Removing a hard drive partition?

[Andy B]

My son has a little Vaio PCG-4H1M laptop. Despite being some 7 years old its not a bad little performer but its getting slow. I put this down to the fact that the C:\ drive is nearly full. It has a 100GB hard drive partitioned nearly 50:50 (C and D drives) so if I could remove the partition I think it would be a lot better. Trouble is, I don't know if it can be done.

I'm reasonably IT literate for a complete amatuer but treat me gently!

Can it be done easily without upsetting everything else on the PC?

 

[Fanum]

Yes.

TBH I don't think it will help though......in fact, partitions can be a good idea because you can de-frag each partition separately and keep working in the other one if it's your C drive (and you can keep a totally clean C drive and have all the progs etc installed on the D partition.

Re-combining the partitions can be done, but it can also be risky, loss of data etc

I'm pretty sure there are some command line things you can use, but it's years since I've had to use the command line for anything llike that.....

2 sensible options for you......use something commercial like Partition magic or Acronis (the latter is what I've used a lot in the past) and that will do the whole job for you, probably safer than any other way

Or......re-instal windows from the bootable disc freshly........if you do it from boot up and look at the options, you will be able to remove the partition at the first stage.......This is aggro, having to re-install all your progs, but it will give you the fastest increase in speed because all the registry junk and crap will be gone


Personally, I'd not bother.....I'd run various reg cleaners and defrag and clean the two partitions thoroughly......

HTH

 

[MikeS]

Should be easy to do and I can't see any real benefit to having 2 partitions on a 100GB disk anyway.

Make sure everything is removed/backed up from the D:drive.

Using the tool of your choice delete the D: drive and expand the C: drive to use up the now available extra space. Double check that the tool you are using can do this without loss of the data on the C: drive.

I haven't done this for years but it should be straight forward.

It may not fix the speed problem though, that could just be down to old hardware.

 

[Fanum]

Using the tool of your choice delete the D: drive and expand the C: drive to use up the now available extra space.

I haven't done this for years but it should be straight forward.

You can do this from Start>Administrative tools>Computer management>Storage>removable storage

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

You can do this from Start>Administrative tools>Computer management>Storage>removable storage

not if it is XP (you can delete but not expand or merge) and I cant remember if Vista has it but win 7 has it built in otherwise download a copy of the Hiren boot cd http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/ boot from it and in the disk menu you will find a load of partition tools in there. Backup first though, in fact if you can back the data up then leave it there and delete it off the laptop drive. Saves the hassle and the chances of something going wrong although it shouldn't.

 

[Andy B]

Thanks guys. It's going to be a busy evening! I'll let you know how I get on!

 

[Womble]

The biggest improvement is likely to be from running Ccleaner (free).

Then clear out temporary files and the directories under c:\windows that begin with a $ sign (the files that get saved whenever you update - http://www.ehow.com/how_6828768_remove-xp-update_s-backup-files.html) Next, search for big files and ask your son what they are - there will probably be a few film and CD downloads that he can do without but, if in doubt, leave those files.

After that, do a hard disk defragment (right click on the drive in windows explorer and it's under system tools if I remember correctly).

 

[Sebnev]

+1 on CCleaner. Once you cleared out all the temp files etc, then cleared the registry go and go to tools/Start Up. There will be a whole host of stuff your can turn off.

Next download Defraggler - its made by the same people as CCleaner. Let that run through and see all of those make a difference.

Certainly worth trying before going through the hassle of deleting a partition.

 

[Irishdude]

Before you use the cccleaner take a look at what is running in the background. go to start , run and type in msconfig, then click on the startup tab, this will show you what is running when you start the computer,
some things are needed ,
if you see some weird stuff just check it off, if it is something you need you can check it on again, Also go to add remove programs and remove any crap that was installed like search bars in internet explorer, msn tool bar ask tool bar and the likes and make sure you only have one working virus scanner microsoft have a free one security essentials and it is good oh and free.
see if that improves things.