merge partitions

[vj]

Hi all,
I have an 80GB hard disk with 6 partitions of about 13GB each. I want
to merge two of the partitions. I know it can be done using third party
software such as PartitionMagic, but I don't have it. The two
partitions which I want to merge don't have any data (i.e. I can afford
to clean them up before merging). Is there a way to merge the two
partitions without risking the data on other partitions (and without
using PartitionMagic etc)?
One way which comes to my mind is to boot from WinXP CD, and proceed as
if installing WinXP. When it comes to the stage where it asks for the
partition where to install, we have an option there to delete (and
create) partitions. I do the needful there, and then don't proceed to
install WinXP. Please suggest if it is a sensible and safe way, and if
yes, when I delete one partition, how to make it merge to the desired
other partition.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

XP does not have utilities to merge partitions. The only way is to delete
"both" partition and then a new partition with the "total" space of the two
partition.

I believe you can locate a "free" partition utility (Arconis??)

 

[Jim]

If the two partitions in question don't have any data, then presumably it
would be OK to delete one of them, then allocate the free space to the
other, correct? (iow, technically not a merge, but the effect is the same).

What you can do is use BootIt NG to manipulate your partitions, in a variety
of ways, including as described above.

1) Visit http://www.bootitng.com and download BootIt NG. Unzip the file,
and execute BOOTITNG.EXE to create the bootable floppy (accept the
defaults), or ISO, your choice.

2) Boot the BootIT NG floppy (or CD). When the Welcome to Setup screen
appears, select Cancel, follow the prompts, and you will be taken to the
Partition Manager.

3) From the Partition Manager, you can delete, resize, move (slide), etc.,
just about anything you want. Although there isn't a "merge" function, this
shouldn't be an issue if there's no data to save. To merge partitions
requires working at the DATA level, which BootIt NG does not do, only the
partition level, hence why a merge option is not available.

4) When done, hit Close, remove the BootIt NG floppy (or CD), and hit
Reboot.

NOTE: As with ANY partitioning software operation, there is always the
possibility of data loss from a failed operation or loss of power. Although
BootIt NG is VERY reliable (and I've been using it for the last 6-7 years as
my boot manager, never had a problem), and I wouldn't hesitate to use it w/o
backing up, you might feel differently and wish to backup the partition
BEFORE resizing. At the very least, I recommend using a UPS
(Uninterruptible Power Supply) for any extended partitioning operations
(obviously, the longer the operation, the more vulnerable you become).

If you follow the steps as described above, you never actually install
BootIT NG, you simply are using the installer to gain access to its built-in
partition manager to achieve your goals.

HTH

Jim

 

[Guest]

Also, The partitions to be "merged" need to be next to each other on the disk.

 

[vj]

Thankyou for your suggestions.
I downloaded and tried BootItNG as suggested by Jim.
I made a bootable floppy, and ran BootITNG, as suggested. As an
experiment, I first deleted an empty partition (F. The entry, after
deletion, showed "Free Space". After that, I tried to Resize another
partition (G, and reduced its size by 2GB (I had this much free space
available on this partition). It successfully reduced its size by 2GB,
and created ANOTHER Free Space entry of 2GB. I would have thought that
this free space should have been clubbed automatically wih the previous
free space obtained by deleting F:, but it is showing as a separate
entry in BootItNG.
Now, I have a few queries. my first query is: If I take a third
partition (say C, and increase its size, from where the free space
would be taken and added to C:?
My second query is: If C: is the system partition (i.e. contains WinXP
and other data), can I still safely increase its size without losing
data?
And finally, how can I combine the two free spaces and make one
partition out of these? "My Computer" is now simply not showing the
letter related to the deleted partition (F, and not showing the two
free spaces (I tried rebotting also).

Also, what exactly does the Slide function do?
Thanks

 

[Jim]

Thankyou for your suggestions.
I downloaded and tried BootItNG as suggested by Jim.
I made a bootable floppy, and ran BootITNG, as suggested. As an
experiment, I first deleted an empty partition (F. The entry, after
deletion, showed "Free Space". After that, I tried to Resize another
partition (G, and reduced its size by 2GB (I had this much free space
available on this partition). It successfully reduced its size by 2GB,
and created ANOTHER Free Space entry of 2GB. I would have thought that
this free space should have been clubbed automatically wih the previous
free space obtained by deleting F:, but it is showing as a separate
entry in BootItNG.

It *will* assuming the free space is contiguous! If, however, you free up
space that's still separated by an existing partition, then, of course, you
see TWO areas of free space. This is a product of the fact we're taking
about PHYSICAL storage here, not logical. Here's an example. Suppose you
have the following situation:

Part1 - FAT32 - 10GB
Part2 - FAT32 - 20GB
Part3 - FAT32 - 30GB

Ok, now I delete Part 1 and Part2. Bootit NG will show the following:

free space - 10GB
Part2 - FAT32 - 20GB
free space - 30 GB

So how do I combine the free space into one region (here's were the Slide
comes in)? Sliding is simply BootIt NG's term for Moving. You "slide"
Part2 by choosing the Before option and setting it to ZERO. After the
operation completes, your HD will appear as follows:

Part2 - FAT32 - 20GB
free space - 40 GB

Get it?! Or, you could slide to the other end of the HD by choosing After on
the Slide and setting it to ZERO. In that case, you'd see this after the
slide operation completes:

free space - 40 GB
Part2 - FAT32 - 20GB

Of course, this doesn't make much sense, it's generally better to place the
active partition at the head of the HD, but you can do it this way if you
have reason (e.g., a DATA partition).

You can move (slide), copy, etc., the partitions around all you like,
whatever it takes to get what you're after.

Now, I have a few queries. my first query is: If I take a third
partition (say C, and increase its size, from where the free space
would be taken and added to C:?

You can only increase a partition *if* there's free space AFTER that
partition. One way to increase that space is to reduce the size of
partitions that follow it, THEN slide it further down the HD. That will
effectively increase space in front of the reduced partition, and thus ADD
free space after the partition you wish to increase.

My second query is: If C: is the system partition (i.e. contains WinXP
and other data), can I still safely increase its size without losing
data?

Yes. BUT, as with ANY partitioning software, there's ALWAYS the risk of
data loss anytime your manipulating partitions. Afterall, it's just a
software operation. Heck, what if you lose power in the middle of the
operation?! That's why I always include a disclaimer that if you're
worried, it's best to make a backup FIRST (and use a UPS). And BootIt NG
makes that possible. Simply select the partition you want to image copy,
hit the Image button, then chose the CD button (assuming you have a CD or
DVD burner), choose your burner, then hit Paste. BootIt NG will now prompt
you for CD or DVD media to burn an image copy to that media. Now if
something goes wrong, you can use the image copy to restore, again using
BootIt NG.

Again, ANY partitioning software is, by nature, NOT a risk-free operation.
You're moving data, and Murphy's Law is always peeking around the corner.
I've used BootIt NG for 6-7 years, use it CONSTANTLY, never ever had even a
single failure on any of these operations. I trust it so much I rarely ever
do a backup. BUT, that's me, and it's not right or fair for me to assume
YOU would or should be as comfortable. So use your best judgement. As I
said, making a backup to optical media is easy enough. Or if you have
another HD, for example, and external enclosure over USB, you could hook it
up before booting, and copy or image the partitions there (may be easier and
more practical esp. if the current partitions would require a lot of CD or
DVD media).

And finally, how can I combine the two free spaces and make one
partition out of these? "My Computer" is now simply not showing the
letter related to the deleted partition (F, and not showing the two
free spaces (I tried rebotting also).

I've addressed that above. Once you have the additional partition, you made
need to go into Windows Disk Management to force it to recognize it by
initializing it.

 

[vj]

Jim, Thanks a lot for introducing me to such a useful utility. I was
able to slide and resize partions successfully.

As I have understood, you said (?) that this creates logical partitions
rather than physical partitions (or the other way round?). Can there be
any implications of this or complications at some stage later with the
hard disk due to this fact?

 

[vj]

Hi,
A small problem noticed after resizing on of the partitions. I
increased the size of D: partition which had XP and also

NortonSystemWorks-2004. NortonSystemWorks used to run well before
resizing. After resizing,

when I launch it, a installer window opens, and says "Please wait while
Windows configures

Norton SystemWorks 2004 Professional", and then another window saying
"The feature you are

trying to use is on a CD-ROM that is not available..." and prompts me
to insert the CD-ROM. I don't have the NortonSystemWorks CD. It asks me
to try to find installation package 'NSW.MSI', I manually searched for
this in the entire hard disk, but couldn't find.
Is there a way to make NortonSystemWorks work again without the
original CD?
Thanks

 

[Jim]

When I referred to physical vs. logical, all I meant was the following. You
were puzzled as to why, when two partitions were separated by one or more
other partitions, and you deleted those two partitions, the free space was
not merged. That's because the new free space represents actual physical
addresses on the HD. The utility presents to you an actual physical
representation of what's on your HD. It doesn't just total up all the free
space from your deletions and show you total free space as one thing (which
seemed to be what you were expecting). You actually had to take further
steps to slide, expand, etc., to FORCE that free space to be contiguous, as
I demonstrated.

At this point, all this talk of physical vs. logical is moot. As long as
you have you HD partitions and free space (if any) arranged to your liking,
there's nothing more to worry about.

Jim

 

[Jim]

Not sure why NSW would be affected by a simple change in size of D:.
Perhaps as a maintenance utility, it tracks partitions, number and size, and
wants to reconfigure itself whenever it detects a change. It seems to be
trying to run its install program (nsw.msi) for this purpose. Normally this
is on the CD. Or sometimes it's copied to the HD with installation.

Is this perhaps an OEM version of XP that already had NSW on it?!
Otherwise, I don't see why you wouldn't have the CD (unless you lost it or
somethin').

Jim