ORIGINAL POST:
When I got my 30 Gig hard drive I partitioned it into two partitions, C and D, and made them equal. Now I see that wasn’t a good split because my C is full of software loads and D is almost empty. I think that is giving me some performance problems, slow start primarily.
Can you advise me on re-partitioning my hard drive? Like, how to do it without loosing everything and having to reload?
Thanks.
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FIRST RESPONSE:
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I wrote all the stuff below before realizing you have a 30GB drive. I though that was 300GB. My network engineer is better at that than me and would definitely recommend purchasing a new hard drive, like a 250GB or something large enough to be ridiculously enough space. Then install the drive in the computer as it stands now and we can “ghost” the C:\ partition, set a few parameters in a little program called “Partition Magic”, unplug your old hard drive and off you go. No moving of any files necessary, no need to fret about installation space, no backups required, in fact your current 30GB drive just became your new spare drive, etc. It is a little intimidating because there are lots of options but the best part is we can try it and fail without consequences. Doing it just right gives you your current windows installation on the new, warrantied, XXX GB drive and windows will love it, speed up, and last until you get real software issues!. HAHA! What kind of platform are you working with these days?
I can recommend the software if you want to order a drive, I wouldn’t get one locally – they just can’t compete with online pricing and the same warranty. Seagate, Western Digital, and Maxtor are acceptable brands.
Read on if you want to prolong your current drive (NOT recommended, windows XP needs 20GB or better to breathe with 512MB memory MINIMUM!, in my opinion of course).
I’d rather see you spend a little more money now on the correct fix to your exact problem instead of repairing what is already an unacceptable environment for win xp, hell I don’t think they sell drives less than 100GB now. Mine is still a 40GB tried and true! Ultimately it boils down to how important those programs are that you have installed because as you know if you mess with your partitions and reinstall you’ll have to start over. I do it every 3 months but I’m pretty quick at it.
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THE FOLLOWING IS RECOMMENDED, NOT MANDATORY. FOLLOW AT YOUR OWN RISK!
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For good measure and some neat tricks.
Assuming you have windows XP you can try to “clean up” your primary drive by first moving your “my documents” folder to your spare partition. That will probably free up a good but of space. Let’s see if I can type you through…be good practice, plus I could use something different:
Right click on your “My Documents” folder from your desktop (if you don’t have a shortcut to that folder click on the start menu and right click on “My Documents” and select something like “send to > desktop” or “Show on Desktop”.)
You will see the properties of that shortcut with a few options.
****** BEFORE YOU TRY THIS BE SURE YOU COPY THE FILES FROM C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR-USER-ACCOUNT\My Documents\ TO YOUR SPARE DRIVE AND LABEL IT BACKUP!!!! ********
Now, I would try the “Move” button shown below which will give you the option to choose the new location of that folder, it will copy the contents of the entire directory even though you are working from a shortcut. If you feel comfortable copying data then you can setup your new location ahead of time on the new partition and use the “Move” option but UNCHECK the box that says “Move data to new location” or something like that.
Check hard drive space…your page file depends on it! Depending on your memory size your hard drive serves as a “over flow” which is the page file. Typically it should be set to a minimum of TWICE the memory you have installed and a maximum of TWICE that number. If you have 512MB set the min. to 1024 and max to 2048, etc.
To set it right click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop and select “Properties” from the menu (see above if you don’t have that icon on your desktop).
Click the “Advanced” tab, then under the “Performance” category click the button labeled “Settings”…brings up yet another window (hence the OS title!).
Click the “Advanced” tab again and observe what you see under the heading “Virtual Memory”….do some math, if you need to change it hit the “Change” button and set it to “Custom” if it isn’t already. Put in your numbers and hit “Set”. Probably have to reboot, registry dependant stuff.
Now you can also uninstall some less important programs like printer software, graphics software, games, etc. and re-install them TO your second partition. Of course you have to be able to set that manually during the install so a little google research will tell you which programs you can modify.
Temporarily allow hidden folders and system protected files: Open up any folder with files in it, go to Tools > Folder Options > View Tab > select “Show Hidden Files and Folders” > scroll down and UNCHECK “Hide protected operating system files”. It will not like that but tell it you know what you’re doing!
Now remove ALL contents in the following folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\---Any user account used recently---\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\
C:\Documents and Settings\---Any user account used recently---\Local Settings\Temp\
C:\WUTemp
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
If you don’t have an anti-spyware solution “Ad-aware SE” is a good one or if you really are serious about locking down your computer from Internet intruders I would recommend “Spy Sweeper by Webroot” in combination with either Norton Antivirus (Not Internet Security!) or Trend Micro Antivirus **up to date** and all current virus definitions downloaded (both above are automatic with Internet connection).
Now you’re ready to defrag – open up “My Computer” and right click on you C:\ partition and select “Properties”. Click on “Tools” then “Defragment Now”. Be prepared to be without, it’s better if you leave it alone while it moves all your files around into temp directories and puts them back in order. You should have a solid line of BLUE in the bottom window when it’s done.
Wow, every few months that wouldn’t be a bad way to elongate the life of a windows installation – I re-install every 3 months because I beat the crap out of it…this one is only a few days old!
PC Forum 
, right? Do they make those?