Partition a Flash Drive?
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Thread: Partition a Flash Drive?

  1. #1
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    Partition a Flash Drive?

    It can be done, as I've got a drive that came partitioned. But partion magic doesn't seem to work with USB drives that way. I'd like to know which utility will do so and if anyone else has managed to partition a USB thumb drive.

  2. #2
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    for 2000, XP...

    Make sure your drive is plugged in and
    Right click on MY COMPUTER and click Manage
    Look on the left pane and find "Disk Management"

    From here you can partition drives. if you need any more help you can refer to this guide: http://www.2000trainers.com/article....leID=96&page=1

  3. #3
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    You know, it's been so long since I used th ebuilt in tools to do this that I forgot they were there! Chalk it up to early senility. Thanks.

  4. #4
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    Keep in mind that all data will be lost
    If you're happy and you know it......it's your meds.

  5. #5
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    HAN is offline Virtual PC Specialist!!!
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    It would be interesting to see how this could be accomplished. The only drives I've seen setup differently than the normal 1 partition setup are the U3 drives (where the flash drive "fools" Windows into thinking one partion is a CD drive and the other is normal.)

  6. #6
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    That's exactly what I'm trying to do. So far even using the disk managment tools it's not allowing removal of old partitions. If they did it there obviously MUST be a way.

  7. #7
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    Apparently, Paragon Software Group's Partition Manager can handle USB drives, (Partition Magic cannot):If you have trouble formatting the partition, the following Windows-based Format Utility by HP may be able to do it:And, if you're trying to make it bootable, here are some instructions:

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpywareDr View Post
    Apparently, Paragon Software Group's Partition Manager can handle USB drives, (Partition Magic cannot):If you have trouble formatting the partition, the following Windows-based Format Utility by HP may be able to do it:And, if you're trying to make it bootable, here are some instructions:
    Will the bootable link allow me to put 2 or more OS's on my flash drive and boot from whatever one I choose?

  9. #9
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    It might possibly work provided your BIOS allows booting from a flash drive..

    Keep in mind that running an OS off a flash drive will be MUCH Slower then runing off an internal drive...And the pc will be dependant on having the flash drive hooked up each time you turn it on.
    If you're happy and you know it......it's your meds.

  10. #10
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    My BIOS does support booting from flash drive, and I realize all the negative ramifications of doing this (slow, dependency, etc.) but my windows Xp keeps freezing, so I need to do something, and have a spare 4GB laying around, so I figured, why not?

  11. #11
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    A 4 gig drive might not be big enough for XP let alone an second OS...You surly won't have any room left over to install any other applications.

    Why not use the flash drive tp backup important data and reformat the hard drive?
    If you're happy and you know it......it's your meds.

  12. #12
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    Be aware that all flash memory has a finite life, a certain number of read/write cycles the memory cells can withstand without becoming unreliable. There are two major kinds of memory-cell architectures in use: SLC (single-level cells) and MLC (multilevel cells), which is the one used in most inexpensive flash drives. MLC has an expected lifetime of about 10,000 read-write cycles and SLC 100,000. These figures can vary depending on the design of "wear leveling" being utilized.

    When the flash memory is being used almost constantly, as it can be when running Windows, 10,000 cycles isn't much.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpywareDr View Post
    Apparently, Paragon Software Group's Partition Manager can handle USB drives, (Partition Magic cannot):If you have trouble formatting the partition, the following Windows-based Format Utility by HP may be able to do it:And, if you're trying to make it bootable, here are some instructions:
    The first link is incorrect and leads to error page. Here is the correct one: http://www.paragon-software.com/home/pm-personal/

  14. #14
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    Cool LOL! Can't Use a 4GB Thumb Drive for an OS?!?! HAHAHA!

    Excuse me, but I DO believe there is an OS capable of utilizing this poor used up 4GB... Try Linux... There's DSL (Damn Small Linux: Max size 50MB), (Slax: 200MB, my personal favorite). Both of which are bootable from USB... Continue on...

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