How do i delete a partition?

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@p0k wrote:
I just bought a Dell Inspiron E1405 Laptop, and i noticed that it has a C and D drive (the D drive being labeled as "Backup"). From what i've read on the forums, the back up drive is for the norton Ghost software to restore the computer to factory settings if anything happens. However i will not have anything important on the computer so i would rather just have one drive with all the memory. I already uninstalled norton ghost thinking that may fix the problem, but the drive is still partitioned. Is there a way i can just delete it(without reinstalling xp) and have all the storage space be in the C drive? thanks alot, any help would be appreciated.
john.

In the future, by using the Advanced Forum Search on the bottom of this page, you can quite easily find the answer to this often asked question.

The D drive is NOT to restore the computer to factory settings, that's a hidden partition.  The D drive is installed as part of Norton Ghost software to allow regular backups of your system.  Also, note that hard disk space is not memory, it's storage.  Big difference.  Combining all partitions will give you more room to store programs, but doesn't make anything run any faster. 

Supposedly, people have uninstalled the Ghost product and found that it combined the D partition.  I find that hard to believe, but you may want to give it a go.  If not, you can easily use Windows Disk Management to format the D partition and use that space.  To get back that partition AND the hidden partition, you'll need to either buy Symantec Partition Magic or reformat your computer. 

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@p0k wrote:

If i already uninstalled Norton Ghost does that mean that the ghost image is no longer available?

 

Also, can i use the D drive to store things or is it useless?

 

sorry, all this partition stuff is new to me. thanks for your help!

If you uninstalled Ghost, then you cannot use the Ghost image regardless.  Dell PC Restore, in the hidden partition, is a Ghost image but doesn't use the Ghost software you deleted, so it would be fine.

You can go into Windows Disk Management and format the D partition.

Keep in mind that Norton Ghost is not free. You get a 3-month trial with a new dell computer, but after that you will have to pay to keep using it.

Also, it will not start 'ghosting' your computer until you tell it to. it can be set to back up automatically after that, but until you get it going you will not have anything to back up from.

One major issue that i have with this program (and its use of the partition) is that i already have an external backup program and external 200 GB drive to back up stuff to. i didn't want it, and I darn sure didn't want my humongous drive partitioned!!!!

I am one of the ones where upon removal of norton ghost, the program asked me if i wanted to return the partition space back to the c: drive. I did, it did, and we are in business. this was Day 1 of me owning the machine, though; i had not put anything at all on it until i got this issue resolved. It could be that if you do something to the computer like add programs, put something on the D: drive, it's suddenly 'used' and triggers Ghost not to remove it. I don't know. it worked for me. I'm happy enough. I believe the version that was on my machine was ghost 10.

To partition or not to partition seems to be of great debate among computer users. I did that once before and it ended up being a very bad thing (on a Dell, nonetheless). Others have their reasons to do it. I would have appreciated Dell asking me if i wanted it or not. they've lost a future customer (me) because of this. I won't buy another Dell.

Susan

Message Edited by dsc777 on 06-07-200603:05 PM

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@dsc777 wrote:

I got an Inspiron E1505 with a 100GB HD. It also came with a C: drive (~60 GB) and a D: drive (~25 GB). I tried to uninstall Norton Ghost to get rid of the D: drive. During the uninstallation process, it did mention something about returning the D: drive space to C: drive, but after I rebooted the laptop (the uninstallation process said it was required to have the changes take effect), I still saw the same C: and D: drives. So the un-installation did not work for me to combine the C: and D: drives. During the uninstallation, I had the Computer Management console open and it asked me to close it before it could proceed. Maybe that caused some hiccup in the process to combine the drive space.

 

Now, I'm thinking of using Partition Magic to merge the C: and D: partitions. I'm also considering to delete the D: partition from Window's disk management and then re-size C: drive to reclaim all the space D: used to take. Is there any difference to do a merge vs. a delete/re-size?

 

Also, if I only have a C: drive and no D: drive, will that affect my ability to use the Dell System Restore later on? What about if I make the C: drive smaller and make the D: drive larger than how it originally was? I'm not going to touch any of the other hidden partitions that are on the HD.

 

Answered via email you sent me. 

Dell System Restore has nothing to do with Norton Ghost. They are totally separate beings. You can remove Ghost without affecting system restore. The system restore stuff is stored in yet another hidden partition, and should still work as expected when you need it, no matter what you do with ghost.

Ghost creates the D: partition when it gets installed, and **should** remove itself when you uninstall it. Unfortunately as you have written, this may not always work. I guess I'm lucky - it did for me.

Partition magic or other type program should work for you just fine. You can also order the system disks from Dell, and they will send them to you free of charge. I just got mine in the mail Monday. The link is above in this thread, I believe. You may need to reinstall your operating system to remove the D: partition, if partition magic doesn't do it.

Good luck.

Susan

John,

I have run into the same problem that you have on my E1405. I also would like to delete the D: partition and move all the storage space into the C: partition (local drive). Norton Ghost created this D: drive and when I uninstalled Ghost, the partition remained. 

I was wondering how you finally solved the problem? Where you able to get the available storage removed from the D: drive and into the C: drive? If so, how did you finally do it (did you use Norton PartitionMagic as some have suggested)?

I would be very thankful for any advice that you can offer me.

Thank you for your time.

When I try pussing at start-up, nothing happens? And advice?

Thanks.