how do I reclaim partition?

Hi there I'm wanting to eek out a bit more space on my ageing compaq presario v5000, I have a full set of recovery disks that i can use if need be, so i'm thinking that if I delete my partition d drive i'll effectivly gain almost 6gb of usable space and with only 60gb altogether that will be helpful to me.
trouble is, I have formatted the partition in disk managment (xp btw) but I can't remove the partition and use the extra space, please help.
is there some free program that will do this for me? thanks.

 

look here . a few

http://lists.thedatalist.com/pages/System_Partitioning.php

 

You can BOOT via a CD or DVD to a free or trial version of a basic partition manager like BOOT It NG. From there you can delete the Recovery Partition to recover the used hard drive space. After you’ve completed the partition deletion, remove the disk, re-BOOT and use the Windows disk manager to extend the primary partition and recover the free space.

Special Notes:
1. If you still have it on your system, save a copy of your “Software Setup” folder. This folder contains most, if not all, of your original software installers and drivers. After you save it somewhere as a backup, you can delete the folder and regain some additional hard drive space.
2. If you haven't done so, go to windows/software distribution/downloads and clear the folder. You don't need these files and deleting them can also save you some space.
3. Enter your BIOS and make the CD/DVD drive the first bootable device.(If it’s not set that way already)
4. When using a partition tool, be very careful not to delete the Primary Partition or the MBR.

 

thanks for the help, great forum, I have got myself a copy of partition magic and merged my back up partition with the c drive, I now have almost 60 gb to play with, i'm getting a new notebook this week, so I can now try things like this without fear of not having a pc, my next task is to do a clean install of a lite version of xp on my old faithful compaq, that should take up even less space, i've just learned how to boot from cd, f10 on start up and change the option.
Its all the bloatware that I want rid of, in particular MSN messanger, I hate that I can't uninstall it, its annoyed me from day 1, 3 years ago.
so thanks for the help, any tips for formatting everything and starting fresh with a lit version of xp will be much appriciated. is it worth seaching for a lite verion of xp or can i just buy xp without all the bloatware?

 

You already bought XP when you purchased your notebook. Don't buy it again. Borrow a retail copy of XP from someone that matches what was originally installed on your V5000 (i.e. XP Home or Pro) and make a copy. You can then either:

1. Install it as is and use the Reg Key on the underside of your notebook to register the software with Microsoft or
2. Download nLite and make a new "lite" XP installation disk with the copy you borrowed, again using the Reg Key on the underside of your notebook to register the software.

Either way you'll have no bloatware. Install drivers and whatever else you like and you're done. Takes a bit of time but in the end you'll have a very clean system that will likely run better than when it was new.

Find Drivers at HP/UK here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...uk&dlc=en&submit.y=1&submit.x=9&lang=en&cc=uk

Last, be sure to install the Microsoft UAA driver (above) before you install the sound driver. If you do not, it will cause numerous errors. Do the chipset first, the video drivers second, and then the UAA followed by sound. The rest really don't matter much as far as installation order.

 

thats very clear, good advice, thanks alot thats what I will do, borrow xp home from a friend. Its always been installing which drivers that have made me nervous about straying away from the standard recovery disks with all the bloatware, but you have given me the bit of extra confidence I needed to give it a go.

 

Glad to help. Before you start the process though, take a close look at device manager and write down every device driver that has been installed. This will make it much easier for you to find, compare, and re-install the drivers you need when you've completed the fresh OS install and update.

Also, if you still have it on your system, save a copy of your “Software Setup” folder. This folder contains most, if not all, of your original software installers and drivers.

Go slow and have fun!!