I've come to the conclusion that, since I can't use the shrink function (for some unknown reason) I can't create unallocated volume space, and therefore can't create a new parition.
is the F drive a separate harddrive or a partition on a drive??
you cannot create or shrink partitions in xp unless you use a third party program, or you reinstall your os, then partitions can be created at the start of an installation.
above program is recommended by lots, be careful to install only the program and not any extras that may be bundled with the program.
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one problem I have noticed in your screenshot, windows requires at a minimum 15% free space to function properly, you only have 6% , you will have to create a larger system partition, at the minimum 4 or 5 gb.
Download, install, and run EASEUS Partition Manager (free). It is extremely easy to use, and having said that, why would you want to create a new partition of F drive, which would seem, to me, to already be a partition.
I run C, D, E, G, H, I, J partitions, but on three separate, physical hard drives. Are you running more than one physical drive????