Changing Partition size on Main Volume

[Tonny]

My hard drive is divided into three separate volumes: PQService 2.93GB,
Volume Csystem) 26.27GB, Volume D: 26.66GB. I understand that the Windows
XP is stored and running off of Volume C.

All of Volume D is empty (26.66GB free). Volume C has about 14 GB free. I
would like to move the partition on the disk so that it would cut off 10GB of
volume C, giving volume D a total of @37GB. I basically want to consolidate
my extra free disk space onto one volume instead of having it split between
both volumes. Can this be done? I'm thinking that all the data on volume C
has to be neatly defragmented allowing a clear 10GB of it to be repositioned
via a new partition to volume D. Is any of this possible without having to
format the entire hard disk, reinstalling the entire OS system, and starting
from scratch at the partition point I want to set?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My hard drive is divided into three separate volumes: PQService 2.93GB,
Volume Csystem) 26.27GB, Volume D: 26.66GB. I understand that the Windows
XP is stored and running off of Volume C.

All of Volume D is empty (26.66GB free). Volume C has about 14 GB free. I
would like to move the partition on the disk so that it would cut off 10GB of
volume C, giving volume D a total of @37GB. I basically want to consolidate
my extra free disk space onto one volume instead of having it split between
both volumes. Can this be done? I'm thinking that all the data on volume C
has to be neatly defragmented allowing a clear 10GB of it to be repositioned
via a new partition to volume D. Is any of this possible without having to
format the entire hard disk, reinstalling the entire OS system, and starting
from scratch at the partition point I want to set?

Unfortunately, no version of Windows before Vista provides any way of
changing the existing partition structure of the drive
nondestructively. The only way to do what you want is with third-party
software. Partition Magic is the best-known such program, but there
are freeware/shareware alternatives. One such program is BootIt Next
Generation. It's shareware, but comes with a free 30-day trial, so you
should be able to do what you want within that 30 days. I haven't used
it myself (because I've never needed to use *any* such program), but
it comes highly recommended by several other MVPs here.

Whatever software you use, make sure you have a good backup before
beginning. Although there's no reason to expect a problem, things
*can* go wrong.

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

you should leave well
enough alone and rethink
the options.

what i would suggest is
to move your personal
files, docs, pics, etc to
the d drive and leave
c strictly for system
files.

if you right click on
"my documents" you
should get the option
to relocate it.

 

[Tonny]

That's very good advice, especially since I'm not a computer programmer
Many of the times I've deleted or altered something, it ended up biting me in
the back and causing me to spend much more time than I originally wanted to
fix the original problem, let alone the other five which occured after me
screwing the whole thing up. But, practice makes perfect I guess and its
pointless to have 20gb of free space just sitting in the "system" volume of
my hard disk.

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

it's good that you can
realize that sometimes
the outcomes are not
always as expected and
sometimes prove costly
as well.

but more importantly,
you realize that you
have a valuable resource
and the opportunity to ask
others for their opinions
and assessments.

the difficulty is to figure
out which course of action
should you take.

the rule of thumb is to
first use try to benefit from
whatever resources that are
available to you now.

in this case, the manufacture
of your computer thought it
best to have that additional
partition, even though they
could have simply provided
the machine with a single
partition.

so in this case, simply take
advantage of what you have.

my firm belief is to "never
put all your eggs in one
basket". this is not a
theory or opinion, but a
standard method of practice
that applies to many things
in society, not only for
computers.

use your d drive strictly for
your personal data and leave
the c strictly for system files.

your system restore feature
if used properly will provide
protection to your system on
the c drive, however the feature
is not designed to protect
your personal files.

the next step then is to formulate
a method to back up your
d drive in order to preserve your
personal files.

the microsoft "synctoy" is free and
can be helpful to clone your
d drive onto cd, dvd or external
drive, which ever is available to
you.

also, microsoft provides 5 gigs of free
online space for your personal
files too.

good luck and have fun!