Member Avatar for WinXPME

I have a Sony Vaio with a 120 gig C/D drive. The C drive only has 13 gigs for programs, etc. D is full but I can move stuff over to a 300 gig Maxtor external. The problem is, there's nothing to delete on C and I'm at times under 99 mb of free space. I need to make the partition like 25 gigs or more. How do I do this without having to save everything to disk?

Anyhelp? Thanks.

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Dani AI

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For : reallocating space from D: into C: is the correct fix and can be done without manually copying every file off the machine, but it should be treated as a risky operation and prepared for accordingly. pointed out the resize/move approach; the following checklist and notes add practical safeguards and alternatives.

Preflight checklist (strongly recommended)

  • Create a full disk image to the external Maxtor and verify the image. An image is faster to restore than copying files one-by-one if anything goes wrong.
  • Build bootable rescue media for the imaging or partition tool used.
  • Record the current partition layout (Disk Management screenshot or write it down) and check for hidden OEM/recovery partitions — these can block movement of partitions and should be handled (make recovery discs first).
  • Run filesystem checks (for example, chkdsk /f), temporarily disable System Restore and hibernation, and remove or move the pagefile so the partition can be defragmented fully.
  • Defragment D: to consolidate free space near the partition boundary.

Typical operation sequence (what the partition tool actually does)

  1. Shrink D: to free the desired amount of space.
  2. Move/shift the remaining D: partition so the freed space is immediately after C:.
  3. Extend C: into the newly created unallocated space.

Notes and cautions

  • Many partition utilities queue these steps and reboot into their own environment to move data; expect the process to take hours on large drives. Keep the laptop plugged in and avoid interruptions.
  • If the shrink fails because of immovable files, use a boot-time defragmenter or temporarily relocate those files; otherwise consider imaging C:, deleting/recreating partitions, and restoring C: to the new larger partition.
  • If the PC is domain-joined or has OEM recovery, follow domain/OEM best practices before changing partitions. If a boot problem occurs, use the rescue media or Windows Recovery Console to repair the bootloader, and restore the image if needed.

A verified image on the external Maxtor is the single best safeguard while resizing.

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Member Avatar for SingerGuy59

I have a floppy drive with a program called Partition Commander that will let me resize partitions. I would use that and shrink your D: drive (after clearing some stuff off of it, then move the D: partition to the top of the drive stack. Finally, grow the C: partition to fill the newly available space.

If your computer is a part of a domain, make sure you pick the option to not redo the SIDS afterwards or else it will no longer be valid on the domain. Home computers do not need to worry about the SIDS.

Member Avatar for WinXPME

Thanks! I'm purchasing PC 9.0 for $20. I can't wait for the freedom it will give me.

Thanks again.

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