1 Topic by Acorn

  • Acorn
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  • Registered: 2008-05-27
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Topic: Simple advice on partition handling please!

I have an XP laptop with two partitions, one of which is empty apart from whatever it is that takes up 1.5GB after formatting.  I can't delete this partition using Disk Management for some reason.

Am I right in thinking that if I create a GParted live CD and boot from it I will be able to delete the empty partition, and enlarge the primary partition - or alternatively, merge the two?

Is there anything I need to do first, or to check first?

Any help appreciated - I've never played with partitions before this and I am a little nervous about stuffing things up.

2 Reply by class413

  • class413
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  • Registered: 2007-05-25
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Re: Simple advice on partition handling please!

I think you can delete the partition with GParted Livecd. However, you could encounter a problem with windows boot-up, because this will change the partition numbering. This is possible to fix by using the xp installation cd-rom (I'm not sure if it is done by a recovery backup cd).
The worse is if the latter of the system partition changes.

So, the easiest would be to shrink that empty partition to a very small size (some 100s of kilobytes would be enough) and grow the xp partition to take the empty space. You loose just a small amount of disk space and you keep the partition table structure.

(Moved to the Live Media section)

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***