how do i add more hdd space to my c: partition ?

[vhelp]

ok, so iTunes stole over 2g's of my c drive space. i dug around looking for where it may have put the files that i tried to sync from my ipod touch but i can't find it/them, so i can't delete to regain that space. lets face it, its obvious that i am just not computer savy as once before, and don't have the patience to fight with this also, or just give up on this too.

according to My Computer, i have the following exact spaces:

c: 9.76gb, win xp ntfs, i currently have 128mb space free
e: 48.8gb, ntfs
f: 90.4gb, ntfs

need to add aprox 10gig to the c: drive. i can remove files from either e or f partition.

and please, i don't have the space to install anything else. i'm looking for a quick and simple way to accomplish this if possible.

[Cornucopia]

It's 2012. Stop your iTunes update - kill it if you have to.
Go to BB (or whatever), buy a 500Gb HD for ~$60.
Take out one of your other drives temporarily and replace it with the new drive.
Run DriveImageXML or similar cloning app, and clone your C: drive to your new drive.
Replace your C: drive with your new drive and restore your other drive to the place it was before.
Store you old C: drive (as a spare/backup) or use it for other purposes, and move on enjoying life with your new C: drive. Redo your iTunes syncup if you want.

Scott

Edit: only complication I see would be matching the interface of the drives - SATA vs PATA.

[Sartori]

Download (yes download) , CCleaner (its very small , just a few meg as I recall) and let it delete all the temporary files and rubbish on your drive . I`d hold back on it optimising your registry though . If you dont understand what particular files are for , then use Google , if you dont want the expense of a new hard drive or computer then you will have to do some learning , no such thing as a free lunch etc etc

This will only give you room to breath on your hard drive .

The other obvious steps are dragging across your Music , Videos and Document folders from My Computer to the other hard drives .

[Nelson37]

C:\documents and settings\Username\Local Settings\temp - delete all contents. This is safe and will cause no problems Do this for all user names present.

C:\Windows\temp. Delete all contents. This is safe and will cause no problems.

Your available space on C is dangerously low and could cause a catastrophic loss of ALL data on the drive. Space must be made IMMEDIATELY, as in FIRST thing you do next time you turn it on.

The root cause of the problem is first the multiple partitions, and second the small boot partition. BAD idea and no good reason to do this.
Partition structure is like the foundation of your house. Very important, and simpler is better. If it fails, there is often no permanent solution, usually data loss, often complete and total. Keep It Simple.

There are utilities to change the size of existing partitions. Under no circumstances, outside of a temporary, emergency recovery operation, would I use these on any of my drives, or on those of any of my customers. Absolutely forbidden. The reason for this is that many years of experience show clearly that the probability of catastrophic failure is INCREASED by doing so. My manager removed all such utilities from our technicians CD's and firmly banned their use. This man did not make mistakes.

Back it up, delete all partitions, create ONE, re=format, re-install. That is the ONLY safe way to do it.

CCleaner does not "optimize" the registry, it simply removes unused entries. Hundreds of runs on dozens of different PCs, and it has NEVER, EVER caused a problem, including when used by normal PC users, meaning those that don't know very much. Highly recommended. Piriform.com.

[sanlyn]

The Three HDD's you listed are ridiculously small for today's computing. Remember that by the time you get down to 15% remaining unused space, your drive is working overtime and will soon reach the point where writing a single file will fill the drive and the OS won't even have enough enough temp drive space to write the info needed for a shutdown. Your system will freeze up, and it's all over from there.

[mL999]

Hello vhelp
It looks as if your three 'drives' c, e, and f. are partitions of a single 275 or so gigabyte hard drive.( I dont know exactly how to interpret your figures. I think 'C' contains about 10 G of 'XP' operating system and 128 G of empty space. in which case try to merge all three partitions into one. This does not seem to match the information given in your ?2001? computer details.)
Use 'My computer' to check the size of each partition and write down their sizes and the amounts of free space on them on a piece of paper and preserve it.
Take Sartori's advice. and use CCleaner to clear it of rubbish... and any unwanted software . Do clear the registry. ( I trust CCleaner more than Sartoti does)
Use 'Defraggler ' or the MS equivalent to defragment all the partitions (you might have time to go to the movies or paint the house while this happens... don't worry)
Now analyse you drive contents again partition by partition to see if you have enough empty space to operate . If so OK If not Then try merging the existing partitions into one using a hard drive manager.

... but I strongly recommend that you take Nelson37s advice and create a new set-up .
Backup the the whole hard drive . There are several ways to do this by backing up/restoring or cloning using an external hard drive or by installing a new additional hard drive internally. Unlike Nelson I never hesitate to use the ' Paragon Hard Disk Manager ' to change partition sizes so if you feel brave you can use that to work directly on you present hard drive. I only do these antics on my own and on my familys computers . So my personal safety is not really at risk.
If you have copies of the original software . Backup/ Copy all the data files and re-install the application software and then restore the data files.
I do not know if it is still possible to get and install the XP sevice packs. It would be better to install an up-dated vista (the final version works perfectly unlike the early versions) if you can get hold of one.
In a perfect world you would have lots of spare time and cash to get a new up to date computer for normal use .. Then you could try these things risk-free and have a lot of fun
Much of what I have written may be difficult for you to follow but please understand that I hope to help other peoples understanding as well as to help you.
Very best wishes from mike

[Sartori]

CCleaner does not "optimize" the registry, it simply removes unused entries. Hundreds of runs on dozens of different PCs, and it has NEVER, EVER caused a problem, including when used by normal PC users, meaning those that don't know very much. Highly recommended. Piriform.com.

It optimises it in terms of its size , by removing the unused entries it um..optimises it , you can call it cleaning if you wish to argue semantics .

I never said there was anything wrong with CCleaner at all , my advice is focused in what I believe should be the OPs priority , he shouldn`t focus on cleaning the front door mat while his house is on fire - 1st Priority - get some space . If there was anything wrong with CCLeaner , I wouldnt have it on my hard drive at all .

[fritzi93]

You could, say, back up the other two partitions to external drive, delete the extra partitions and then use a Parted Magic live CD to expand your C partition. But really, it's risky and you shouldn't have made multiple partitions in the first place.

Better to make a disc image to external media and restore, which will kill the existing partitions. First do a cleanup on the C drive. Then backup anything on the other (not C) partitions you need to keep.

[vhelp]

thank you everyone for offering your help with my situation. all was considered and much appreciated.

You could, say, back up the other two partitions to external drive, delete the extra partitions and then use a Parted Magic live CD to expand your C partition. But really, it's risky and you shouldn't have made multiple partitions in the first place.

i think i like this idea the best. don't know why i didn't think of it from the start.

here is the process so far:

01. copy all files from E: and F: to 1TB ext usb2 drive, i will name the folders E-drive and F-drive
02. reformat (the slow method) E and F so that fragmentation is reduced or elimiated
03. image, create a (ghost) image of C drive to the 1TB, in a folder \images\C-drive_2012-12-04Tue
04. expand C to its original 160gb size with some reliable 3rd party utility.
05. optional. run a 3rd party cleansing utility on the C drive.
06. finished

let me know if this sound about right, change any order of steps, or have additional tips. i might be able to start some of it now. in the mean time will proceed to install ghost 2003. thank you.

[Nelson37]

After you have done #1, #2, and #3, why not do it the right way? Delete all partitions, create one, format, restore image, copy other files. Actually, #2 becomes redundant. Defrag after restoring C, the image will still be fragmented. E and F will be defragged by the copy process, with all files now on C. Make directories if necessary.

#4 does not exist. Partition Magic, among others, was specifically banned at my former company by a tech who was far, far better than me. That is a distinction that I do not hand out to very many people. Namely ONE, him. I view his instructions not merely as gospel, but as coming directly from the Right Hand of God. He was, and is, that good. All the certifications you can name plus many years of field experience.

I would clean the Temp directories FIRST, before installing ANYTHING. 128 MB is NOT ENOUGH SPACE for normal operation, let alone any software installation.

[fritzi93]

Well, I shouldn't have mentioned using Parted Magic (not Partition Magic). Again, it's risky and it's the long way around anyway. It takes quite some time to complete moving a partition.

- Clean up your C drive.
- Backup your non-OS partitions.
- Image your C drive.
- Restore the image.

Easy. And if your hard drive is a WD or Seagate, you can use the free version of Acronis they offer (the versions are slightly different, but the same in the essentials). Acronis has been utterly reliable in my experience.

[vhelp]

thanks again guys for the tips. i have not completed this project yet. so far i have copied all E and F partitions to the 1TB drive. so i am currently using the 1TB (e-drive and f-drive) files and excluding all activaties in for the E and F partitions. since its a 1TB usb3.0 drive, it made a big difference in speed of copying files to. ie., copying the E partition (48gig) to the 1TB over usb2 (4-port hub) took over 2 hours. when i connected a usb3 pci-e usb3 card and copied the F partition (98gig) to the 1TB, it only took half an hour. i'm curious to know what is the usb2/usb3 throughput per Kbs/sec. anyway.

i am not ready to complete the project just yet. i can't help but feel that something is missing in the list of steps i posted earlier. i think one step missing is the making the partition larger--not sure how to do since i'm not going to use a 3rd party utility. another step, creating a start up disk (cd or usb stick) is another. i have to boot into something. finally, restore the image [after step 04]. not sure if this will trigger reactivation.

[vhelp]

Back it up, delete all partitions, create ONE, re=format, re-install. That is the ONLY safe way to do it.

ok, last i recall, (win 98 era) we used fdisk, but its not included in xp. my memory is so vague now. but i am not sure how to re-partition my hdd. is it fdisk that i need or something else for this task ?

[aedipuss]

control panel/administrative tools/computer management/storage/disc management

[vhelp]

my install said that i already have norton ghost installed but it is a corrupt and i need to uninstall it and re-install. but, where can i find my norton ghost serial/key ? its gotta me stored somewhere. thanks.

[jollyjohn]

DriveImage XML V2.44
Free Download
DriveImage XML
English (1.78MB)

Image and Backup logical Drives and Partitions

[Nelson37]

When you run the installation CD, it will find the existing partitions. Delete them all, create one new big one, then slow format.

Can't miss it.

There is no seperate Fdisk anymore.

Disk Management won't let you delete the existing boot partition and re-create the new one, XP will stop working in the middle of this.