Going from XP to 7

[Tolya]

Im starting to think seriously about upgrading from XP to Win7. DX10 support being one of the reasons, specifically Just Cause 2 Vista/7 exclusivity scheme.

The question is, how much space do I need to install and run 7? Many years ago I did a stupid move of making my OS partition 10GB and Im now struggling for space on C:.

I read somewhere that 7 needs around 15GB, is that true? If so, is there a painless way to modify the size of partitions? I once heard there was a program that could modify partition size without deleting data.

[Vendetta]

XP to 7 requires a clean install anyway, so you would probably be as well off backing up any data you need and repartitioning using the windows installer.

[Tolya]

Still, normal repartitioning means wiping clean. I don't have a problem with the C: drive but I would like to avoid wiping my D: drive just to commit some space from it to C: (or merging them altogether)

[General Zod]

Can't you just buy an extra hard disk? Space is cheap these days, so there's really no need to make partitions unless you're doing something like dual booting into another OS.

[eyl]

There are a number of 3rd-party applications which will allow you to change your partition size without wiping your data (I don't remember which one I used - might have been Acronis' DiskManager - I'll try to check when I get home). You can find some easily with a Google search. I'm not sure if there are any freeware apps, though.

[Xon]

3rd party partition resizing tools are notorious for destroying data. Buy a new harddrive and install Win7 on that. Not only will it be larger, it will be significantly faster than a drive made 4-5 years ago.

That said, you want at least 20-25gb for Win7 if you are actually going to install apps and want to use previous versions(which is awesome!).

[Mr Bean]

Get a new hard drive with Windows 7. It's quite possible to have Windows Xp and Windows 7 play nice together on the same hard drive. But it's so much easier to keep them on seperate hard drives and use your bios to switch between them as need. Honestly unlike my six months with Vista I've never had a reason to boot into Windows XP except for the odd game. XP comparability mode works for every program I have that demands Directx 9.

[Norade]

I installed windows 7 over my install of vista and didn't lose any data, but I'm not sure if it will be the same for xp.

[General Zod]

I installed windows 7 over my install of vista and didn't lose any data, but I'm not sure if it will be the same for xp.

As has already been mentioned you cannot do an upgrade from XP to 7. It has to be a clean install.

[Stark]

Even on a 'clean' install it'll still move your windows/user data to somewhere else. If he needs a new drive or repartitioning he should see this as an opportunity; fresh installs are a good thing every now and then.

The idea of dual-booting XP and Win7 is hilarious.

[Marcus Aurelius]

3rd party partition resizing tools are notorious for destroying data. Buy a new harddrive and install Win7 on that. Not only will it be larger, it will be significantly faster than a drive made 4-5 years ago.

Having done a lot of resizing on FAT, NTFS and ext2/3 partitions, I would say that the notoriety of 3rd party resizing tools is not really deserved. It's always a good idea to make backups from everything essential before doing any partitioning, but only rarely will you need those backups, and in most such cases the real culprit was broken or brain dead hardware rather than the partitioning software.

Partition Magic used to be a very easy and safe way to resize FAT and NTFS partitions until Symantec bought it and run it to the ground. The last version is 8 from 2003, but it still works great on Windows XP NTFS partitions. Unfortunately you no longer can buy a new license anywhere. The best current option is probably GParted, which is known to work with Windows XP NTFS partitions without problems if you follow the instructions to the letter. However, if you have never used Linux or any other Unix type operating system, you will probably have to be a fast learner, since you will not recognize many of the terms and naming conventions.

So, the best option is still to buy a new hard disk, but I wanted to give you some other options if you can't do that for some reason.

[Edward Yee]

Can't you just buy an extra hard disk? Space is cheap these days, so there's really no need to make partitions unless you're doing something like dual booting into another OS.

For some reason I had the idea of 'protecting' my data by keeping the majority of it on the non-boot partition, for Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Out of 500 GB, I came up with the scheme of "exactly" 60.0 GB on the OS partition*, 190 GB on the secondary partition for games / large files, and 215 GB on an empty tertiary partition. If the OS goes kaput or I need to move my Steam installer packages there, that's what the last partition is for, though I'd be losing a substantial bit more if the OS partition itself goes.

* 60 GB was supposed to leave room for stuff in the Downloads, Documents and media folders for both myself and the Public (shared) user since the desktop itself is multiple-user, plus room for any game folders that might end up in Documents during an install (i.e. ArmA or Silent Hunter 4).

[Edward Yee]

Ghetto edit: Just moved all of my Steam backups to the tertiary partition, freeing up about 50 GB.

[General Zod]

For some reason I had the idea of 'protecting' my data by keeping the majority of it on the non-boot partition, for Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Out of 500 GB, I came up with the scheme of "exactly" 60.0 GB on the OS partition*, 190 GB on the secondary partition for games / large files, and 215 GB on an empty tertiary partition. If the OS goes kaput or I need to move my Steam installer packages there, that's what the last partition is for, though I'd be losing a substantial bit more if the OS partition itself goes.

Why bother going through the trouble? A second hard disk will do the job just as well and if you experience a problem with the hard disk itself then you're going to be completely fucked no matter how many partitions you have.

[Edward Yee]

Had a laptop OS failure once where I ended up having to boot into Linux to try and recover my personal files. I also find it convenient I suppose when it's just the OS that needs reinstalling.

[General Zod]

Had a laptop OS failure once where I ended up having to boot into Linux to try and recover my personal files. I also find it convenient I suppose when it's just the OS that needs reinstalling.

All the computers I currently own are laptops, which is why I have a number of external drives for backing up my actual files. Then again I don't tend to install a lot of extra crap, so the biggest hassle for me would be reinstalling my Steam games.

[Tolya]

I guess you guys are right about getting a new hdd anyway. I didn't realize they are as cheap as they are right now.

[Oskuro]

If you're wondering about Win7's weight, my fresh installation is around 25Gb.

I have a single drive wich I originally had partitioned in three pieces: WinXp, Ubuntu and Data
The clean Win7 install made itself at home in the WinXP partition without a hitch, and did not touch the other partitions.
Still haven't tried setting up a dual boot ubuntu, though (Mainly because my unsupported onboard audio drivers keep BSODing Win7 from time to time, so I might have to roll back to WinXP and install 7 on a hypothetical new future machine)

Still, getting a new HDD is a good option (Although in my case it also means getting a new power supply )

[Coaan]

You only gave 10gb for an Xp partition in the first place? are you a dumbass? At the very least, I would consider 40gb safe for the system drive. Anything else runs out far too quickly, especially when you have games demanding they be placed in the C drive. More if available.

Windows eventually becomes bloated with shit you have either installed or you have installed from the web, increasing it's size quite a bit.

If you want to be safe, you really ought to have a partition For windows alone that is about 100gb. Each operating system you have should also have as much space as that, just so it's comfortable for page files and the like. You are correct about one thing though, the price of hard drives have come down dramatically in the last year....you can get terrabyte hard drives for next to nothing now.

I would consider giving your computer that much space to work with a good idea.

[Tolya]

You only gave 10gb for an Xp partition in the first place? are you a dumbass? At the very least, I would consider 40gb safe for the system drive. Anything else runs out far too quickly, especially when you have games demanding they be placed in the C drive. More if available.

Well, "dumbass", since XP came out I had it installed on a 10gb partition and it was sufficent, especially since I don't have any games that require to be placed on C: (what games are those anyway?). Win7 space requirements kinda shocked me. Even a horrendously bloated XP is nowhere close - my system has bloated up to 4,68Gb and that's after so many years.

Committing 40Gb for a system only partition on my 100GB hdd wasn't really an option.

[Edward Yee]

While I don't recall any of my games forcing itself onto the system partition, I know that some of my games will install on my chosen partition but then create related (i.e. profile/save data) folders in My Documents.

[Wing Commander MAD]

While I don't recall any of my games forcing itself onto the system partition, I know that some of my games will install on my chosen partition but then create related (i.e. profile/save data) folders in My Documents.

Thats the standard way of doing things now, AFAIK they pretty much assume single partitions as standard. Mind you MS only forced it with Vista onward, though I believe they've said to do it for years prior (mind you I believe Linux has been this way for ages). Really its the proper way of doing things.

I'll also pass on the general advice to not partition (unless your running multiple OS's) that I've recieved in the past. I'll leave it to those more familiar with modern OS utilization of secondary memory to explain why, as OS specifics are not my cup of tea and I intend to do all I can to avoid the title of "kernel hacker" . If your really concerned about data loss and don't want to (or cant't) install another internal drive, grab an external drive. I picked up 500 GB one about 2 years ago for about $100 USD (at Wal-Mart no less), the prices should have come down significantly since then.