Merging Disk Partitions

[Chaplain Doug]

Windows XP SR2.

I have a user who reformatted his disk and reinstalled Windows XP. Whatever
he did, he now has a C: and an E: partition, with C: being small and E:
having the rest. This guy should only have C: and it should have all the
space of his 200 GB drive (argh!!). How can I help him merge E: with C:
without starting over from scratch? Thanks.

 

[Gordon]

Windows XP SR2.

I have a user who reformatted his disk and reinstalled Windows XP. Whatever
he did, he now has a C: and an E: partition, with C: being small and E:
having the rest. This guy should only have C:

Why? Many knowledgeable people have two partitions - one for OS and apps
and one for data...

 

[Chaplain Doug]

This person is not knowledgeable. He made a mistake. The C: partition is
not even big enough to hold the basics. He keeps getting a size error. So
my original question remains. Any other thoughts?

 

[Bob I]

partition magic or other partition management software. Not something
done by Windows XP.

 

[Lem]

Why? Many knowledgeable people have two partitions - one for OS and apps
and one for data...

You'll need 3rd-party software. The 2 "name" brands are Acronis Disk
Director and Partition Magic. Many in this NG also recommend BootItNG,
which has a free 30-day trial download.
http://www.bootitng.com/
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputin...n|1157522417&gclid=CNmw9bmM-ZECFQQilwod9X3UwA
http://shop.symantecstore.com/store...16200/pgm.6037100/ThemeID.106300/Currency.USD

I haven't used any of these, so I can't recommend one over the others.

Whichever product you use, be sure to back up all important data first.
These are supposed to be safe, but ...

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Gordon]

This person is not knowledgeable. He made a mistake. The C: partition is
not even big enough to hold the basics. He keeps getting a size error. So
my original question remains. Any other thoughts?

I'm not disputing sizes, I'm disputing your assertion that one partition
is non-negotiable...

 

[Gordon]

You'll need 3rd-party software. The 2 "name" brands are Acronis Disk
Director and Partition Magic. Many in this NG also recommend BootItNG,
which has a free 30-day trial download.
http://www.bootitng.com/
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputin...n|1157522417&gclid=CNmw9bmM-ZECFQQilwod9X3UwA

http://shop.symantecstore.com/store...16200/pgm.6037100/ThemeID.106300/Currency.USD


I haven't used any of these, so I can't recommend one over the others.

BootIT NG works just fine....

 

[John]

Partition Magic comes to mind.
Or reinstall OS (free solution).

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

It is if that's the way the customer wants it.

I'm not disputing sizes, I'm disputing your assertion that one partition
is non-negotiable...

 

[Gordon]

It is if that's the way the customer wants it.

the OP said "the user NEEDS" not "the user must have".....

 

[Anna]

Windows XP SR2.

I have a user who reformatted his disk and reinstalled Windows XP.
Whatever
he did, he now has a C: and an E: partition, with C: being small and E:
having the rest. This guy should only have C: and it should have all the
space of his 200 GB drive (argh!!). How can I help him merge E: with C:
without starting over from scratch? Thanks.

Dr. Pruiett:
As you have heard from a number of responders there are a number of
third-party programs that can "merge" the two partitions. Unfortunately the
XP OS cannot do this without totally deleting the data in those partitions.

But the way you describe the situation (and admittedly I may be
misunderstanding the present scheme of things!) if the user has just
"reformatted his disk and reinstalled Windows XP" can we not make an
assumption that *presently* there's no data on the hard drive (other than
the XP operating system) that needs to be retrieved? So could not the user
simply make a fresh install of the XP OS creating a single partition if
that's acceptable to him or her?

Or if there is data - at least in terms of *user-created* data - could you
or he/she not now simply copy whatever data he or she needs to some
removable medial and later reinstall such data after the user makes a fresh
install of the OS? It is true that if programs had been installed such
would not be retrievable (at least for the most part). So I don't know
whether that's a consideration here.
Anna

 

[Dave Cohen]

BootIT NG works just fine....

Bootitng will certainly do the job. You will need to create a bootable
media (floppy or cd). Visit www.terabyteunlimited.com for the software
and instructions.
If you don't install it, you can do what you want without installing the
product, I would recommend doing a backup first.
Dave Cohen

 

[windmap]

Try Acronis disk director suite
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/

 

[Frank]

Delete all partitions, start over. It is really straight forward when booting from
the XP install CD.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Anna -

Take a look at this page describing the Acronis Disk Director
Suite 10:
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/multibooting.html
There is the following feature listed for the OS Selector:
"Clone OS installation as a back-up.".

Also on that page is a link to download the .pdf of the User Guide.
In chapter 3 of the User Guide, section 3 describes copying a single
partition and putting it on another hard drive among existing partitions.
I don't know whether this capability now exists in Acronis' True Image,
but it looks like Acronis utilities are par with Ghost and Casper, now.

*TimDaniels*