Windows 7 - How to merge all partitions & unallocated space into 1?

Hello,

I've just installed Windows 7 Ultimate x32 on a 20GB partition and I wish to merge all the other partitions (1 being Windows 7, 1 being Windows Vista, and 10 GB of unallocated space) since I have no use for the vista part and obviously i'd like to use those 10GB.. But I've tried following the steps and extending to no avail.. I can't delete C: (Windows 7 says its using it even though it's installed on E and it won't let me add the unallocated space to the Windows 7 partition either...

I find it annoying and I would really like to have just one drive.. any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

Can you post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management so we can get a visual look at your partition layout?

You generally cannot extend a partition in Windows Disk Management UNLESS you have free space IMMEDIATELY to the right of the partition in question as displayed in Windows Disk Management. That may be the problem you had.

You can get around that by using Partition Wizard's boot disc.

Worst case scenario, you could reinstall Windows 7 and wipe out all existing partitions during that re-installation process.

But you shouldn't have to do that.

Are you dual-booting Vista and Windows 7??

My partition is to the right.. that's the problem, how do I use that Partition Wizard you talk about?

I don't really want to reinstall Windows 7... too lazy to go out and get a flash drive/ DVD

And, the boot window lists both Windows 7 and Windows Vista, Windows 7 being at the top of the list.

You can't extend a partition into another partition.

You CAN extend a partition into unallocated space.

Windows Disk Management will NOT allow you to extend into unallocated space UNLESS that space is IMMEDIATELY to the right of the partition in question.

Your unallocated space is to the left, not to the right. So you can't grab that extra space with Windows Disk Management.

You have to use something the Partition Wizard boot disc. You download the ISO and then burn it to a disk and boot from it. It should allow you to grab that unallocated space.

Get it here:

Free Download Magic Partition Manager Software - Partition Wizard Online

EDIT: The site won't open.. doesn't matters which edition I use? I think I can download the home edition from CNET.
Thanks for the quick reply.. but one more thing, how do I delete the C: Partition since Windows 7 says it is in use?

You want to delete C???

I thought you only wanted to extend C into the unallocated space.

At any rate, C will not be in use when you boot from that Partition Wizard CD. Be sure you can properly identify each partition when you use that disc. The drive letters may not be what you are used to, but you should be able to identify each component by its size in GB, even if the drive letters are weird.

I just want C (or E, whatever letter) to be the only drive, with all the space available in it. I wanted to delete the C partition that has vista in it since I'm not gonna use it, and just extend the Windows 7 partition to the max.. do I necessarily need to boot from the CD?

I think I would wait for input from someone with more experience than I in this case.

I don't want you to do something that isn't quite the right approach.

Your E partition is marked as the boot partition. If that is Windows 7, you might just be able to go into Windows Disk Management and delete C outright, which I assume is the Vista partition.

But I think you'd better wait for another opinion. If it were my own machine, I would just barge in and attempt to delete the unwanted partition.

You have 2 operating systems floating around on that drive, which may complicate things.

Thanks for the amazing support I think I'll try that partition wizard a try, if not i'll just have to live with those partitions, again thanks!

Just make sure that the final partition is marked as the boot partition.