If you don't have any unpartitioned space on the C drive, is it basically impossible to add partitions then?

Question

Windows XP, dynamic disks (or basic)...either way.

Do you have to reformat the drive from the get go?

I have played around in disk management, as well as with 3rd party partitioning software...and the results lead me to think that you have to format the drive from the beginning so that it has unpartitioned space.

Am I right, or wrong? If I'm wrong, what's the procedure?

Answer 1

the procedure i'm familiar with involves formatting the entire drive

it is easier to partition before you fill up your drives ;)
you may be able to transfer your files to an external hdd, or an online storage service, then format your HDD, and start from the beginning

Answer 2

Partition Magic will allow you to move the limit and create a second partition if there is enough free space. It is almost backward intuitive to what you think should be done to make it work. I used to use it it quite a bit but not in the last two revisions. There are other that do the same things. You are not required to format the existing partition, just the new one.

Answer 3

You can easily split existing partitions using Disk Director. Moreover you can split even system partition(C: by default ) using this program without data loss.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/