Deleting unneeded partition (D), combine with C, without loss in O

[Guest]

System is Dell I9300, Xp Pro, 2gb mem, all latest updates
My hard drive shows a C and a D partition, os on the C.
C: Basic NTFS 15gb approx, 5.4 free space left
D: Basic NTFS 42 gb approx, 32 gb free space. These are my data files.
I want to temp. store data files on an external drive, and then combine the
D vol into the C for an unpartitioned disk. That would give me more free
space for the os files plus returned data files. Been reading MS help on
partitions etc, but it is not clear to me if I can accomplish this. I don't
want to mess up my OS, obviously. Any help?

 

[dMn]

System is Dell I9300, Xp Pro, 2gb mem, all latest updates
My hard drive shows a C and a D partition, os on the C.
C: Basic NTFS 15gb approx, 5.4 free space left
D: Basic NTFS 42 gb approx, 32 gb free space. These are my data files.
I want to temp. store data files on an external drive, and then combine the
D vol into the C for an unpartitioned disk. That would give me more free
space for the os files plus returned data files. Been reading MS help on
partitions etc, but it is not clear to me if I can accomplish this. I don't
want to mess up my OS, obviously. Any help?

Several partitioning programs exist that will help you. I used
PartitionMagic pretty reliably a while ago, but haven't needed it
recently, so you might do some quick research on the best products
currently. You should be able to move all your files from the D: drive
to the external, delete the D: partition and then use PartitionMagic to
resize C: to claim some or all of the unused space.

dMn

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the info, been reading about Symantic's partitioning program (I
forget the name). I was also wondering if anyone knew about whether the
internal partitioning software would do the job on its own operating system.
Wouldn't need to spend 70 bucks, hi hi. Late now; I will rate replies
tomorrow.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

You need a 3rd party program, the Windows native tools can not change the
partitions and preserve data.

 

[dMn]

Thank you for the info, been reading about Symantic's partitioning program (I
forget the name). I was also wondering if anyone knew about whether the
internal partitioning software would do the job on its own operating system.
Wouldn't need to spend 70 bucks, hi hi. Late now; I will rate replies
tomorrow.

Resizing a partition without data loss is serious business. It's not
hard, but mistakes cost you. If your looking to save money, you can
look seriously at the NTFSRESIZE utility created for linux users to be
able to adjust their drives to make room for installations of a new OS.
It is reliable and free, but it may lack some of the ease of use and
protection from yourself that commercial products would provide.

http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntfsresize

Personally, I would use it. But I use VIM as an editor and perl is a
required install on every computer I own. You need to judge for
yourself how much hand holding you want or need.

dMn

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

System is Dell I9300, Xp Pro, 2gb mem, all latest updates
My hard drive shows a C and a D partition, os on the C.
C: Basic NTFS 15gb approx, 5.4 free space left
D: Basic NTFS 42 gb approx, 32 gb free space. These are my data files.
I want to temp. store data files on an external drive, and then
combine the D vol into the C for an unpartitioned disk. That would
give me more free space for the os files plus returned data files.
Been reading MS help on partitions etc, but it is not clear to me if
I can accomplish this. I don't want to mess up my OS, obviously. Any
help?

First a word on the terminology. What you want is *not* "an unpartitioned
disk," but a disk with just a single partition, C: I stress this because if
you don't understand the correct terminology, you are likely to misread
instructions on how to do this and do the wrong thing. For example, if you
were literally to unpartition your drive, you would lose *everything* on it.

To answer your question, unfortunately no version of Windows 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.

 

[Bob Harris]

Are you aware that if you make one large C: partition, then should you ever
need to re-install XP you would be wipping out all of your personal files?
Sometimes you can do a "repair" of XP, which preserves user files. But,
other times a clean install is required, and that destroys all existing
files on C:.

If you have never had to re-install XP, then you have been lucky. Read this
and other related newsgroups for many stories from people who have had to
re-install.

This is not a major concern, if you do frequent backups of your files off of
the PC.

Otherwise, you could be setting yourself up for a disaster.