Disk management

[gerribol]

My Asus Notebook came with the HD partitioned into OS (C) 75 gb and data (D) 208gb. I have just about filled C partition. I don't need it to be partition. I have tried shrinking D drive using the disk management tool. But the shrink volume does not go to C but to something called free volume. When i open my computer I cannot see the shrinked GB. I just want an unpartioned HD.

How can I do this?

Thanks

 

[WindowsStar]

Try this util, it should help you extend the C partition: News

 

[Drewbie]

you can reinstall to get one partition or the free volume is made and the you need to extend C into that space it doesnt happen automatically

 

[Night Hawk]

Hello gerribol Welcome to SF!

The Parted Magic pointed to there requires configuring a Grub boot loader or following the documentation on unpacking files onto a usb flash and making it bootable. The PM tool is based on the alternate free Linux driver tool GParted which is downloaded in ISO format and can be written to a flash drive with a program that supports the iso format very easily. Even the shareware version of UltraISO will see that done.

First however before attempting any partitiion changes you will want to back up any important files ahead of time before booting live from either a cd burned with a live image or seeing one written onto a flash drive for booting live from that. If you are simply looking to expand the C primary across the drive once you have everything backed up from the D partition you would simply delete that volume and use the resize option to expand the C primary to fill in the empty space created or in other words merge the two partitions.

If something does go wrong during the resize at least your important files are stored hopefully on another drive where you can restore Windows back to factory with the recovery disks or bios option using a conbination of keys assigned now seen on most newer models for the last few years. Most partitioning programs will also show a small 7-10gb recovery partition generally hidden from view in Windows you would want to keep intact especially if still under a warranty.

The screens shown the documentation page here will show how resizing partitions is done with GParted. http://gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/resize/resizing.htm

 

[WindowsStar]

Here is one that is a bit easier without making a bootable CD:
Best FREE Partition Manager Freeware for Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7. EASEUS free Partition Manager Software Home Edition.
How to free extend system partition, enlarge or extend C: drive partition under Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 and Windows Server 2000/2003/2008?

 

[Night Hawk]

For most resizing done with the C primary itself you would use a live tool to prevent problems seen with unmovable system files. Resizing the same partition you are booted into the OS from tends to cause problems.

One other thing to know however is once the C primary is fully expanded you will want to schedule a run of the disk check utility with the "dskchk /r /p" switches used to insure the integrity of the partition afterwards.

 

[WindowsStar]

For most resizing done with the C primary itself you would use a live tool to prevent problems seen with unmovable system files. Resizing the same partition you are booted into the OS from tends to cause problems.

One other thing to know however is once the C primary is fully expanded you will want to schedule a run of the disk check utility with the "dskchk /r /p" switches used to insure the integrity of the partition afterwards.

Agreed!

 

[Thelen]

+1 chkdsk afterwards.

If you convert it to dynamic volume, you should be able to change the partition sizes without using a 3rd party tool.

 

[gerribol]

<If you are simply looking to expand the C primary across the drive once you have everything backed up from the D partition you would simply delete that volume and use the resize option to expand the C primary to fill in the empty space created or in other words merge the two partitions.>

Thanks everyone. This is all a bit scary for me. So I have deleted everything from the D partition. All my data, programs, everything is on the C partition.

So I can delete the D partition? Right?

Using disk management - last time I 'shrank' the D partition I thought I would be able to expand the C partition by the corresponding amount, but the 'expand' option was greyed out in the menu. The 'shrunk' GBs went to ?free volume

I would rather use the Windows tool (DM) as this is not something I plan to be doing again.

So after I delete partition D I should be able to expand C?

Do I have to back up C partition before I delete D and expand C

Thanks

 

[Thelen]

If you cannot currently expand C: with all that free space, you won't be able to even if you delete D.

Do you get an option to convert to dynamic?

If not, probably only choice is a 3rd party app. The UBCD contains a couple free simple ones that will do what you want, but again, make sure you back up anything ultra important, cos there is a small chance you'll loose everything.

Also, if it is W7 make sure you don't touch/blow away the 100MB boot partition, otherwise you'll be in trouble

 

[Dave76]

Welcome to Seven Forums gerribol.

You can do as Night Hawk mentioned.

Delete the D partition, then expand the C partition into the unallocated space.

First backup you Data, anytime you move partitions you can lose it all. Macrium Reflect is free and a very good Backup/Restore program.
You should store your backups on a separate physical HDD if possible, if your main HDD fails you will still have your backup, an external HDD works well for this. If you don't have another separate HDD then you will need to store it in another partition as it can't be restored from the same partition your restoring to.

I would recommend to keep your OS and programs in your C partition and move all of your personal data into the D partition. This will give you the free space you need in the C partition.
If you ever need to restore your OS, then your personal data will be safe in another partition.
You can set up so all your personal data gets saved to the D partition.

If you decide to delete the D partition anyway, and Disk Management isn't cooperating you can use Partition Wizard another free program that is very good and easy to use.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions.

A few helpful tutorials:

How to Create a New Partition or Volume in Windows 7

Imaging with free Macrium

 

[gerribol]

Thanks for the help

 

[Dave76]

Your welcome, let us know what you decided to do and how it went.

If you have any questions, just reply here.

Good luck...

 

[gerribol]

I have decided to wait until someone can 'hold' my hand. It's not urgent. I don't want to risk a meltdown!

Thanks anyway

 

[Dave76]

No problem, if you need more space on C partition, just move some personal files and folder, pics, music, videos, to the D partition.

Take your time and read up on the procedure before you begin.

Be sure to leave enough free space on your C partition so Win7 can work correctly. If it gets too full it will start to slow down.
Maximum used space for your C partition should be 60GB.
A good rule to follow is 20% free space.

 

[Night Hawk]

When you have everything backed up you want to safeguard from any possible losses and since you already shrank the D partition note the unallocated drive space is seen at the rear of the drive where now you would first have to move the D partition in that directtion before being to expand C into the new gap between C and D you would then see.

The three images here will show the way your C and D partitions look now, after the D partition is moved to shift where the unallocated drive space will be seen, and then how the later expanded C primary will meet up with D once expanded into the gap between the two.

 

[chrysalis]

yep delete d: and then you can expand, although in my opinion moving files to d: is the better option. Having 2 partitions is good as when you reinstall windows and wipe over c: data on d: will stay intact.

 

[whs]

I am really puzzled. Why on earth would you want to throw everything into one bucket and delete the data partition. An independent data partition (independent from the OS partition) is the best scenario you can have. Any hit on your C partition will also be a hit on your data if that is in the same partition. The OS is always easy to reinstall, but if you get a hit on your data, you are in real trouble.
It would be useful if you could explain your motivation for wanting to merge the 2 partitions. As recommended, I would move all the data to D - but do it the right way. Here is a video tutorial that explains how (disregard the part about the partition creation because you already have a D partition for the purpose).
A picture of your Disk Management would also be useful for further discussion. We have to make sure that you do not fall into the trap of dynamic partitions.

 

[Night Hawk]

The backup wouldn't be to the D partition if the plan is to see that removed and the C primary expanded to fill in the empty drive space afterwards. You would want either a second drive if one was added or to an external HD or removable media. That insures files are safety out of the way(harm's way included) when going to make the changes.

The first option for that would the Windows Easy Transfer tool for seeing your user settings as well as other personal data and files stored locally on the drive backed up somewhere. The idea of having a second storage backup partition on any single drive system like a laptop can work when the drive is a little larger then the eventual total amount of files to stored and backed up. That then allows for a large C primary as well.

 

[Dave76]

yep delete d: and then you can expand, although in my opinion moving files to d: is the better option. Having 2 partitions is good as when you reinstall windows and wipe over c: data on d: will stay intact.

This seems to be the consensus here as well, a safer option IMO.