Vista Install on 30GB Hard Drive

MrSchecter

I'm not very computer savvy, but consider this.

A computer is an Intel Q8 CPU, 3GB RAM and a GeForce 9600.

It's a grand machine for what it's needed for.

Except for one big problem.

There was once an 80GB C drive and and a 500GB D drive. The D drive was pretty much used for photos and such.

After a family friend fixed some issue or other, there is now a 30GB C drive and a 50GB D drive. Upon further investigation, there seems to be a single physical 80GB drive partitioned into a 30C/50D.

Vista takes up almost all of the C drive.

The computer is somewhat unusable now.

I wanted to repartition the drive so they had a single 80GB partition but my readings online suggested this was risky. They do not have a Vista DVD. Is there any way to do this without wrecking everything?

Skill Magill

Look inside is the only way of telling. Are there 2 physical hard drives in there?

MrSchecter

There are not. One drive.

I have no way of knowing if there once were two physical drives. But they absolutely had an 80gb C drive/partition and a bigger D drive/partition at one point. A lot bigger.

It's conceivable that they had a singular 500gb drive replaced with an 80GB drive or an 80gb drive and a 500gb.

PlanIT Computing

MrSchecter wrote: »

There are not. One drive.

I have no way of knowing if there once were two physical drives. But they absolutely had an 80gb C drive/partition and a bigger D drive/partition at one point. A lot bigger.

It's conceivable that they had a singular 500gb drive replaced with an 80GB drive or an 80gb drive and a 500gb drive and the 500gb garnished...

Either way, this sort of machine (in terms of CPU/RAM/GPU or frikkin OS... it's a 2008/9 device) does not normally come solely with an 80gb drive and I am super curious as to whether the remaining storage was defective or just stolen.

Is it a Dell?

Skill Magill

Take a look at disk management, that will tell you whats there and how its partitioned
Go to start(bottom left icon on screen) right click computer > manage > storage > disk management

see whats there

MarkR

Skill Magill wrote: »

Take a look at disk management, that will tell you whats there and how its partitioned
Go to start(bottom left icon on screen) right click computer > manage > storage > disk management

see whats there

A computer that old wouldn't normally come with a 500 GB drive. 80 or 160 I would have thought. Hard drives are not expensive, particularly one that's years old. Unless it was full of bitcoins, I cant see it being worth stealing. What make is the computer?

phill106

Look up the make and model of the machine online, should show exactly what hardware came with it. I suspect the drive wouldnt be that large though.

MrSchecter

I've revised the OP considerably.

The main issue is, how can I make Vista run ok on this setup? Doesn't matter how it happened.

Skill Magill

you could leave it running vista and add another physical hard drive.

MrSchecter

Skill Magill wrote: »

you could leave it running vista and add another physical hard drive.

More than 80GB isn't needed at all for what the computer's used for.

The problem is, Vista (which takes up around 25GB) is installed on a 30GB partition. I don't have access to a Vista DVD. If there were a single 80GB partition, it would be grand but I'm not sure I can repartition the hard drive without accidentally deleting the OS? Google says it's "risky".

Skill Magill

Whats in disk management?
Go to start(bottom left icon on screen) right click computer > manage > storage > disk management

Your primary drive will be sitting in a 30gb partition, and to the right of that should be more space.
Can you right click in the primary partition and extend it to the free space.

Something like this (didn't watch it but you get the idea)

MrSchecter

I've been in disk management and have seen the option to extent partitions.

There was a warning message and after a google, it seemed like something considered risky. There's always a disclaimer, you could lose data etc. etc.

I'd really love a knowledgeable person to just give me the go ahead to do it. How risky is it exactly?

MarkR

Here are several options showing how to do it. I didn't think you could do it from within windows, it would need access to files you would currently be using.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/how-to-extend-system-drive-partition-c-to-get-more/6acd8697-4292-4280-8270-049691d14598

Whatever you decide, you should make a backup of your files before you start. A usb hard drive can be got for less than €50, and if there is important information you should definitely do this before you make any changes.

Skill Magill

The warning is probably that you will lose data that is on the partition to the right of the 30 gb drive.The operating system will not be affected though.

MrSchecter

Skill Magill wrote: »

The warning is probably that you will lose data that is on the partition to the right of the 30 gb drive.The operating system will not be affected though.

Ah. That's grand.

Cheers everybody.

28064212

Skill Magill wrote: »

The warning is probably that you will lose data that is on the partition to the right of the 30 gb drive.The operating system will not be affected though.

There is always a risk when changing partitions. It's a very low-level operation, and if anything goes wrong, the entire disk can be wiped (may be recoverable, may not be). You should always have a back-up before changing your partitions

Of course you should always have a backup regardless

davo2001

Skill Magill wrote: »

Look inside is the only way of telling. Are there 2 physical hard drives in there?

Jesus, the information given on this forum is horrendous! Disk Management will show you if there is 1 or 2 physical disks!

Skill Magill

davo2001 wrote: »

Jesus, the information given on this forum is horrendous! Disk Management will show you if there is 1 or 2 physical disks!

There can be other disks in there that are not connected and hence not detected by disk management, no need to be smart. Read the whole thread.

davo2001

Skill Magill wrote: »

There can be other disks in there that are not connected and hence not detected by disk management, no need to be smart. Read the whole thread.

I did and my point stands.

Skill Magill

Does disk management use magic to detect disconnected physical disks now?
I can explain it more simply if you like, but I might be giving horrendous information.

MarkR

Ok lads ok.

1. Check Disk Mangement
2. Check inside of machine
3. Back up any important files
4. Try to resize partition
5. Have a cup of tea

riclad

you can use clonezilla live,
live cd, to backup up a
windows partition, to a usb drive.
http://clonezilla.org/

its free.

it uses simple menu commands,
save image , restore image to disk.
copys all data in the partition,
windows, vista ,os, documents.music, all files etc

use it to make an image of the 30gig partition just in case some goes wrong ,
to another drive,or a external usb drive.

THERES always a risk when you expand,or change partition information.