Sorry for delay I never use IE and when I went there and I did know what I was looking for, but tools or none of those were displayed. I appreciate all you have tried, but my 80 year old brain has had it. I will think about it some more and possibly partition tomorrow. I need to get to Ubuntu, Suse, mint and where I am comfortable. You are indeed a credit to this forum and I thank you
Tofts:
NOT Internet Explorer. NOT a browser.
Windows Explorer, where you can see your entire folder structure.
When you get a chance unhide the Hidden and Systems files as described and Explore the contents of the two smaller partitions by rightclicking each in Disk Management to Explore. Post back a screenshot of the contents with windows maximized.
Did you make your Recovery disks yet? Browse into the Start>All Programs menu to find your computer maker's name and the Recovery Disks maker program. We can help you further so don't hesitate to ask back if you're unsure.
I expanded this as far as I could
You still have to confirm if that 10.03 GB partition is in fact empty.
Since I have the same setup as the OP's computer I have been following this thread with great interest. I too have 2 partitions that appear not to have anything in them. I have to assume one is the Toshiba Factory restore partition. You will see by the 2 attached screen shots that even with folder view set to show all hidden/system files, it will not show anything with a right click on the partion. The partition on the left just shows a "help" sign when right clicked and the right partition has the "explore" greyed out. Very curious.
Cheers
JohnnyA
Johnnya:
Can you assign a drive letter to your 10.65 gb partition? Can you in any way look at it in Windows Explorer to see if it has any contents?
It surely is there for a reason and I'd find it difficult to believe it is truly empty.
What does Customer Service say about it--if they are responsive at all?
What does your manual say about it?
Thanks for the reply IGNATZATSONIC. The Manual is pretty skimpy and says nothing about partitions. About assigning a drive letter, I'm not sure how to do that. You will note that in my screen shot, the "change drive letter and path" is also greyed out. I'm a great believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
I think I will just not let "curiosity get to me" and start changing things.
It just seems odd.
Many thanks
JohnnyA
Thanks Johnnya, I assume it is not shown in Windows Explorer at all.
Tofts:
Suppose we stipulate that the 10 GB partition is valuable and you should leave it alone.
What then do you want to do with your other partitions? You only have 3 and you are allowed 4 before you need to use an extended partition. So you can just shrink your C and make another regular primary NTFS partition from the space that generates.
You do that through disk management.
Partition Wizard will allow you to explore hidden or restricted partitions in both it's free Home and CD version. Free Download Magic Partition Manager Software - Partition Wizard Online
The question to ask is if you need the Tools partition to run any of the useless factory utilties which have much better versions built into Win7, or need the Recovery Partition since it is a more stable way to run Recovery than the Recovery disks which should be made as a back up.
Most users who decide they don't need one or both of these partitions do away with them with a clean reinstall to a wiped HD following the tips given here to get a purrfect factory OEM reinstall without the bloatware: re-install windows 7
FYI: Disk Management will create the Extended partition as the fourth partition, while Partition Wizard will allow you to create a fourth Primary.
Quote