I've looked over the forums but haven't found anything that precisely answers
my question.

I'm running XP Pro, and I've got a hard drive that's partitioned into 4
partitions. I want to merge two of the partitions. I've already backed up
the data on both (neither of the partitions is a boot or system partition).
Using disk manager, can I merge the two partitions? I've read about it not
being possible without it being "destuctive," but since I've backed up both
partitions, I don't care about loosing data on either partition. Have I
properly understood "destructive" in this context, or could using disk
manager to do this physically wreck the drive?

If it's possible, could somebdy give me the steps I need to take to do it?
I know there is partition magic, but I will probably be only doing this once,
so I would like to avoid paying for a program I'll probably never use again.
Thanks!

XP's DiskPart utility is capable of only partitioning a hard drive that is empty
or has "unallocated" free space.
For example, if you were to install a new second drive, DiskPart can be
used to partition and format it. DiskPart cannot segregate current files from
free space, therefore, only a sophisticated third-party partitioning program,
such as Partition Magic 8 , can be used with a drive that already has Windows XP
installed.

The only way you can create, delete, resize or merge existing partitions,
and not harm your existing Windows installation, is to purchase and use
a third-party partitioning program such as Partition Magic 8.
http://www.symantec.com/partitionmagic/

The alternative is to perform a "clean install" of Windows XP:

How to Partition and Format a Hard Disk in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...xp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Marko" wrote:

| I've looked over the forums but haven't found anything that precisely answers
| my question.
|
| I'm running XP Pro, and I've got a hard drive that's partitioned into 4
| partitions. I want to merge two of the partitions. I've already backed up
| the data on both (neither of the partitions is a boot or system partition).
| Using disk manager, can I merge the two partitions? I've read about it not
| being possible without it being "destuctive," but since I've backed up both
| partitions, I don't care about loosing data on either partition. Have I
| properly understood "destructive" in this context, or could using disk
| manager to do this physically wreck the drive?
|
| If it's possible, could somebdy give me the steps I need to take to do it?
| I know there is partition magic, but I will probably be only doing this once,
| so I would like to avoid paying for a program I'll probably never use again.
| Thanks!

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html
this will do it quite nicely.......download the trial version......expand
and install to a floppy.
Read the instructions and then boot with the floppy.
peterk

--
It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about
the problem
"Marko" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:525A5717-A7E6-44F3-98CA-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I've looked over the forums but haven't found anything that precisely
> answers
> my question.
>
> I'm running XP Pro, and I've got a hard drive that's partitioned into 4
> partitions. I want to merge two of the partitions. I've already backed
> up
> the data on both (neither of the partitions is a boot or system
> partition).
> Using disk manager, can I merge the two partitions? I've read about it
> not
> being possible without it being "destuctive," but since I've backed up
> both
> partitions, I don't care about loosing data on either partition. Have I
> properly understood "destructive" in this context, or could using disk
> manager to do this physically wreck the drive?
>
> If it's possible, could somebdy give me the steps I need to take to do it?
> I know there is partition magic, but I will probably be only doing this
> once,
> so I would like to avoid paying for a program I'll probably never use
> again.
> Thanks!

> I know there is partition magic, but I will probably be only doing this once,
> so I would like to avoid paying for a program I'll probably never use again.

When I needed to divide my hard drive, I thought so too, but
nevertheless, I bought Acronis partition manager (
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../diskdirector/ ) and now I
don't regret that I did it because of a lot of useful features this
program has. Now I think that every advanced user should have a similar
program.