Disk Partition Problem

This thread doesnt belong in the technical segment so I guess I'll give OT a try

I have a problem with the disk partion for my compy. Apparently there are two partition on the hard drive. The C drive which is a FAT32 and a D drive which is a NTFS (not sure what the FAT and the NTFS means though)

Apparently installation goes to the D drive but the problem is, I've less than 1 gigs left on that drive. Opening up programs like photoshop causes the hdd size do significantly shrink.

Is it possible to transfer some of the space from c drive to d? I know that I could use the software, partition magic. But at close to 70us dollars, its a little too pricey. Does anyone has any suggestions on what I can do? Thanks in advance

If you're running out of space in both partitions, repartitioning won't do you any good. If you have open space on C: you can just move stuff there without needing to change your partitions at all. If you only have one drive in your computer your best bet is to just go get another drive and add it in. You can get another 100GB for around $100.

Agreed. you should have a gig of free space on your C: anyway just for Windows to manage your Cache properly, and another gig on C: for SL free for SL cache.

Thanks for the fast response chip

I have alot of space in drive C, just running out of space in D. I would like to transfer some space from C to D thats all and I dont know how to do that ...I dont want to spend 70 bucks on "Partition Magic" But you are right though, I might as well get a new hdd ...

But nevertheless, is there any economical way to transfer C to D?

You can safely move no program related files from one drive to the other. Don't move program folders or things that would be linked to by your installed software. Stuff like image files and mp3's are fine to move around. All you need to do is open up "my computer" to your C drive. Open up a seperate "my comptuer" window to your D drive. You can copy files by dragging and dropping between the two windows. Files will go into the folders you drop them on. Don't put loose files in the root directory. Let's say you have a folder of mp3 files on your D drive called "my mp3s" that you want to move from D to C. Just right drag and drop it (using the right mouse button instead of left) from D over to the C window. When you drop it you'l get a popup menu asking if you want to move it, copy it, or create a shortcut to it. If you choose move it will copy the folder and its contents to your C drive and then delete it from your D drive.

Thanks for the response chip, hiro

I dont have much so of the problem of transferring the files *from* D to C as opposed to *increasing* the size from C to D. Like if I had 20gigs from C and 5 gigs from D. I want to add another 5 gigs to D by taking away 5 gigs from C so C would have 15 gigs and D would have 10 gigs.

You know what I mean?

Seriously contemplating on a new hdd now ... LOL So complicated - But I was just hoping if there was a temporary solution to my problem before I get new hardware Again, was hoping if here was an economical software that I can use temporarily.

Thanks again for the reply chip and hiro I really appreciate it!

BTW....

FAT = File Allocation Table. Basic DOS/Windows file system.... the modern version (which you probably have) is FAT32, which is the 32 bit version of FAT and can handle disks over 2 gigabytes. (FAT16 can't. It doesn't have enough addresses to assign to every part of the disk, and as such can only see the first 2 gigabytes of any given disk.)

NTFS = NT File System. The standard file system for WindowsNT based systems, such as WindowsNT, Windows 2000, and Windows Xp. Uses different cluster sizes, is generally more efficient, and allows you to use NT file security on NT based systems. The drawback? NTFS isn't readable under any sort of DOS. Ergo, if you boot to a boot floppy, you can't see a partition formatted with NTFS. (Well there's a hack that will make it work, I've never used it tho.)

I got ya. Not sure why you'd want to do that though. Just shuffle some stuff around, and install some stuff on C instead of D Partition Magic can repartition drives without losing the data on them, but I wouldn't trust it unless I have everything backed up or ghosted. When I get to the point where I'm constantly having to play musical chairs to find places to put stuff I just go get another drive hehe.

Oh wow ... thats for the explanation corwin I'm quite enlightened!
That description about "musical chairs" was humorous chip Yeah I agree, its too much trouble ... might as well get a new hdd

Thanks again everyone Truely appreciate it

I got the impression from rinaz's posting that she only has one physical drive on her computer, but two logical ones. If that is the case, then there should be some way of doing what she wants to do without buying any more disks.

I hope that's what you meant, rinaz - if not I'll shut up now.

*chuckles*

Yes, thats what I mean Sel. One physical hdd but being made into 2 partition. One of them is Fat32 and the other is NTFS

How big is the C drive? 1-2 gigs?

That used to be a common way of partitioning a drive.... small C drive for windows, (usually FAT) and the rest as a larger data drive. It's an old UNIX habit.... really doesn't work so well under windows tho, so people stopped doing it.

I remember you posting on this awhile back, it's on a laptop that has the install disks from the manufacturer, right? Sadly (I've ran across a few of these), the best method for "changing" the particians is to obtain a copy of windows and do an install yourself (which will allow you the option for part'ing and formatting the drive however you wish.)