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dwardzala
10-01-2010, 05:07 PM
I have a 360 GB hard which is partitioned into 2 drives (C: and E:). It is the drive that contains the OS (XP if it matters).

I am looking for a way to remove the partition without wiping the entire drive clean. I am ok with losing the data on E as its just music and pics which have already been backed up, but would prefer not to have to restore C: or (worse) re-install everything.

Can any of you recommend any utilities that could accomplish this? Thanks in advance.
weegeebored
10-01-2010, 05:24 PM
Do you simply want to remove the E partition or do you want to delete it so that you can extend your C: partition to include the space now available because E: was deleted? The former can be done easily through Disk Management by right-clicking on the E: drive and choosing Delete. If you want to extend the C drive to now include the free space then you need a partitioning program like Partition Magic or Partition Commander. I think that gparted will work as well and it's free. I also think that Paragon's Partition Manager has a free version as well.

Be advised that you should back up anything important on your C: drive and that you also run the risk of screwing up Windows as resizing partitions is not a run-of-the-mill operation.
dwardzala
10-01-2010, 07:27 PM
I actually want to extend the C: drive space (and eliminate the E: drive altogether).

Point well taken on backing up - I have done that as well.

Incidentally, Windows disk management would not remove the E: drive and it looked like it wanted to take out C: at the same time, but gave a warning about the drive being in use.
jeff061
10-01-2010, 08:19 PM
Typed up a response, looked up and it was word for word everything weegeeboard said. Partition Magic, be careful, this isn't a minor thing, etc. :).

In Windows 7 this functionality is built in, you can extend the system drive like any other. May not be an option to upgrade, but figured I'd through it out there.
dwardzala
10-01-2010, 08:37 PM
Typed up a response, looked up and it was word for word everything weegeeboard said. Partition Magic, be careful, this isn't a minor thing, etc. :).

In Windows 7 this functionality is built in, you can extend the system drive like any other. May not be an option to upgrade, but figured I'd through it out there.

Thanks. I am actually evaluating whether or not to do this or get a new drive and move everything over and then just reformat it for an internal data drive.

One positive out of this is my hard drive is now backed up.