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    Redistribute Free Space?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by KarenA, Jul 12, 2008.

  1. KarenA

    KarenA Notebook Evangelist

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    What is the easiest and simplest way to redistribute free space?

    For example, my C partition has 25gigs of free space, and I want that 25gigs to be merged with existing D partition. But, D is not empty, it has a lot of files too.

    Thanks. :)
     
    KarenA, Jul 12, 2008
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  2. ttupa

    ttupa Tech Elitist NBR Reviewer

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    You need 3rd party partition manager software. Partition Magic is an excellent paid program, and makes this process very easy. Otherwise there's the free Gparted software, which takes a little bit more knowledge and time to get working right.

    I may be wrong, but I think Vista's disk management software will only extend a partition if free space is adjacent to the partition you want to extend. In the graphical representation, I think the free space must be to the "right" of the partition you want to extend.
     
    ttupa, Jul 12, 2008
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  3. KarenA

    KarenA Notebook Evangelist

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    Thank you for the answer. :)

    I am currently looking at Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 Personal. It is not free and according to some reviews I've read, it is much easier to use than Norton or Acronis Partition Magic..

    I actually want to shrink my C partition which is only for Windows and program files, system files etc to only 30gb. Do you think 30gb is enough (what is the recommended size for C partition?)? Currently my D which has all my files like pics, etc only 30gb, compared to what I set my C to have, 57gb. At first I was afraid to give C partition too small but I've set it too big.
     
    KarenA, Jul 13, 2008
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  4. steve511

    steve511 Notebook Consultant

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    use gparted. it works great, you can resize, extend, shrink, and move partitions easily, and best of all it's free......some versions will not work with your computer. i had to try 4 versions or something to get it to work on my laptop but its worth it because its free
     
    steve511, Jul 13, 2008
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  5. stewie

    stewie What the deuce?

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    Just for precaution, always back up your data first, especially when you are shrinking the OS partition. From my experience, there is always a chance that something goes wrong with shrinking an OS partition, especially if you try to shrink it too close to the limit. On the other hand, I had more success rate with expanding partitions though. Partition Magic is pretty easy to use and can do exactly what you wanted, but like said, just make sure you backup your data first.

    :)
     
    stewie, Jul 13, 2008
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