Hdd
- Thread starter curl660
- Start date
So you are seeing two logical drives or one OS drive with a hidden partition for system recovery? The only ways to see a drive with two partitions become a drive with only one is to either delete one and expand the other or wipe the drive entirely and create a new single primary partition.
On a model with a preinstalled OS that would be rather disasterous unless you were already planning to use a full install disk for Windows and download all necessary drivers as if changing versions from XP to Vista or going with a different edition of the same.
Your one option to see more space available for the host primary is to see if there is plenty of empty space on the second partition for shrinking that down with a partitioning tool and expanding the primary into the then free space now made available.
On a model with a preinstalled OS that would be rather disasterous unless you were already planning to use a full install disk for Windows and download all necessary drivers as if changing versions from XP to Vista or going with a different edition of the same.
Your one option to see more space available for the host primary is to see if there is plenty of empty space on the second partition for shrinking that down with a partitioning tool and expanding the primary into the then free space now made available.
Mitch?
banned
You can do as PC Eye said, and delete the 31g partition , then expand the other one to cover the full harddrive.
I'd suggest using GParted. Very good tool for doing so, and it's free.
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gparted/gparted-live-0.3.7-7.iso?modtime=1215010676&big_mirror=0
It's a direct link to the file on Sourcefourge.com
Just burn the file to a CD (make sure to burn as an .iso, using nero or something) then put it in the drive prior to boot, and make sure your comp is set to 'boot from cd'
It's easy to use, it has a GUI, and if you do need help, just come back on here
DO NOT DELETE YOUR OTHER PARTITION!!!!! JUST YOUR 31gb!!
I'd suggest using GParted. Very good tool for doing so, and it's free.
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gparted/gparted-live-0.3.7-7.iso?modtime=1215010676&big_mirror=0
It's a direct link to the file on Sourcefourge.com
Just burn the file to a CD (make sure to burn as an .iso, using nero or something) then put it in the drive prior to boot, and make sure your comp is set to 'boot from cd'
It's easy to use, it has a GUI, and if you do need help, just come back on here
DO NOT DELETE YOUR OTHER PARTITION!!!!! JUST YOUR 31gb!!
GParted is a good tool and easy to use for just that. The actual download page is seen at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828 however.
Scroll down half way for the 0.3.3.0 release being faster then the 0.3.2.0 version. Those are the two that can also be used to create MS type primary and extended partitions as well as deletion and resizing.
First review the documentation on how to use the free Linux drive tool at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/generalities/gparted.htm
If you lack a program for burning iso type disk images onto cd-rs there are 3 free burning programs that will work quite well. For some time here I've been using the free version of BurnOn found at http://www.burnworld.com/burnoncddvd/
The other two are Deep Burner found at http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download and a rather recent program also free called StarBurn by the software company as BurnOn. http://www.binarymagic.com/free.html All three run on Vista as well as on XP.
Scroll down half way for the 0.3.3.0 release being faster then the 0.3.2.0 version. Those are the two that can also be used to create MS type primary and extended partitions as well as deletion and resizing.
First review the documentation on how to use the free Linux drive tool at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/generalities/gparted.htm
If you lack a program for burning iso type disk images onto cd-rs there are 3 free burning programs that will work quite well. For some time here I've been using the free version of BurnOn found at http://www.burnworld.com/burnoncddvd/
The other two are Deep Burner found at http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download and a rather recent program also free called StarBurn by the software company as BurnOn. http://www.binarymagic.com/free.html All three run on Vista as well as on XP.
You can't extend the Windows primary while booting in Windows. The DM tool can easiy see a second partition or even partition on another drive removed. But for resizing the Windows primary itself you would need to either boot into the installation mode for Vista from the dvd or making life easier simply boot up with a GParted live cd to see everything done in one session.
Of course you can. Did you not say a while back that you have used Vista for over a year? Vista comes with this feature out of the box
Vista comes with the ability to resize secondary partitions while in the Disk Management tool. But it still can't resize the primary while being booted into the OS on it. In other words for resizing a Vista primary you would have to boot from the installation dvd or use a 3rd party tool.
The new version now sees the option for formatting partitions as an option when not going to see a full install of Windows. You can create, delete, resize, and reformat partitions while booting in the install mode and then canceling the install after. This is done while booted from the dvd and not while Windows is running itself.
GParted on the other hand is far easier since you boot right upto the main gui and perform everything and then simply restart the system with no need to cancel any installaion in progress. It's an effective tool for Vista. XP, 2000, ME, 9X as well as Linux and other OSs when you have a platform independent release.
With two partitions filling a drive the only thing availablie is the shrink option even when after reducing the size of a second partition. Since I am moving ubuntu off of the Vista primary drive to extend the primary as well as second storage partition I should be able to grab a few screen shots of what happens when first moving the second with GParted to allow expanding the primary while Windows is running. Then you will be able to see any error messages that come up or lack of the expand option.
The new version now sees the option for formatting partitions as an option when not going to see a full install of Windows. You can create, delete, resize, and reformat partitions while booting in the install mode and then canceling the install after. This is done while booted from the dvd and not while Windows is running itself.
GParted on the other hand is far easier since you boot right upto the main gui and perform everything and then simply restart the system with no need to cancel any installaion in progress. It's an effective tool for Vista. XP, 2000, ME, 9X as well as Linux and other OSs when you have a platform independent release.
With two partitions filling a drive the only thing availablie is the shrink option even when after reducing the size of a second partition. Since I am moving ubuntu off of the Vista primary drive to extend the primary as well as second storage partition I should be able to grab a few screen shots of what happens when first moving the second with GParted to allow expanding the primary while Windows is running. Then you will be able to see any error messages that come up or lack of the expand option.
As I've already stated earlier the only option available for a system/boot primary seeing a Vista installation is for shrinking the volume. For expanding it following the deletion of a second partition freeing up drive space you need a 3rd party drive partitioning tool if you don't have the installation dvd onhand.
When people frequently ask about resizing Vista partitions a typical response is: "do you have Partition Magic...".
When people frequently ask about resizing Vista partitions a typical response is: "do you have Partition Magic...".