Deletion of disk partition

[Pastor Chris]

I am running Windows XP Home, the hard drive has 2 partitions, from within
computer management if I delete logical drive D: will the disk space from it
automatically be reassigned to disk drive C"?
If not than do I have to reformat the hard drive?

Thank you for your response.

Chris

 

[Malke]

I am running Windows XP Home, the hard drive has 2 partitions, from within
computer management if I delete logical drive D: will the disk space from
it automatically be reassigned to disk drive C"?
If not than do I have to reformat the hard drive?

No, the space will not automatically be merged with the C: partition. If you
want to do this without losing anything on the C: partition, you must use
third-party partitioning software. I use Acronis Disk Director but there
are many others. If you don't care about losing data and don't want to use
third-party software, then yes you will need to reinstall Windows and make
your partitioning changes during the installation routine.

Malke

 

[1PW]

No, the space will not automatically be merged with the C: partition. If you
want to do this without losing anything on the C: partition, you must use
third-party partitioning software. I use Acronis Disk Director but there
are many others. If you don't care about losing data and don't want to use
third-party software, then yes you will need to reinstall Windows and make
your partitioning changes during the installation routine.

Malke

Hello Malke:

At one time, I relied heavily on Partition Magic for these and similar
chores. When PM made it to version 8.0+, and subsequently sold by
PowerQuest to Symantec, no further work was done on it.

Even at $50USD, it's easy to see why an on-going concern, such as
Elephant Boy Computers, would have Acronis Disk Director at the ready.

However, the hobbyist may wish to evaluate a freeware alternative. I've
gravitated to GParted. GParted can be made Live on CD/USB/PXE server,
and its GUI gives the user an instant feel for their HDD's partitions.
Although the latest GParted (12/2008) isn't dealing with the absolute
super latest Linux world formating and filesystem schemes (ext4), it's
still an excellent addition to one's collection of Windows goodies. My
$0.02USD.

My warm regards to all,

Pete

 

[Malke]

Hello Malke:

At one time, I relied heavily on Partition Magic for these and similar
chores. When PM made it to version 8.0+, and subsequently sold by
PowerQuest to Symantec, no further work was done on it.

Even at $50USD, it's easy to see why an on-going concern, such as
Elephant Boy Computers, would have Acronis Disk Director at the ready.

However, the hobbyist may wish to evaluate a freeware alternative. I've
gravitated to GParted. GParted can be made Live on CD/USB/PXE server,
and its GUI gives the user an instant feel for their HDD's partitions.
Although the latest GParted (12/2008) isn't dealing with the absolute
super latest Linux world formating and filesystem schemes (ext4), it's
still an excellent addition to one's collection of Windows goodies. My
$0.02USD.

Hi, Pete - Yes, as a long-time Linux user I'm familiar with GParted. I
haven't used it in a long time so wasn't sure if it would have an easy gui
or not. I'll have to take a look the next time I boot something with
Knoppix.

BootIT NG also does partitioning but the last time I looked at it, it had a
pretty steep learning curve. It isn't free but it has a trial version that
will work perfectly for someone only wanting to do partitioning once.

And I'm completely with you on Partition Magic. I haven't used any Symantec
products on Windows machines for years.

Cheers,

Malke