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Question

C: drive space increase

Jan 31, 2015 6:11AM PST

Hello everyone,
I would like to ask you if I can increase the storage space of my C: drive or not without losing any data or formatting my PC. I'm using an Asus laptop, with 4 drivers: OS (CHappy drive, DATA (DHappy drive, and 2 SDATA drivers. They were built in default I guess. However, C: drive has the least space with 255GB, and other are with 420, 350, 350 in order. I wonder if I can delete one of the SDATA and add its space to C: drive. I don't want to move or delete stuff from Windows files or user files since I'm not an expert obviously and dont want to mess things up in my PC. Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Is this a new laptop ?
Jan 31, 2015 6:30AM PST

You say you are not an expert so why start deleting partitions until you know what they're for?

Digger

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You got me wrong
Jan 31, 2015 6:45AM PST

Sir,
I'm not a native speaker so either I misslead you or you got me wrong. First of all no, it's not a new notebook, but C: drive is almost full and I want to decrease the space of SDATA2 driver which I've never and will never use in my life and give that space to C: drive. And I'm sure that I didn't say that I started deleting partitons. The purpose of my topic is to ask you if it is okay to delete a partiton and give its space to C:, and if it is okay how can do this. Hope I expressed myself better this time.

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Hey, just checking
Jan 31, 2015 6:55AM PST

Lot's of folks go and mess with partitions and can't recover after things go wrong.
With that , I'll say that I use Gparted => http://gparted.org/

Digger

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It wasn't apparent from 1st post that u had 2 physical drves
Jan 31, 2015 8:33AM PST

The utilities in question don't take space from separate physical drives and give it to another one. To further explain, if both C: and D: are on the same drive, you could remove some free space from D: and give it to C:. However if E: and F: are on a separate physical drive, you can't take space from one of them and give it to C:.
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Now let me be quick to point out what others have said that (1) you shouldn't attempt this kind of thing without first making backups, in fact I always back up all my computers (I have 5 at home) all the time because you never know when one of them is going to fail. Three things in life are certain: Death, Taxes, and hard drive failures! Now I also have to agree with what Bob said about 255 GB should be more than enough for your C: partition. On my 4 year old laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) I'm only using 104 GB on the C: partition.
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So now the task would seem to be to see what is taking up all that space on your C: partition. Look first in your DOWNLOADS folder - just about anything there can be moved to another drive. The same is true for the DOCUMENTS folder. You can also move most of your paging file to another drive; that will free up some space and improve performance at the same time. Be sure to empty your Recycle Bin. You can use the Disk Cleanup utility program to clean up unused files in your TEMP folders (things use these and often forget to clean up after doing so). There are other things you can do, but this should give you a good start toward analyzing and freeing up space on that C: partition.
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Good luck.

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Answer
There're plenty of utilities that'll do this
Jan 31, 2015 6:22AM PST

I've always used the free (for home use) version of Easeus Partition Master which has worked flawlessly for me the last few years.

Good luck.

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Problem
Jan 31, 2015 6:41AM PST

Thank you for the recommendation. However, I faced with an issue while using the software. I watched a youtube video to understand how to program works. I tried to do the same but it didn't work. First of all, my disks are seperated into 2 groups: Disk1 (GPT) and Disk2 (MBR). Disk 1 (GPT) contains C: , D: , *:System, and *: Recovery. Disk 2 (MBR) contains F: SDATA1 and G: SDATA2. First I tried to decrease the space of SDATA2 to almost 1GB, and succeed. Then I tried to increase the space of C: drive but when I right clicked C: drive, it didn't show me th eoption to resize anymore. I thought maybe it is because of the GPT and MBR difference (wonder what that is). Then I decreases the space of D: drive to half, and see that almost 200GB Unallocated space came up. Then I rightclicked C: drive again and it didn't give me the option to resize again. However, in the youtube video I saw that the option should be there. In my case, I see onyly Defragment and Check Partiton options. Do you have any idea why it occurs and how can I fix it?

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Answer
Before you begin, are you ready for any issue?
Jan 31, 2015 6:59AM PST

That is, this is far from 100% safe so you would, in advance have any files you can't lose on your backups and be ready to restore the machine.

Right?
Bob

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That's what I'm talking about
Jan 31, 2015 7:05AM PST

if xquartzx doesn't know what MBR and GPT is I fear that there will be problems...

Digger

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Exactly
Jan 31, 2015 7:09AM PST

I know messing up with windows files or drivers always (for beginners) end up with fail. However as I asked Bob, what is the difference between a beginner or a pro user using the same utility to do such a work? Click 2 options and the job is done (what is promised).

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What are the risks?
Jan 31, 2015 7:06AM PST

So some of the users have recommended some softwares which do the job for you. These programs are said to be "safe" and especially designed to do partition operations. Should I be scared if I use those utilities?

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Safe is never safe enough.
Jan 31, 2015 7:19AM PST

I guess these are good news for my friends in the PC repair industry. Folk that tinker without backups are going to get burned.
Bob

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What if
Jan 31, 2015 7:27AM PST

I decide not to begin this operation, but and it is a big but for me, C: drive space keeps decreasing every day. I've used disk cleanup tool, including deleting old windows update files and stuff, and also get rid of the programs I'm not using. However, there is only 4GB of space left and this number was 50-60 few days ago. All the downloaded files directily going to my external drive. So I checked the stats with the WinDirStat and the conclusion is that I don't know what those big files do, but from their names and directories, they clearly are not safe to delete by a beginner user like me. So as an experienced user like you, what do you suggest me to do besides partition operations?

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Wow
Jan 31, 2015 7:37AM PST

Are using some Torrents?

Digger

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A 240GB C should be plenty.
Jan 31, 2015 7:42AM PST

I know as my wife used that for her on the go laptop. I'd re-examine what's landing on C today.

But if you want to tinker with partitions, sure. Just be sure you can crash out then restore from your backup copies.
Bob

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It should be
Feb 1, 2015 12:19AM PST

Yes, it should be enough, however it is full now somehow. And I know the basic stuff like deleting the unused programs, using disk cleanup utilities but they only freed 4-5 GB of space. What about the rest? So I have a backup of my things so I'm not afraid to lose any data. If I format my PC, how can I make my own partition? It will give me the same amount of free space for all 4 drivers again. I don't want a full explanation of how to make partition and waste your time ofcourse, but will it give me the oppurtunity to make my own partition at start? Since I can't do it at the moment even with the utilities such as Easeus Parititon Manager. I assign unallocated space from D drive, but I can't give that space to my C:. Hope I can do it before I start using my machine.

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A recent back and forth
Feb 1, 2015 12:26AM PST
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Re: partition
Feb 1, 2015 12:46AM PST
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Yep
Feb 1, 2015 12:56AM PST

So I checked my system and saw that it was 50% for systmr restore (around 127.5GB) I decreased it to 5% hope it's not that low. And around 110GB of space freed. Guess that will be enough for now. Glad that Bob saved me from destroying my drivers with partition operations (y). The problem is solved for now. Thanks everyone.