Repartioning Drive 2

[ScotsLass]

I have a Dell XPS machine that has a physical drive which
was partioned into two drives (C & D) with 2GB space each.
I wish to repartition the physical drive again making
it 4GB. How can I do this?

 

[wolluf]

If you want to do it without data loss (ie, reinstalling o/s), you'll need something like Partition Magic (and should still back up what you can't afford to lose first).

Otherwise, its a case of backup, remove both partitions and create a new one (depends on o/s - fdisk/format for win9x/ME, the install disk's partitioning tools for nt/2k/xp).

 

[ScotsLass]

Thank you for your tip, Wolluf. Just one more thing, how
do I remove a partition? I looked at FDISK and I could
not find it there>

 

[jbotz]

It's option 3 from the main menu, I believe. Delete partition should be the choice, if memory serves me correctly.

 

[Tmradius]

In light of the two posts above, can I merely delete a partition and leave all my files intact? Here is the situation: I have partitions A, B, C, and D. I am using partition A for all my files and programs. It is now too small; I am willing to delete B and/or C to give me more space for what is on A now. I would appreciate any words of wisdom. Frank (tmradius)

 

[wolluf]

Frank - you should start a new thread.

No version of Windows includes native tools to manipulate existing partitions (you can create & format new ones or delete existing).

So, if you want to give partition A the space from B & C, you need to either:

- use partition magic or similar (eg partition expert). This will let you manipulate (ie combine, split, resize) partitions on the fly (but should still backup vital data first)

- backup partition A stuff (to CD or whatever). Assuming A, B and C do not include operating system, remove them (fdisk if win9x/ME, disk management if 2k/XP). Create new single partition & restore files. If operating system is on A (or B/C) - partition magic or backup/clean reinstall

 

[ScotsLass]

Thanks to everyone who suggested Partition Magic. It
really, really works. My user thanks you too.

 

[Tmradius]

Also thanks from me, Frank for telling me about Partition Magic. I was aware of it but I thought that some of you sharp gurus knew something (magic) that I didn't know. A side question: Can an 'image' of partition A be put on another drive drive and then returned to the the repartitioned drive? Frank

 

[jbotz]

Yes. You can copy the partition to any drive which has enough space to hold a partition that size, including free space. If you have to, you can size the original partition down, copy, and then resize it up in one batch, again in Partition Magic.