Partition Problem

I have an 80GB hard drive which is now split into "C" approx 40GB, a protected IBM area of approx 5GB and then an unallocated space of approx 35GB.
The unallocated space was a surprise and I think it is the result of using True Image 11 and activating the secure zone, which was later de-activated. I have only found this out as a result of a warning telling me I am running out of space.
I have purchased Disk Director 10 based on the statement that it is easy to move, resize, merge disks etc. However, nothing seems further from the truth. I have followed the instructions and absolutely nothing happens, however, a quick look at a couple if posts on here indicates that the partitions have to be next to each other before merging or increasing free space etc.
I have "C" followed by the IBM protected area followed by the unallocated partition and I cannot seem to move the partitions.
Could anyone help with an instruction for "dummies" as to how I can actually increase the size of my "C" drive by using the unallocated space.

Forgot to say it is windows XP Pro.

Paul

 

Paul:

If you haven't done so already, use the Bootable Media Builder app (on the Tools menu) to create a recovery CD or bootable USB flash drive. Whenever you are going to do any operation that affects the Windows system partition you should always do it from the recovery CD when Windows is not running. To fix your current problem I would do this:

1. Boot your PC from the recovery CD or flash drive
2. Start DD in either mode (safe or full); safe mode will start faster and is fine for changes to your internal disk
3. When DD starts, choose "Manual" mode
4. Right-click on your IBM Service partition and choose "Resize"
5. Point to the center of the graphic image of the partition. Click and drag the whole partition to the right until it is at the end of the disk. Do not make it any larger or smaller; just move it to the right.
6. Choose "Commit" from the menu or click on the checkered flag to write changes to the disk
7. Next right-click on the Windows partition and choose "Resize"
8. Point to the rightmost edge of the graphic image and drag the slider to the right until you have enlarged the Windows partition to its maximum size.
9. Commit by clicking on the checkered flag
10. Reboot into Windows to check the outcome.

Before doing any partitioning operations you should make a backup image with TI just in case something goes wrong (better safe than sorry).

Hope this helps! Let us know.

 

Mark,
Thanks for your help, maybe you should write the manual!
I followed your instructions which are so much clearer and simple, however, I still had a problem as it reported that the task of moving the IBM partition had completed but with errors. The error was that the FAT partition was corrupted, now throughout all of this there has been a very small red character sitting in the top left corner of that partition that could have been a "C", is that in fact indicating that the partition was corrupted?
Any way the partition would not move, I assume because it was corrupted so the only way to regain the space was to delete the corrupted partition and then everything worked as described after that.
I spent hours yesterday trying to do this, your input helped get a result in 15 minutes so thanks again.

Paul

 

Paul:

Yes, the red "C" indicates that the partition had a corruption problem, either because it had an actual bad sector or because of some file system issue that can usually be fixed with chkdsk.

Now that you have (I assume) all of the disk as the Windows partition, run chkdsk /r from a command prompt window. You'll get an error message saying that Windows cannot do this now but it will be completed at the next reboot. Reboot the machine and let it run, which may take a while since this test will check the integrity of every sector.

If you want to have the IBM service partition and you have a copy of it in a recent TI backup then you can put it back as follows:

1. Check the backup archive for the size of the partition. On my X41 laptop the partition is about 5 GB, but check for the exact size.
2. Use DD (from the boot disk) to resize the C partition smaller by the needed amount, leaving the end of the disk as free space.
3. Reboot into TI and restore only the IBM service partition from your backup to the free space on the drive. Restore as a primary partition and keep the existing partition type, which should be FAT32 hidden.

Of course, if you'd rather have the extra space as part of the Windows partition then don't bother!