How to combine two primary partitions into one.

You can't "wipe" the laptop and keep all programs.

First thing I'd do is confirm to a 100% certainty that all of my personal files, including bookmarks and email, are backed up to some location other than any of those partitions shown.

Would that be to dropbox only or do you have an external drive or something like that you could back up to?

50 GB now on dropbox. If that isn't ALL of your stuff, get the rest of it to dropbox.

Personally, I wouldn't trust dropbox as my one and only backup, but that's your call.

@ignatzatsonic All of my personal files including those you mentioned and so forth are all backed up on another laptop so they are safe, fortunately. Those on dropbox are also backed up on another laptop, but I mentioned dropbox only because I use it regularly for my most used university documents on this laptop. I would not mind wiping the laptop as long as it fixed this issue with the paritions, I could always re-install the programs that will not be problem.

@whs Wow! All of that looks scary!

The first part looks understandable enough. I think I can manage that.

When you say to check for what else is on the D partition. Do you mean what else, as in personal files? Or what else as in files or folders that windows needs to run and which I will need to move to C?

When I've done this, if I make a new partition will it be just like the D one I have now? But it will empty and I can use it for personal stuff? Btw, if I fill up the new partition close to the max will that affect system performance? Can I choose how much space i'd like on the partition or is that automatically chosen?

What does it mean to make an image of C?

You have to take one of two forks in the road first:

1: Do a clean install and then reinstall all programs. You'd end up without those OEM partitions. You'd have Windows and presumably all applications on C. Data could also be on C or you could make a D and put it there.

2: Do what WHS is suggesting: get everything of value on D copied elsewhere, delete D, which leaves you with a bunch of "unallocated space" and then add that unallocated space to C.

Which will it be?

Do you have any interest in being able to restore to the way it was when you bought it---I guess with Vista?

Is this laptop out of warranty?

Making an image means to make a molecule for molecule copy of one or more partitions--usually for the purpose of recovering from a disaster or bad state. It's a backup of sorts. The "image" is a single large file that can later be "restored" to bring you back to the state those partitions were in at the time you made the image file. If the partition that is imaged is fouled up, it will be fouled up when restored because it's an exact replica.

@ ignatzatsonic Hmm I see. Yes restoring back to the way it was, i.e back to Vista, is ok by me, would that fix this issue[faster]? How many partitions will I be with then?

After restoring back to Vista and how it was when I first bought it, if I upgraded back to W7 would I have these issue again? And how many partitions will I be with then? Thank you all for responding all these questions.

Raul said:

@ ignatzatsonic Hmm I see. Yes restoring back to the way it was, i.e back to Vista, is ok by me, would that fix this issue[faster]? How many partitions will I be with then?

After restoring back to Vista and how it was when I first bought it, if I upgraded back to W7 would I have these issue again? And how many partitions will I be with then? Thank you all for responding all these questions.

In my previous post, when I said "clean install", I meant Win 7, not Vista.

One or more of those OEM partitions should supposedly get you back to factory state--with Vista, as it was the day you got it. None of your personal data. None of the programs you've installed since, etc. You would have EXACTLY the same number of partitions as you had when you bought it--in the same exact configuration. I assume that is 4 partitions. They'd be the same size, etc.

But--why go back to Vista when Windows 7 is available?

Do you in fact have a 25 character Product Key for your Windows 7? The Vista key won't do. The Vista key is probably on a sticker on the laptop somewhere. I assume you have an original legit Win 7 install disc and that should have come with a Product Key.

If you want to stay with Win 7, there's no reason to go back to Vista first.

If you want to go back to Vista and stay with Vista, consider restoring with that OEM partition--but it isn't what I'd do.

You could go back to Vista and then move forward to Win 7, but you'd end up with the same problems IF you don't pay attention to what you are doing. That's why you have boot files on the wrong partition now.

So, I'd get Vista out of my head UNLESS I had an over-riding reason to go with it. If you want nothing to do with Vista, those 2 OEM partitions are likely useless to you. They are Vista-related.

I only wanted to go back to Vista then back to W7 because I though it would be the fastest and "easiest" way to fix the issue.

But it's now 3.30am and I think i'll be going to sleep. I will have to check these options out either tomorrow or another day. Thanks for the help, i'll be back with questions or just maybe an update.