How to combine partitions to make room for C drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter cfman
  • Start date Start date
C

cfman

Hi all,

I am still messing with my harddisk upgrading. With your previous help, I
have a clearer idea now how to make it a minimal hassle for me...

Recall that I have 2 40GB harddisk, partitioned into C, D, E, F, G, H, I
drives, with a 11GB C drive, which constantly ran low leading to bad
performance. D drive is a programs drive, I think it's belong to the second
harddisk. E, F, G, H, I are data drives.

Now my plan of attack is to combine the 3 partitions which belongs ot the
harddisk containing C drive to a big 40GB C drive.

I definitely know PartitionMagic. But I have always failed using it. Last
time I tried: I had told myself not to damage the partition, but it did
damage the partition, my OS was gone, and I had to reinstall everything.

This time I am facing the same problem -- the C drive is a OS partition, and
it is vital. Can anybody give me a step-by-step workflow that will
DEFINITELY work without damaging the C drive? The least thing I want is to
reinstall everyting.

Thanks a lot
 
On 4/2/2007 4:19 PM On a whim, cfman pounded out on the keyboard
Hi all,

I am still messing with my harddisk upgrading. With your previous help, I
have a clearer idea now how to make it a minimal hassle for me...

Recall that I have 2 40GB harddisk, partitioned into C, D, E, F, G, H, I
drives, with a 11GB C drive, which constantly ran low leading to bad
performance. D drive is a programs drive, I think it's belong to the second
harddisk. E, F, G, H, I are data drives.

Now my plan of attack is to combine the 3 partitions which belongs ot the
harddisk containing C drive to a big 40GB C drive.

I definitely know PartitionMagic. But I have always failed using it. Last
time I tried: I had told myself not to damage the partition, but it did
damage the partition, my OS was gone, and I had to reinstall everything.

This time I am facing the same problem -- the C drive is a OS partition, and
it is vital. Can anybody give me a step-by-step workflow that will
DEFINITELY work without damaging the C drive? The least thing I want is to
reinstall everyting.

Thanks a lot
Click to expand...

Use the MERGE function of PM to combine partitions on a drive. BUT MAKE
A BACKUP FIRST!

You could also use the BROWSE feature (right click a partition and
select Browse) and then copy the folders and paste them into another
drive. But you would have to enlarge the C: drive, shrink the D:, back
and forth until everything was copied. But it might be safer than a Merge.

OR, you could just buy a larger drive, use PM to copy the C: partition,
enlarge it to the size you want, copy the other partitions to the larger
drive, replace the small drive with C: with the larger drive and then
just copy the data from the other drives over to the new larger C:.


--
Terry

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
 
before you start, you should image your C-Drive and D-Drive using Acronis
True Image or us Symantec (previously Norton) Ghost. Either of these
products and can create a perfect image that can be stored on a DVD or can
be broken down small enough to be stored on multiple CD's (if that is the
only option). Then if you crap out your drive, you can restore it back to
the current condition.

I always keep an image of my partitions stored for possible restoration. A
simple way to do things is to image the partition, get a bigger drive, then
restore on to the new drive. Everything will restore perfect.
 
JCO said:
before you start, you should image your C-Drive and D-Drive using Acronis
True Image or us Symantec (previously Norton) Ghost. Either of these
products and can create a perfect image that can be stored on a DVD or can
be broken down small enough to be stored on multiple CD's (if that is the
only option). Then if you crap out your drive, you can restore it back
to the current condition.

I always keep an image of my partitions stored for possible restoration.
A simple way to do things is to image the partition, get a bigger drive,
then restore on to the new drive. Everything will restore perfect.
Click to expand...

Okay, you advised me on how to prepare for failure; but you haven't told me
how to work for success. What steps shall I follow to combine all the
partitions on one harddisk(say, C, E, F) and all the partitions on the other
harddisk(say, D, G, H, I) each into one big partition? What steps will lead
to success without the need to restore the failed partitions at the first
place?

Thanks a lot!
 
That really depends a lot on what is on the drives. Last week a friend of
mine wanted me to do a similar task but he installed programs on
4-partitions so that each of them had a "Program Files" Folder. That makes
things real tough and nearly impossible. First of all, always start by
cleanning out all tmp files / tmp folders from the C-Drive and delete all
internet cookies. I assume you did this already. It can give you enough
wiggle room to get started. What can be a real problem is that PM must have
a certain percentage of free space or it won't work at all. I'm not sure
what that amount is. It will tell you if you don't have enough.

Then make sure you've done a "Check Disk" on each partition. Ohterwise, PM
will screw up without you know what happened.

From what you said earlier, the OS is on C & Applications on D (which may be
a different hard disk). So its very difficutlt to say. But one thing is
for sure, you can only move free space from an adjacent partition. Lets
assume C, D, E, F are all on one hard drive. You can only move space from
D to C. This means you may have to start taking space from F first over to
E. Safe to reboot in between when things get complicated. Then you can
take space from E for D, Reboot, then take space from D to C & Reboot again.
Like I said, it is safe to reboot on complicated moves otherwise the
Registry can get all messed up. Thats the way to move free space but it
assumes that somewhere down the food chain... free space exists.

Don't know if you have enough to go on here but I's going on mid-night so
that's all I can type for now. I will watch this thread and get your
response.

My original remarks was not preparing you for failure but for success. It
makes sense to Image the drive before you start then you have different
options. If your OS, Application Image is on a DVD. If you Data is backed
up, you can reformat and repartition the drive anyway you want to. Then
restore to it. That's not a something to do only if you fail. That's a
"Plan of Action" that you do instead of the way I mentioned in the first
4-paragraphs.

Good Luck
 
JCO said:
That really depends a lot on what is on the drives. Last week a friend of mine
wanted me to do a similar task but he installed programs on 4-partitions so that
each of them had a "Program Files" Folder. That makes things real tough and nearly
impossible. First of all, always start by cleanning out all tmp files / tmp
folders from the C-Drive and delete all internet cookies. I assume you did this
already. It can give you enough wiggle room to get started. What can be a real
problem is that PM must have a certain percentage of free space or it won't work at
all. I'm not sure what that amount is. It will tell you if you don't have enough.

Then make sure you've done a "Check Disk" on each partition. Ohterwise, PM will
screw up without you know what happened.

From what you said earlier, the OS is on C & Applications on D (which may be a
different hard disk). So its very difficutlt to say. But one thing is for sure,
you can only move free space from an adjacent partition. Lets assume C, D, E, F
are all on one hard drive. You can only move space from D to C. This means you
may have to start taking space from F first over to E. Safe to reboot in between
when things get complicated. Then you can take space from E for D, Reboot, then
take space from D to C & Reboot again.
Click to expand...

Not true. It's been some time since I used BING, but IIRC you can slide the free
space to any other partition that's on the drive. I now use and have been for quite
some time, Acronis Disk Director, and it can take free space from any partition on
the drive and add it to any other on that drive.


--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
On 4/2/2007 9:26 PM On a whim, cfman pounded out on the keyboard
Okay, you advised me on how to prepare for failure; but you haven't told me
how to work for success. What steps shall I follow to combine all the
partitions on one harddisk(say, C, E, F) and all the partitions on the other
harddisk(say, D, G, H, I) each into one big partition? What steps will lead
to success without the need to restore the failed partitions at the first
place?

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

I gave you three options, two with PM and one with another drive. Do
you just want to hear it again from others?

--
Terry

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
 
Okay, I used Acronis but not the other tools you mentioned. cfman says
that he has Partition Magic. I'm almost positive that you have to do it in
several steps to ensure you don't mess things up.

Thanks for the update on Acronis. I will look into that.
 
I guess, if your not familiar with these tools and don't do this sort of
stufff... It can be a scarry thing.
cfman has several ways to do things now. He just needs get the confidence
to do it... and do it safely.
 
On 4/3/2007 7:53 AM On a whim, JCO pounded out on the keyboard
I guess, if your not familiar with these tools and don't do this sort of
stufff... It can be a scarry thing.
cfman has several ways to do things now. He just needs get the confidence
to do it... and do it safely.
Click to expand...

Hopefully if he reads anything, he'll make a backup before attempting
any of it.

--
Terry

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.
 
JCO said:
Okay, I used Acronis but not the other tools you mentioned. cfman says
that he has Partition Magic. I'm almost positive that you have to do it
in several steps to ensure you don't mess things up.

Thanks for the update on Acronis. I will look into that.
Click to expand...


I don't have PM on my hand. I just have heard about it... if you have better
software that is more fool-proof and will not screw up my system, I want to
have a try. I know this is a "dangerous" job, but I have to do it because my
C drive(a pure OS drive) is always 0GB now... a huge tough headache!!! PM
won't work on this partition, because it does not have enough free space???
 
cfman said:
I don't have PM on my hand. I just have heard about it... if you have better
software that is more fool-proof and will not screw up my system, I want to
have a try. I know this is a "dangerous" job, but I have to do it because my
C drive(a pure OS drive) is always 0GB now... a huge tough headache!!! PM
won't work on this partition, because it does not have enough free space???
Click to expand...

I take it that you have done a disk cleanup and that you have deleted
all the files that can safely be removed? All temp files? Temporary
Internet files? $NtUninstallKBnnnnnn$ files? Emptied the Recycle bin?
After you have deleted all unecessary files delete the pagefile and
try doing the partion work again. You do have a back up of your
precious data, do you?

John
 
cfman said:
I don't have PM on my hand. I just have heard about it... if you have
better software that is more fool-proof and will not screw up my system, I
want to have a try. I know this is a "dangerous" job, but I have to do it
because my C drive(a pure OS drive) is always 0GB now... a huge tough
headache!!! PM won't work on this partition, because it does not have
enough free space???
Click to expand...

The way to fool proof any computer operation, or at least give you a goodly
measure of protection, is to have a good backup, preferably using disk
imaging. Nothing utility is fool proof; any work at the file level such as
partitioning has risk.
 
The new version of Acronis 10.something contains an Image software and Disk
Management software that does the same thing as PM. You can create space on
your C-Drive by changing the view to see all hidden files and all system
files (2-settings). At that point, you will see all your update files in
the Windows Folder. All back up files start with "$" followed by numbers.
Each of these files also has a corresponding .log file that begin with the
letters KB.... Once you delete all of these file, you will create lots of
space, however, you will not be able to undo an update that has been
installed. That should not be a big deal if your system, that has been
updated, is running okay. Don't forget to change your File View back to
Hide.... Hidden files and System files when you are done.

Assuming that you have kept your system running up to date with all patches,
I would assume that you will create lots of free space by doing this
technique.

Let me know.
 
JCO said:
That really depends a lot on what is on the drives. Last week a friend of
mine wanted me to do a similar task but he installed programs on
4-partitions so that each of them had a "Program Files" Folder. That makes
things real tough and nearly impossible. First of all, always start by
cleanning out all tmp files / tmp folders from the C-Drive and delete all
internet cookies. I assume you did this already. It can give you enough
wiggle room to get started. What can be a real problem is that PM must have
a certain percentage of free space or it won't work at all. I'm not sure
what that amount is. It will tell you if you don't have enough.

Then make sure you've done a "Check Disk" on each partition. Ohterwise, PM
will screw up without you know what happened.

From what you said earlier, the OS is on C & Applications on D (which may be
a different hard disk). So its very difficutlt to say. But one thing is
for sure, you can only move free space from an adjacent partition. Lets
assume C, D, E, F are all on one hard drive. You can only move space from
D to C. This means you may have to start taking space from F first over to
E. Safe to reboot in between when things get complicated. Then you can
take space from E for D, Reboot, then take space from D to C & Reboot again.
Like I said, it is safe to reboot on complicated moves otherwise the
Registry can get all messed up. Thats the way to move free space but it
assumes that somewhere down the food chain... free space exists.

Don't know if you have enough to go on here but I's going on mid-night so
that's all I can type for now. I will watch this thread and get your
response.

My original remarks was not preparing you for failure but for success. It
makes sense to Image the drive before you start then you have different
options. If your OS, Application Image is on a DVD. If you Data is backed
up, you can reformat and repartition the drive anyway you want to. Then
restore to it. That's not a something to do only if you fail. That's a
"Plan of Action" that you do instead of the way I mentioned in the first
4-paragraphs.

Good Luck
Click to expand...
Hi JCO,

Your idea is well thought out and I've used it a number of times the
only thing that I would insert, is that I do a defrag before doing
the first merge. So in your example, I would defrag 'F:' & 'E:'
after I have done the chkdsk. I haven't lost any data from not doing
a defrag, but I have had the merge abort when a defrag wasn't done
first.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

"When hope is lost . . . the spirit dies."
-- Lao Tzu

http://www.tlerma.com/
 
Please remember to update us on your progress.

cfman said:
I don't have PM on my hand. I just have heard about it... if you have
better software that is more fool-proof and will not screw up my system, I
want to have a try. I know this is a "dangerous" job, but I have to do it
because my C drive(a pure OS drive) is always 0GB now... a huge tough
headache!!! PM won't work on this partition, because it does not have
enough free space???
Click to expand...
 
Yes Defrag is another thing you can do. I was going to mentioned that ..
then for some reason, just left it out. Although not as important, it is
nice to defrag before you make an image. That way when you do a restore,
you will know that the restoration is also defragged, therefore optimized
for performance.

At the time, I just did not think it was absolutely necessary.
Thanks for adding the Defrag.
 
JCO said:
cfman,
Any updates on this thread
Click to expand...


Absolutely!

As you can see from my other posts. I have now a 300GB harddisk ready(long
time ago). And I bought a USB converter today for the harddisk, so I can
make backup for the data before I combine the partitions.

I do have a question though:

I hope I can create images of the three partitions I want to combine onto
the 300GB harddisk(now acting as an external USB drive via my converter),
let's say the three partitions are:

C, E, F,

I use Ghost to make images,

and then what steps do I follow to combine the 3 partitions into one C
partition(C drive)?

And if I fail, then I don't have any system any more, the PC won't even
reboot, and I guess for my DELL POWEREDGE 400SC, booting from USB(that 300GB
harddisk) is not supported.

I can unplug that USB converter and use the 300GB harddisk as an internal
drive,

but again we don't have any OS, how to use the Ghost to recover everything
back?

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

Instead of combining the three partitions,

is there a way that I just combine them, and at the same time, duplicate the
new C drive exactly on the 300GB disk, so the OS is still bootable from the
300GB disk?

Then I can throw away this old 40GB disk, and let my 300GB substitute its
position in the system, and it will work along with the other remaining 40GB
disk(which is the data disk, partitioned to be G, H, I, I guess)...

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

Any thoughts? I just want to learn the most efficient and failure-proof way
to handle these things...

Thanks a lot!
 
Back
Top