Help with hard drive management.

[ElliottGenocide]

I just got an Intel Solid-State Drive 320 Series 120GB, I just installed it but I have a couple minor issues I want to take care of. For 1, I have a 600GB harddrive as my main drive, it has 2 partitions on it, the first one listed is 19.53GB, with the second being the rest of the drive. I would like to get rid of that 19.52 partition and use it with the rest of the hard drive, but I'm not sure if the 19.52 partition contains any important files, I believe it's just a back up. And 2; I would like for my main hard drive to be listed before the new SSD in "My Computer." Here is a picture of my Computer Management.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I assume this is not a home built PC and that you got it from a manufacturer--HP, Acer, etc.

That 19 GB partition probably is the means by which you could restore your PC to its factory condition. You might want to keep it around for that purpose. Or at a minimum burn some recovery CDs which would also restore you to factory condition.

If you really do want to get rid of it, it can be done. The best tool to do it is Partition Wizard bootable disc. Download the app, burn it to a disc, boot from that disc. and delete that partition. Then reassign the space to the other partition on the drive.

What are your plans for the SSD? Normally, people use them for the operating system, which you now have on a spinning drive.

 

[seavixen32]

You don't say whether your computer is a proprietary model such as Dell or HP, but I would imagine the 19 GB partition was or is a recovery partition.

However, as you have or are going to have Windows installed on your SSD there's nothing to stop you deleting the small partition on Drive 0 and extending the C drive to the left to take up the space.

You can't do it using Windows 7's Disk Management, but you can use the free version of Partition Wizard, as this tutorial explains.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93322-partition-wizard-use-bootable-cd.html

Download the Partition Wizard ISO and burn it to a blank CD then boot into it. Delete the required partition and extend the C drive, apply your changes then boot back into Windows on completion.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

This is an Asus G73Jh, I plan on either using the 120 SSD either for a back up, or for just extra storage, I'm only deleting the partition if I do use it for a backup.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

This is an Asus G73Jh, I plan on either using the 120 SSD either for a back up, or for just extra storage, I'm only deleting the partition if I do use it for a backup.

That's entirely your business and your decision, but using a 120 GB SSD for backup or storage pretty much defeats the purpose of getting an SSD rather than a spinning drive--to say nothing of the fact that an SSD is quite small compared to a spinning drive of the same price level. As a storage or backup drive, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between an SSD and a spinning drive. Not so when comparing an OS on SSD versus an OS on a spinning drive.

 

[seavixen32]

Obviously, it is your choice, but you'll get a real performance boost if you install Windows on your SSD, and just use your spinner for data storage.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

My OS is already installed on another SSD that came with this laptop, I think anyways.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

My OS is already installed on another SSD that came with this laptop, I think anyways.

Your C partition (OS) is on the same drive as that 19 GB partition. There is only the slimmest chance that is an SSD.

 

[seavixen32]

I agree. A 600 GB SSD would cost an absolute fortune at current prices.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You should be able to confirm if it is an SSD or standard HHD by getting the drive's details in Device Manager.

 

[Zepher]

this is the cheapest 600GB SSD at newegg, and it's $1100,
Newegg.com - Intel 320 Series SSDSA2CW600G310 2.5" 600GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Internal SSD

 

[seavixen32]

I think I'll stick to my spinners for now.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

No it's just a standard HDD, my mistake. I just really don't wanna go through the process of backing up everything on my spinner just to reinstall windows, and I don't have a windows 7 CD either. I'm using the partition wizard boot tool, and I still can't figure out how to merge the unallocated 19 gigs with the rest of my hard drive. And after doing all of this, one of my spare sata drives isnt running, I mount it in a docking bay. It is being listed in the partition wizard, but not in 'My computer' and this is a really important drive.

 

[seavixen32]

You need to insert the Partition Wizard boot cd and let your computer boot into it.

When you're at the PW interface just select the 19 GB partition and choose delete.

Next, select the C drive and choose resize then click and drag to the left to fill up the unallocated space.

Check the right-hand side and extend that if necessary and when you're satisfied click Apply to carry out your chosen tasks.

When Partition Wizard has finished, click Exit and boot back into Windows and check your partition sizes in Disk Management.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

It's been a while since I used Partition Wizard, but I'm pretty sure you have to outright delete that 19GB partition. That leaves 19 GB as unallocated space, which you can then add to C. You can't "merge" 2 partitions directly. You have to delete one of them.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

I did delete one of them, I will attempt to resize it with the rest of the drive.

 

[seavixen32]

Just make sure you don't click Apply until you have set up each task.

 

[ElliottGenocide]

Ok I do have more room now, but there are still 2 separate partitions, one with 55MB and the other with 472MB. I realize this isn't a big deal, but I would prefer to have all of the drive as one partition.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Do you have 2 partitions?

Or 1 partition and some 55mb of unallocated space?

If you have 2 partitions, delete the smaller one again.

See Seavixen32's instructions in post 14.