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    Acer partitions

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Astec123, Jan 12, 2006.

  1. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok I got my new laptop. It has a 100gb drive and has a 2gb hidden partition and also 2 partitions of 45gb each. My question is how can I merge these two partitions together without having to pay for software like Partition Magic or using something like Ranish as I dont have a Floppy drive available. Does anyone know what I need to do to just connect the other partition which has nothing on it to the main one with windows. Even a half way house will do and having it reduced to 1-2gb so I can get the most without spanning my video collection across the 2 drives.
     
    Astec123, Jan 12, 2006
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  2. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I assume there is either nothing out there to help me, or that no one with an answer saw the post. Would greatly appreciate some help getting my laptop how I like it.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  3. USAFdude02

    USAFdude02 NBR Reviewer & Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Do a google on partioning. You might be able to find a trial version maybe. Partion Magic is good if you need to do it.
     
    USAFdude02, Jan 13, 2006
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  4. Darbyjack

    Darbyjack Notebook Evangelist

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    download partition magic off bit torrent or something
     
    Darbyjack, Jan 13, 2006
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  5. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Done about an hours worth of googling, Im a search nazi so always look before I ask for advice. PM only has trail versions where it shows you what it can do but wont proform them till you pay up. Thus it is pointless for me as it will be a one off. Got the laptop and have things installed, next time I reboot it I will just install windows from scratch.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  6. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I cant get PM off BT as I cannot connect to it where I am. BT is blocked on the network and therefore I cant cheat and get it.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  7. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    You should be able to find PM for about 20 bucks (yes it is legal). Its a downloadable version that I got, but I can't remember the exact site. I know I found the link on buy.com

    I'm not sure which partitions you are wanting to combine, but you could use the XP disk and follow the steps to a format. When you get to the partitions part, you can create/delete/edit partitions without having to reformat -- as long as you do NOT mess with the windows partition. Once you are done, I believe you can hit esc or F3 several times to exit the process.
     
    Amber, Jan 13, 2006
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  8. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    As I said all I want to do is remove this partition. I have no use for PM after that. So even 20 of your dolars is too expensive for what I want to do.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  9. USAFdude02

    USAFdude02 NBR Reviewer & Deity NBR Reviewer

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    Without PM then there is no way I can think of doing this...except reformatting the computer.

    Maybe someone else can think of something? :confused:
     
    USAFdude02, Jan 13, 2006
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  10. ogando_jose

    ogando_jose Notebook Consultant

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    Linux qparted..... free, cool, easy......
     
    ogando_jose, Jan 13, 2006
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  11. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok then, thanks anyway. **** annoying that I cant do it without paying for the software.

    Interesting that even common words that are not even swearing are not permitted. Now thats a stupid filter.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  12. Hucsman

    Hucsman Notebook Consultant

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    Hucsman, Jan 13, 2006
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  13. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Looks good, will take a look at it and see if it works. Hopefully it does. Never knew you could boot it from CD!

    Thanks everyone.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  14. Astec123

    Astec123 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nope wont format it, the drive is NTFS and ranish doesnt like that.
     
    Astec123, Jan 13, 2006
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  15. Hucsman

    Hucsman Notebook Consultant

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    It doesn't? That's weird...

    Maybe this would help (please note, playing with partitions in diskpart is, and has always been dangerous, do at your own risk. Also, this method will only work if your primary partition with windows in it is NTFS):

    Boot XP in safe mode.
    Click Start>Run
    Type "diskpart"
    Type "list disk"
    Read to see which disk is your HDD, most likely it will be disk 0.
    Type "select disk x" where x is your HDD.

    Now, before we continue, we'll call the partition you have windows in partition x, an we'll call the partition you want to merge (i.e. the partition WITHOUT windows) partition y.

    Type "list partition" to know which partition is which.

    Now we can go two routes. In case BOTH partitions are NTFS (diskpart won't tell you this, you need to know that beforehand), you just have to do this:

    Type "select partition x"
    Type "extend"

    And you will not loose data in partition y. As you may have noticed, the extend command is what we're interested in here. In case partition y is formatted with a file system that is NOT NTFS (partition x should be always for extend to work), then don't post the two earlier optional commands and do this:

    "select partition y"
    "delete"
    "select partition x"
    "extend"
    "exit"

    During extend and/or delete, diskpart will take a while and not show any output. This is normal. i believe that by adding
    "-- progress" after the command you can get a meter, but I'm not so sure about this last progress part.

    In case it doesn't allow you to work with partitions, you will have to work with volumes. Don't worry, the concept is, for these purposes, the exact same thing. From the top:

    Start>Run
    "diskpart"
    "list volume"
    Possibility A, both volumes NTFS:
    "select volume x" (the one with your OS in it).
    "extend"

    Possibility B (volume to be merged not NTFS):
    "select volume y"
    "delete"
    "select volume x"
    "extend"

    Wrap it up:
    "exit"
     
    Hucsman, Jan 14, 2006
    #15