Combine 2 NTFS partitions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter George Claborn
  • Start date Start date
G

George Claborn

40Gb drive in my new laptop arrived with 2 NTFS 20Gb
partitions, C: & D: C: is system partition. My goal was to
get rid of D: and extend C: to 40Gb.
So, in Disk Management I deleted D:'s partition. No
problem; space shows unallocated.
Then, since the GUI doesn't have an extend option, from the
command line I executed DISKPART, selected disk 0, volume
1, the system partition. I then executed 'extend size=40'.

OOPS.

Diskpart was happy with this, but only did half the job:
Back in the GUI, Disk 0 now shows a 40Gb NTFS partition in
the lower half of the disk management screen, but drive C:
in the top half still is only listed as 20Gb, and I'm stuck.
No GUI *or* diskpart commands appear to allow me to even
get back to my atarting point of 40Gb accessible in 2
partitions. I've lost 20Gb!

Are there any other options besides:
A. Completely reformat and re-install WXP
B. Spend $70 for Partition Magic?

Thanks, George
 
The only way you can create, delete, resize or merge existing partitions,
and not harm your existing Windows XP installation, is to use
a third-party partitioning program such as Partition Magic 8
(www.powerquest.com).

Partition Magic Instructional Videos
http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3709.cfm


Otherwise, a "clean install" will be required.


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

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


| 40Gb drive in my new laptop arrived with 2 NTFS 20Gb
| partitions, C: & D: C: is system partition. My goal was to
| get rid of D: and extend C: to 40Gb.
| So, in Disk Management I deleted D:'s partition. No
| problem; space shows unallocated.
| Then, since the GUI doesn't have an extend option, from the
| command line I executed DISKPART, selected disk 0, volume
| 1, the system partition. I then executed 'extend size=40'.
|
| OOPS.
|
| Diskpart was happy with this, but only did half the job:
| Back in the GUI, Disk 0 now shows a 40Gb NTFS partition in
| the lower half of the disk management screen, but drive C:
| in the top half still is only listed as 20Gb, and I'm stuck.
| No GUI *or* diskpart commands appear to allow me to even
| get back to my atarting point of 40Gb accessible in 2
| partitions. I've lost 20Gb!
|
| Are there any other options besides:
| A. Completely reformat and re-install WXP
| B. Spend $70 for Partition Magic?
|
| Thanks, George
 
That raises the question, has he done damage already (see
down page) that will require a clean install to fix?

My guess is yes, but I don't know.


message | The only way you can create, delete, resize or merge
existing partitions,
| and not harm your existing Windows XP installation, is to
use
| a third-party partitioning program such as Partition Magic
8
| (www.powerquest.com).
|
| Partition Magic Instructional Videos
| http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3709.cfm
|
|
| Otherwise, a "clean install" will be required.
|
|
| --
| Carey Frisch
| Microsoft MVP
| Windows XP - Shell/User
|
| ----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
|
| |
| | 40Gb drive in my new laptop arrived with 2 NTFS 20Gb
| | partitions, C: & D: C: is system partition. My goal was
to
| | get rid of D: and extend C: to 40Gb.
| | So, in Disk Management I deleted D:'s partition. No
| | problem; space shows unallocated.
| | Then, since the GUI doesn't have an extend option, from
the
| | command line I executed DISKPART, selected disk 0,
volume
| | 1, the system partition. I then executed 'extend
size=40'.
| |
| | OOPS.
| |
| | Diskpart was happy with this, but only did half the job:
| | Back in the GUI, Disk 0 now shows a 40Gb NTFS partition
in
| | the lower half of the disk management screen, but drive
C:
| | in the top half still is only listed as 20Gb, and I'm
stuck.
| | No GUI *or* diskpart commands appear to allow me to even
| | get back to my atarting point of 40Gb accessible in 2
| | partitions. I've lost 20Gb!
| |
| | Are there any other options besides:
| | A. Completely reformat and re-install WXP
| | B. Spend $70 for Partition Magic?
| |
| | Thanks, George
 
You can demo TeraByte Unlimited's BootItNG for free. Don't know if it will
help, but you may be able to use it in order to fix things up.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html In my opinion it's much
better than partition magic...and it's cheaper I believe (and no, they don't
pay me in any way :). You don't need to install BootIt in order to use it
so, just skip the install prompt when you boot the floppy and it will run
just fine.

Good luck, Chris
 
Hi, George.

DiskPart is a great utility. But it is TRICKY!! Ya gotta read those
instructions, then print 'em out and read 'em again!

I've only used it twice and made the same mistake you did - both times. The
WinXP Help and Support file (search for "extend") says it clearly enough:

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
extend [size=n]
Extends the selected volume by size=n megabytes (MB).

But you, like me, typed "40" instead of "40000". We gotta type the size in
MEGAbytes, not GIGAbytes. In my case, it treated the command as though I
had not put in a size at all and extended the first volume (D:, in my case)
to the max - which is just what you wanted. I only wanted to extend my 2 GB
volume by 3 GB to be 5 GB, but when I typed "extend size=3", it extended D:
to 8 GB, using the entire 6 GB that was available from the 3 old FAT16
volumes I had deleted. (I left it at 8 GB and have not regretted my
mistake.) I'm not clear on what it did in your case, though. Do you now
have 40 GB PLUS 20 GB? 60 Gb on a 40 GB HD?

Of course, another line in the Help file says:
You cannot extend the current system or boot partitions.

Apparently, you were trying to extend your system partition (Drive C:),
which was also your boot partition (where \Windows resides). :>(

I have a very small (under 1 GB) Drive C: for my system partition, with
WinXP installed on Drive D:. I also installed a second copy of WinXP on my
second physical drive in a volume marked Drive X:. When I wanted to extend
Drive D:, I booted into WinXP on Drive X: so that D: was - temporarily - NOT
my boot partition and I could use DiskPart on it.

Since Drive C: is your system/boot partition, you might think you could boot
from the WinXP CD-ROM into the Recovery Console and use DiskPart from there.
Trouble is, the RC version of DiskPart does not include the Extend function.
As I said, it's TRICKY!

So the only way to use DiskPart /extend in your situation, I suppose, is to
put that physical HD into a second WinXP computer and run the command from
there.

I'm having trouble picturing how your Partition Table must look now. It's
only 64 bytes long, of course, a part of the MBR, the first physical sector
on your HD. Good old DiskEdit from the Norton Utilities could fix that
pretty quickly. (DiskProbe probably could, too, but I'm not very familiar
with that.) All you gotta do (I think) is zero out the 16 bytes for that
funny 40 GB partition, leaving the entry for the 20 GB good one. Then use
DM or some other tool to clean up things. Have you tried to use Disk
Management to delete the 40 GB volume? If it works, you're good to go:
WinXP is still installed, along with all your applications. I'm just
thinking out loud at this point, but maybe it will give you some ideas; or
somebody else can jump in to amplify - or correct - my thoughts.

Let us know what you try. And what works. ;^}

RC
 
Rick, Chris, Jim:

Thanks much for your help. Well, I got Partition Magic. How
incredibly simple and intuitive. It also thought my
partition was full-sized at 40Gb, so I first shrunk it to
13 Gb (smaller than C:'s orig. size) then re-extended to 40.
A couple clicks, 2 reboots, 5 minutes, done.

Thank goodness Microsoft has done such a mediocre job in
this space leaving room for terrific products like PM.

- George
-----Original Message-----
Hi, George.

DiskPart is a great utility. But it is TRICKY!! Ya gotta read those
instructions, then print 'em out and read 'em again!

I've only used it twice and made the same mistake you did - both times. The
WinXP Help and Support file (search for "extend") says it clearly enough:

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
extend [size=n]
Extends the selected volume by size=n megabytes (MB).

But you, like me, typed "40" instead of "40000". We gotta type the size in
MEGAbytes, not GIGAbytes. In my case, it treated the command as though I
had not put in a size at all and extended the first volume (D:, in my case)
to the max - which is just what you wanted. I only wanted to extend my 2 GB
volume by 3 GB to be 5 GB, but when I typed "extend size=3", it extended D:
to 8 GB, using the entire 6 GB that was available from the 3 old FAT16
volumes I had deleted. (I left it at 8 GB and have not regretted my
mistake.) I'm not clear on what it did in your case, though. Do you now
have 40 GB PLUS 20 GB? 60 Gb on a 40 GB HD?

Of course, another line in the Help file says:
You cannot extend the current system or boot partitions.

Apparently, you were trying to extend your system partition (Drive C:),
which was also your boot partition (where \Windows resides). :>(

I have a very small (under 1 GB) Drive C: for my system partition, with
WinXP installed on Drive D:. I also installed a second copy of WinXP on my
second physical drive in a volume marked Drive X:. When I wanted to extend
Drive D:, I booted into WinXP on Drive X: so that D: was - temporarily - NOT
my boot partition and I could use DiskPart on it.

Since Drive C: is your system/boot partition, you might think you could boot
from the WinXP CD-ROM into the Recovery Console and use DiskPart from there.
Trouble is, the RC version of DiskPart does not include the Extend function.
As I said, it's TRICKY!

So the only way to use DiskPart /extend in your situation, I suppose, is to
put that physical HD into a second WinXP computer and run the command from
there.

I'm having trouble picturing how your Partition Table must look now. It's
only 64 bytes long, of course, a part of the MBR, the first physical sector
on your HD. Good old DiskEdit from the Norton Utilities could fix that
pretty quickly. (DiskProbe probably could, too, but I'm not very familiar
with that.) All you gotta do (I think) is zero out the 16 bytes for that
funny 40 GB partition, leaving the entry for the 20 GB good one. Then use
DM or some other tool to clean up things. Have you tried to use Disk
Management to delete the 40 GB volume? If it works, you're good to go:
WinXP is still installed, along with all your applications. I'm just
thinking out loud at this point, but maybe it will give you some ideas; or
somebody else can jump in to amplify - or correct - my thoughts.

Let us know what you try. And what works. ;^}

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

George Claborn said:
40Gb drive in my new laptop arrived with 2 NTFS 20Gb
partitions, C: & D: C: is system partition. My goal was to
get rid of D: and extend C: to 40Gb.
So, in Disk Management I deleted D:'s partition. No
problem; space shows unallocated.
Then, since the GUI doesn't have an extend option, from the
command line I executed DISKPART, selected disk 0, volume
1, the system partition. I then executed 'extend size=40'.

OOPS.

Diskpart was happy with this, but only did half the job:
Back in the GUI, Disk 0 now shows a 40Gb NTFS partition in
the lower half of the disk management screen, but drive C:
in the top half still is only listed as 20Gb, and I'm stuck.
No GUI *or* diskpart commands appear to allow me to even
get back to my atarting point of 40Gb accessible in 2
partitions. I've lost 20Gb!

Are there any other options besides:
A. Completely reformat and re-install WXP
B. Spend $70 for Partition Magic?

Thanks, George
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
Oops... Carey, too. Thanks! It was your post that convinced
me to stop dinking around and go with PM.
- George
-----Original Message-----
Rick, Chris, Jim:

Thanks much for your help. Well, I got Partition Magic. How
incredibly simple and intuitive. It also thought my
partition was full-sized at 40Gb, so I first shrunk it to
13 Gb (smaller than C:'s orig. size) then re-extended to 40.
A couple clicks, 2 reboots, 5 minutes, done.

Thank goodness Microsoft has done such a mediocre job in
this space leaving room for terrific products like PM.

- George
-----Original Message-----
Hi, George.

DiskPart is a great utility. But it is TRICKY!! Ya gotta read those
instructions, then print 'em out and read 'em again!

I've only used it twice and made the same mistake you did - both times. The
WinXP Help and Support file (search for "extend") says it clearly enough:

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
extend [size=n]
Extends the selected volume by size=n megabytes (MB).

But you, like me, typed "40" instead of "40000". We gotta type the size in
MEGAbytes, not GIGAbytes. In my case, it treated the command as though I
had not put in a size at all and extended the first volume (D:, in my case)
to the max - which is just what you wanted. I only wanted to extend my 2 GB
volume by 3 GB to be 5 GB, but when I typed "extend size=3", it extended D:
to 8 GB, using the entire 6 GB that was available from the 3 old FAT16
volumes I had deleted. (I left it at 8 GB and have not regretted my
mistake.) I'm not clear on what it did in your case, though. Do you now
have 40 GB PLUS 20 GB? 60 Gb on a 40 GB HD?

Of course, another line in the Help file says:
You cannot extend the current system or boot partitions.

Apparently, you were trying to extend your system partition (Drive C:),
which was also your boot partition (where \Windows resides). :>(

I have a very small (under 1 GB) Drive C: for my system partition, with
WinXP installed on Drive D:. I also installed a second copy of WinXP on my
second physical drive in a volume marked Drive X:. When I wanted to extend
Drive D:, I booted into WinXP on Drive X: so that D: was - temporarily - NOT
my boot partition and I could use DiskPart on it.

Since Drive C: is your system/boot partition, you might think you could boot
from the WinXP CD-ROM into the Recovery Console and use DiskPart from there.
Trouble is, the RC version of DiskPart does not include the Extend function.
As I said, it's TRICKY!

So the only way to use DiskPart /extend in your situation, I suppose, is to
put that physical HD into a second WinXP computer and run the command from
there.

I'm having trouble picturing how your Partition Table must look now. It's
only 64 bytes long, of course, a part of the MBR, the first physical sector
on your HD. Good old DiskEdit from the Norton Utilities could fix that
pretty quickly. (DiskProbe probably could, too, but I'm not very familiar
with that.) All you gotta do (I think) is zero out the 16 bytes for that
funny 40 GB partition, leaving the entry for the 20 GB good one. Then use
DM or some other tool to clean up things. Have you tried to use Disk
Management to delete the 40 GB volume? If it works, you're good to go:
WinXP is still installed, along with all your applications. I'm just
thinking out loud at this point, but maybe it will give you some ideas; or
somebody else can jump in to amplify - or correct - my thoughts.

Let us know what you try. And what works. ;^}

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

George Claborn said:
40Gb drive in my new laptop arrived with 2 NTFS 20Gb
partitions, C: & D: C: is system partition. My goal was to
get rid of D: and extend C: to 40Gb.
So, in Disk Management I deleted D:'s partition. No
problem; space shows unallocated.
Then, since the GUI doesn't have an extend option, from the
command line I executed DISKPART, selected disk 0, volume
1, the system partition. I then executed 'extend size=40'.

OOPS.

Diskpart was happy with this, but only did half the job:
Back in the GUI, Disk 0 now shows a 40Gb NTFS partition in
the lower half of the disk management screen, but drive C:
in the top half still is only listed as 20Gb, and I'm stuck.
No GUI *or* diskpart commands appear to allow me to even
get back to my atarting point of 40Gb accessible in 2
partitions. I've lost 20Gb!

Are there any other options besides:
A. Completely reformat and re-install WXP
B. Spend $70 for Partition Magic?

Thanks, George
Click to expand...


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