Getting tight on 'C'
Discussion
Wurrgh. My HD is a 40GB, partitioned into 5Gb for 'C' (XP and other important stuff) and 35Gb for 'D' (Data and games).
Space on C has been getting short for a time - too short to apply SP2 - but having just installed the software that came with my new GFX card it's now down to 136Mb and I'm getting low disc space warnings on boot-up.
My plan is to get a second HD, eg 80GB, fit it as a slave to the existing one, then transfer everything from my current D drive to it, then repartition the old HD so that C has the full 40Gb to stretch its legs in. Hopefully I can do that without needing to reinstall XP, and very hopefully, anything else. (For some time I've been installing programs on 'D', so they should be safe...)
At the end of that I'd like one 40GB HD, 'C', and one 80Gb HD, 'D'. Is that possible or am I going to run into lettering problems? I also have a CD-RW drive and DVD-RW drive currently E and F.
I've just browsed Dabs for 80GB HDs and of course there are loads - any recommendations?
Space on C has been getting short for a time - too short to apply SP2 - but having just installed the software that came with my new GFX card it's now down to 136Mb and I'm getting low disc space warnings on boot-up.
My plan is to get a second HD, eg 80GB, fit it as a slave to the existing one, then transfer everything from my current D drive to it, then repartition the old HD so that C has the full 40Gb to stretch its legs in. Hopefully I can do that without needing to reinstall XP, and very hopefully, anything else. (For some time I've been installing programs on 'D', so they should be safe...)
At the end of that I'd like one 40GB HD, 'C', and one 80Gb HD, 'D'. Is that possible or am I going to run into lettering problems? I also have a CD-RW drive and DVD-RW drive currently E and F.
I've just browsed Dabs for 80GB HDs and of course there are loads - any recommendations?
There is no need to worry about drive letters: mine go from A to M.
First of all, I would go for a bigger than 80GB drive. You always run out of space sooner than you expect and you can get 200GB drives for £70 now. Unless you want and need a really fast drive, any of the Western Digital or Maxtor drives at the right size and price should be fine. Just make sure you don't buy a SATA drive unless you know you have SATA in your PC.
When you have installed the new drive, you can use software such as Acronis Partition Expert or Powerquest PartitionMagic to delete the extra partition on your 40GB drive (after moving the data to the new drive) and expand the 5GB partition to fill the whole 40GB.
You can change all partition/drive letters other than the system drive letter using the Disk Management applet under Computer Management (in Administrative Tools under Control Panel).
>> Edited by Zod on Saturday 2nd April 13:02
First of all, I would go for a bigger than 80GB drive. You always run out of space sooner than you expect and you can get 200GB drives for £70 now. Unless you want and need a really fast drive, any of the Western Digital or Maxtor drives at the right size and price should be fine. Just make sure you don't buy a SATA drive unless you know you have SATA in your PC.
When you have installed the new drive, you can use software such as Acronis Partition Expert or Powerquest PartitionMagic to delete the extra partition on your 40GB drive (after moving the data to the new drive) and expand the 5GB partition to fill the whole 40GB.
You can change all partition/drive letters other than the system drive letter using the Disk Management applet under Computer Management (in Administrative Tools under Control Panel).
>> Edited by Zod on Saturday 2nd April 13:02
Cheers - I've ordered a Maxtor from Dabs. I looked at the 120Gb but the reviews were rather iffy so I plumped for the 80Gb instead, which everybody was raving about.
So - the operation will start next week with the aid of the new HD, Acronis Partition Expert, a screwdriver - if you never hear from me again, you know it went wrong
So - the operation will start next week with the aid of the new HD, Acronis Partition Expert, a screwdriver - if you never hear from me again, you know it went wrong
DOn't worry, it's not difficult. If you put the new hard drive on the same cable as the old one, make sure the old one is on the end of the cable and has the jumper (the little plastic/metal bit that fits over the pins on the back) set to Master and the new drive is on the other connector in the middle of the cable with the jumper set to Slave. You will need to format the new HD before use, but you can do that from Disk Management (as mentioned above).
Well I'm still here...
Words of genius Zod; by following them the new HD is not only fitted but working - amazing!
I went into Disk Manager, renamed my optical drives F and G (they were E and F), called the new HD 'E' and formatted it as 'Dynamic' and 'Simple' (just guesswork). I then copied and pasted everything from 'D' onto it, the plan being to repartition C/D to being totally C, and then rename E to back to D...
I'm a little bothered, though, that the new drive and the folders/files on it are in blue, not black like everything else. What did I do wrong and is it important? (before I blitz the old D)
Words of genius Zod; by following them the new HD is not only fitted but working - amazing!
I went into Disk Manager, renamed my optical drives F and G (they were E and F), called the new HD 'E' and formatted it as 'Dynamic' and 'Simple' (just guesswork). I then copied and pasted everything from 'D' onto it, the plan being to repartition C/D to being totally C, and then rename E to back to D...
I'm a little bothered, though, that the new drive and the folders/files on it are in blue, not black like everything else. What did I do wrong and is it important? (before I blitz the old D)
simpo two said:SImpo, it sounds as if you have the "compress drive to save disk space" option ticked in the new drive's properties (right click it in My Computer to check). That's what blue text means (green text means encrypted). You should be able to sort it out by simply removing the tick from the box.
Well I'm still here...
Words of genius Zod; by following them the new HD is not only fitted but working - amazing!
I went into Disk Manager, renamed my optical drives F and G (they were E and F), called the new HD 'E' and formatted it as 'Dynamic' and 'Simple' (just guesswork). I then copied and pasted everything from 'D' onto it, the plan being to repartition C/D to being totally C, and then rename E to back to D...
I'm a little bothered, though, that the new drive and the folders/files on it are in blue, not black like everything else. What did I do wrong and is it important? (before I blitz the old D)
Yep, spot on! (I rang an IT friend who confirmed that). So I reformatted and all went well.
However I can't delete my old D drive. I formatted it and increased the C partition to max, but there's a temp folder on D that won't delete as it's part of Windows. Arse! Disk Manager is now locked and won't work.
Overall the system is not perfect but it works - although Outlook Express appears to be 'new' - all my messages have gone somewhere - I'm too hungry to deal with it now. Interestingly I got an e-mail from Microsoft saying 'Welcome to OE6'!!! I'll nag my IT man later and try to get it 100%.
...
All fixed. Changed D to Z, then E to D. Deleted Z. Splendid!
>> Edited by simpo two on Wednesday 6th April 11:13
However I can't delete my old D drive. I formatted it and increased the C partition to max, but there's a temp folder on D that won't delete as it's part of Windows. Arse! Disk Manager is now locked and won't work.
Overall the system is not perfect but it works - although Outlook Express appears to be 'new' - all my messages have gone somewhere - I'm too hungry to deal with it now. Interestingly I got an e-mail from Microsoft saying 'Welcome to OE6'!!! I'll nag my IT man later and try to get it 100%.
...
All fixed. Changed D to Z, then E to D. Deleted Z. Splendid!
>> Edited by simpo two on Wednesday 6th April 11:13
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