Need help partitioning

[Naldo]

I want to install x64 on my computer, but what I want to do is.

1) Make a 20gb partition
2) Move all my must have files (movies, music, documents, game saves, etc.) over to that partition
3) install x64 over my current winXP install
4) move all the must have files over to the x64 partition
5) delete the 20gb partition so that I only have 1 100gb partition.

How do I go about doing this, last time I tried partitioning I messed up somewhere and had to completly reformat, losing alot of data (including a 12 page paper that I didnt back up :().

Any help is appriciated.

[kjm2003]

hmm, dont think you can mess with partitioning after windows is on there. i think your just going to need a temp 2nd hard drive for that one, prolly save you alot of time too...



:(


kyle

[dirtydr]

partition magic would allow you to do what that. but considering the amount of time it will take, and the possibility of something going wrong the risk outweighs the benefit imho.

another hdd is the way to go. I'd buckle and do cd/dvd backups before going that route since you are supposed to backup everything before touching the partitions anyway.

any way you can borrow another drive or complete system?

[vmerc]

It is possible to install windows without wiping out the data on the drive. I do it all the time. Unless x64 is completely different, and requires some new drive format, you should still be able to do the same. just make sure you select "Leave current file structure intact" during install.

[RavenD]

Also, while it offers no performance benefit, imho its better to keep a separate partition for storage all together so you dont run into these kinds of complications when you do a reformat. I actually keep apps/games on a different partition from windows as well. Even though you "have" to reinstall all of them when you reformat windows, I've found reinstallation isnt necessary for everything - I never bother to do it with games (specifically Steam - I'm sure as hell not waiting for HL/CS and HL2/CSS to download every time I reformat), never had any problems doing it like this either.