Merging partitions?

[ThickChick]

Hi folks!

It's the thick chick here again, once more begging for some able brain assistance for my new PC.

We have recently had a PC off our lovely neighbours so the kids can now thankfully stop bugging me to use mine!

It's lovely, it works great but there's one small problem. There are 2 hard drives on this PC, both approx 40GB each. Both of these drives were partitioned for whatever reason that I dare not ask about (suffice to say that we call them the gadget family!).

We have managed to remove the partition off one of the drives by deleting it but the other one, the main C drive, is split into two equal portions. We have tried deleting it but when we do this it remains split stating that there are 18.63GB unallocated. I don't know if this is any help but in the properties of the unallocated space it says the partition style is a master boot record.

So, what I want to know is whether or not it is possible to merge these two partitions and if so, how?

We have installed all of the new programmes and games that the kids use onto the half that has the operating system etc and don't want to lose them but if it takes rebooting the whole PC again to remove the partition then thats what I am prepared to do.

I'm sure you can help me though. I have every confidence that there is a simple solution to this but I'm just too thick to find it!

[RJ]

Hi,

Windows itself is not capable of merging partitions. For that, you need a 3rd party software such as Partition Magic.
Dunno if there are free partitioning softwares, though.

RJ

[peekaboo]

Question for others:
Doesn't unallocated space mean that it has not been formatted?

Message for ThickChick:
Do not format the unallocated space until someone here who knows what he's talking about says so, as i do not really know what i'm talking about.

[ThickChick]

Originally Posted by RJ Hi, Windows itself is not capable of merging partitions. For that, you need a 3rd party software such as Partition Magic. Dunno if there are free partitioning softwares, though. RJ

Thanks for that. Mr thick Chick has a copy of partition magic but I haven't a clue how to use it. Is it easy and self explanatory?

The partition has been formatted. There was nothing on it that we needed, just a load of stuff that belonged to the neighbours.

I'm wondering if it would be a whole lot easier to wipe the entire drive and start from scratch. Problem is, I dunno how to do that either! LOL!

This may take a while!

[RJ]

Doesn't unallocated space mean that it has not been formatted?

It means that no partition exists within that space. As you can only format partitions, yes, it also means it has not been formatted, but before you can format you have to create a partition first.

Thanks for that. Mr thick Chick has a copy of partition magic but I haven't a clue how to use it. Is it easy and self explanatory?

I've used Partition Magic only a few times, and I found it to be easy and self explanatory. When you start it, you should see the available partitions, and some buttons. One of them should be labeled "merge partitions" or just "merge". I believe P.M. will ask you to select the partitions to be merged, then you just wait until it's done (won't take long).

There is another way to do it, too. You said there are two partitions, and the first one has Windows and all the other stuff on it, while the second one is empty (or have you deleted it already ?).

You can remove the second partition, and use the "resize" option of P.M. to enlarge the existing partition to fill out the entire drive.

I'm wondering if it would be a whole lot easier to wipe the entire drive and start from scratch. Problem is, I dunno how to do that either! LOL!

It's pretty easy as well, but you'd have to install all the programs again, which, depending on the amount of programs and games you have, can take quite some time. Personal data has to be backupped first if you don't want to lose them.
You start from scratch by booting from the Windows XP CD and when you're asked where to install, simply remove all the existing partitions and create a new one. Everything that has been there will be gone.

Though, if your Windows is running well, I'd use P.M. to merge or resize the partitions, especially since you already own a copy of P.M.

RJ

[ThickChick]

As always, you lot are stars!

Thank you so much again for your help. This is the forum to come to when in need of assistance!

I will get onto partition magic straight away and have some fun. If I cock it all up there's always the option of completely rebooting!

Cheers

ThickChick!