Hard-drive split?
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From: Brian V on 29 Dec 2009 03:15 Inside my computer tower is one hard-drive. But I have two in my computer. It is like the drive is seperated into a C: and D: drive. Why is this? Can I rejoin them? If they were split, does it take away from the amount of space there is there (say it's 400gB would this situation make it 350Gb one has access to. The other 50Gb being a buffer of some kind?)?
From: Bill R on 29 Dec 2009 07:21 "Brian V" <BrianV(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:4DB2E4AA-D419-4C6A-9B7E-96534C1BF82C(a)microsoft.com... > Inside my computer tower is one hard-drive. But I have two in my computer. > It > is like the drive is seperated into a C: and D: drive. Why is this? Can I > rejoin them? If they were split, does it take away from the amount of > space > there is there (say it's 400gB would this situation make it 350Gb one has > access to. The other 50Gb being a buffer of some kind?)? Your hard disk has been partioned. That is it has been formatted into two parts which are seen as separate drives. It is possible to re-format into one partition. Either copy off ALL your data and reformat and re-install Windows and all your software - you would, then have to reconfigure your software. It is also possible to re-partition using software like Partition Magic which claims to re-partition without the need to reformat - but I can't comment on its success.. Overall the best advice is to do nothing - unless it is actually causing a problem! Regards. Bill Ridgeway
From: DL on 29 Dec 2009 07:46 And if you only have a recovery cd / partion then likely your PC would be restored to the same state Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Director can combine partitions on the fly - I've used both "Bill R" <bill(a)compsols.wanadoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:eiBRDGIiKHA.5596(a)TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > "Brian V" <BrianV(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:4DB2E4AA-D419-4C6A-9B7E-96534C1BF82C(a)microsoft.com... >> Inside my computer tower is one hard-drive. But I have two in my >> computer. It >> is like the drive is seperated into a C: and D: drive. Why is this? Can I >> rejoin them? If they were split, does it take away from the amount of >> space >> there is there (say it's 400gB would this situation make it 350Gb one has >> access to. The other 50Gb being a buffer of some kind?)? > > Your hard disk has been partioned. That is it has been formatted into two > parts which are seen as separate drives. It is possible to re-format into > one partition. Either copy off ALL your data and reformat and re-install > Windows and all your software - you would, then have to reconfigure your > software. It is also possible to re-partition using software like > Partition Magic which claims to re-partition without the need to > reformat - but I can't comment on its success.. > > Overall the best advice is to do nothing - unless it is actually causing a > problem! > > Regards. > > Bill Ridgeway >
From: Paul on 29 Dec 2009 10:32 Brian V wrote: > Inside my computer tower is one hard-drive. But I have two in my computer. It > is like the drive is seperated into a C: and D: drive. Why is this? Can I > rejoin them? If they were split, does it take away from the amount of space > there is there (say it's 400gB would this situation make it 350Gb one has > access to. The other 50Gb being a buffer of some kind?)? If this is a pre-built computer, with a recovery partition on it, don't touch it until you understand a little more about the setup. Some people get all excited by the opportunity to expand C: and wipe out the only copy of Windows provided with their computer. There may be a hidden partition, with your recovery software in it. Check the computer instruction manual, for the procedure that covers burning a "recovery CD" or "recovery DVD". If you prepare your recovery media in advance, you'll be prepared for the day that the hard drive dies on you. This tool will display the four primary partition entries on a hard drive. A hard drive can have more than four partitions. One of the partition entries can have a special entry that indicates more logical partitions exist. This tool doesn't show any logical partitions. I use only primary ones on my machine (more convenient). PTEDIT32 for Windows ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/PTEDIT32.zip PTEDIT32 screenshot http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/vista-installation-setup/7308d1224108918-hidden-partiton-recovery-dell-xps-420-dell-tbl.gif You can see in the sample screen shot, there are three partitions on the hard drive being displayed. Type "07" or "0C" might be considered "normal" partitions. The ones marked "DE" and "DB" are different. "DE" is something that Dell invented. Each manufacturer can hide different things in the partition table, so it is a good idea to do your research first, so you don't erase something you'll want later. At least one computer manufacturer uses an HPA (Host Protected Area), which you can't even see in that display. If you were building your own computer, you wouldn't do anything nearly so complicated. There is a table of partition types here, to help you decode them. Using a single byte would seem to have been a mistake. http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partitions/partition_types-1.html Paul
From: Daave on 29 Dec 2009 13:59 Brian V wrote: > Inside my computer tower is one hard-drive. But I have two in my > computer. It is like the drive is seperated into a C: and D: drive. > Why is this? Can I rejoin them? If they were split, does it take away > from the amount of space there is there (say it's 400gB would this > situation make it 350Gb one has access to. The other 50Gb being a > buffer of some kind?)? I will assume a few things, so please correct me if I'm wrong. 1. You have a PC that contains one hard drive and when you open My Computer, you see two "drives" (these are actually partitions) listed, namely C: and D:. Some PC manufacturers (Sony, for instance) pre-configure the hard drives so there are two partitions. C: is meant for the operating system and all it settings and updates and also for all your installed programs, including all their settings. D: is meant for all your data: your word processing doucments, spreadsheets, music files like mp3s, videos, etc. The PC manufacturer could have just as easily included only one giant partition, which would contain *everything*. Why do certain manufacturers do this? Perhaps there is a restore program that will work quicker if the system partition isn't too large. You can only rejoin them by using a third-party disk partitioning program like EASEUS or Partition Magic. But you might decide you like the default layout; there's nothing wrong with it and there is some logic behind it. That is, you might be satisfied leaving well enough alone. In addition to these two visible partitions, it's possible you have other *hidden* partitions. They can be seen by using the built-in Windows program Disk Management. Some hidden partitions are relatively small and contain diagnostics. Others are fairly large and contain an image that cean be used to restore the PC to its original condition.
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