edit: Good. Glad you got it. Enjoy.