assigning free hard drive space

Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a clean
install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have noticed that
instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has partitioned the
hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single Volume
that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to the main
drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume on the
free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't seem to be
able to expand the space on the main drive.
Any thoughts would be most welcom.

Hi, Latoon.

You've left out a LOT of details! Vista does not partition a hard drive
without instructions from you.

What is the make and model of your computer? Was Vista pre-installed on it?
Which version of Vista?

HOW did you reinstall Vista? Step by step? Did you boot from the Vista
DVD-ROM and run Setup from there? Did you tell Setup to create a new
volume? Where did you re-install Office? Where is your data?

We know how to shrink or expand a volume, using Disk Management, but we need
to know more about your existing arrangement before we go making
suggestions.

Maybe it is as simple as deleting your second volume and expanding Drive C:
to cover the whole drive - or maybe not.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:23CCE08F-D1D9-4E63-8BF7-63ADA5A8A9FC@microsoft.com...
> Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a clean
> install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have noticed
> that
> instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has partitioned the
> hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single Volume
> that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to the main
> drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume on the
> free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't seem to
> be
> able to expand the space on the main drive.
> Any thoughts would be most welcom.

Hello R.C. White,

I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade option
was disabled and that I should do a clean install. It did offer to partition
the corrupted hard drive, which I let it do and it installed correctly. I
managed to get some settings back from a One Care back up. It was only when
I double clicked computer that I realized that my free space was dangerously
low and slowing things down. I deleted 'old windows installation' which
appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is still
about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around with
that in terms of shrinking volume etc, but it creates yet another simple
volume rather than let me increase the volume of the default drive.
My computer is a Dell Inspiron 6000, 80GB HD and 1000MB RAM. I installed
Office on the default drive C (thinking I would be able to access the free
space at some point).
My data is backed up on One Care on an external Hard Drive, I have had some
difficulties with that too, but I can replace anything missing in time.
If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the size
of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?

Many thanks again,

Latoon.

"R. C. White" wrote:

> Hi, Latoon.
>
> You've left out a LOT of details! Vista does not partition a hard drive
> without instructions from you.
>
> What is the make and model of your computer? Was Vista pre-installed on it?
> Which version of Vista?
>
> HOW did you reinstall Vista? Step by step? Did you boot from the Vista
> DVD-ROM and run Setup from there? Did you tell Setup to create a new
> volume? Where did you re-install Office? Where is your data?
>
> We know how to shrink or expand a volume, using Disk Management, but we need
> to know more about your existing arrangement before we go making
> suggestions.
>
> Maybe it is as simple as deleting your second volume and expanding Drive C:
> to cover the whole drive - or maybe not.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@grandecom.net
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)
>
> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:23CCE08F-D1D9-4E63-8BF7-63ADA5A8A9FC@microsoft.com...
> > Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a clean
> > install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have noticed
> > that
> > instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has partitioned the
> > hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single Volume
> > that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to the main
> > drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume on the
> > free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't seem to
> > be
> > able to expand the space on the main drive.
> > Any thoughts would be most welcom.
>

Hi, Latoon.

I asked:
>> What is the make and model of your computer?

You answered that question.

>> Was Vista pre-installed on it?

You didn't answer that one.

>> Which version of Vista?

You half-answered that one: Vista Ultimate - but you didn't say if 32-bit
or 64-bit.

> I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
> option
> was disabled and that I should do a clean install.

Upgrade from what? I guess this answers my "was Vista pre-installed"
question in a roundabout way. :>{

> appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
> still
> about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around
> with

More cryptic comments, rather than a straightforward description of the
layout of your hard drive. :>(

> If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
> size
> of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?

IF that's what you want to do, then use Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to
delete the new volume. IF that leaves free space CONTIGUOUS to your Drive
C:, then you should be able to Extend Volume C: to include that free space.
If you want less than the full 31 GB to be added to Drive C:, then be sure
you specify the size in MB, not GB (for 10 GB, enter 10,000, not 10 - voice
of sad experience). You haven't mentioned Disk Management; are you familiar
with it?

If you need more help, please post a screenshot of Disk Management's
Graphical View so that I can get a picture of just how your hard drive is
organized.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:762C34AA-2E83-46C5-9D90-8DCA7E90BA5F@microsoft.com...
> Hello R.C. White,
>
> I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
> option
> was disabled and that I should do a clean install. It did offer to
> partition
> the corrupted hard drive, which I let it do and it installed correctly. I
> managed to get some settings back from a One Care back up. It was only
> when
> I double clicked computer that I realized that my free space was
> dangerously
> low and slowing things down. I deleted 'old windows installation' which
> appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
> still
> about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around
> with
> that in terms of shrinking volume etc, but it creates yet another simple
> volume rather than let me increase the volume of the default drive.
> My computer is a Dell Inspiron 6000, 80GB HD and 1000MB RAM. I installed
> Office on the default drive C (thinking I would be able to access the free
> space at some point).
> My data is backed up on One Care on an external Hard Drive, I have had
> some
> difficulties with that too, but I can replace anything missing in time.
> If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
> size
> of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
>
> Many thanks again,
>
> Latoon.
>
> "R. C. White" wrote:
>
>> Hi, Latoon.
>>
>> You've left out a LOT of details! Vista does not partition a hard drive
>> without instructions from you.
>>
>> What is the make and model of your computer? Was Vista pre-installed on
>> it?
>> Which version of Vista?
>>
>> HOW did you reinstall Vista? Step by step? Did you boot from the Vista
>> DVD-ROM and run Setup from there? Did you tell Setup to create a new
>> volume? Where did you re-install Office? Where is your data?
>>
>> We know how to shrink or expand a volume, using Disk Management, but we
>> need
>> to know more about your existing arrangement before we go making
>> suggestions.
>>
>> Maybe it is as simple as deleting your second volume and expanding Drive
>> C:
>> to cover the whole drive - or maybe not.
>>
>> RC
>>
>> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:23CCE08F-D1D9-4E63-8BF7-63ADA5A8A9FC@microsoft.com...
>> > Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a
>> > clean
>> > install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have noticed
>> > that
>> > instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has partitioned
>> > the
>> > hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single
>> > Volume
>> > that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to the
>> > main
>> > drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume on
>> > the
>> > free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't seem
>> > to
>> > be
>> > able to expand the space on the main drive.
>> > Any thoughts would be most welcom.

My apologies,

You are dealing with a novice here. My Laptop is 2 years old and it came
with XP intstalled, I upgraded to Vista 32bit last year and it was only in
the past ten days I had the problem. After 24 hours of failing to get into
the system I took the advise offered by the system to try to repair via the
installation disc,this failed and I saw a suggestion to reinstall. I did
this and I won't repeat the rest. I will have a go at the solution you
suggest and if it doesn't work I will send you a screenshot.

Many thanks for your help.

Latoon..
"R. C. White" wrote:

> Hi, Latoon.
>
> I asked:
> >> What is the make and model of your computer?
>
> You answered that question.
>
> >> Was Vista pre-installed on it?
>
> You didn't answer that one.
>
> >> Which version of Vista?
>
> You half-answered that one: Vista Ultimate - but you didn't say if 32-bit
> or 64-bit.
>
> > I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
> > option
> > was disabled and that I should do a clean install.
>
> Upgrade from what? I guess this answers my "was Vista pre-installed"
> question in a roundabout way. :>{
>
> > appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
> > still
> > about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around
> > with
>
> More cryptic comments, rather than a straightforward description of the
> layout of your hard drive. :>(
>
> > If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
> > size
> > of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
>
> IF that's what you want to do, then use Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to
> delete the new volume. IF that leaves free space CONTIGUOUS to your Drive
> C:, then you should be able to Extend Volume C: to include that free space.
> If you want less than the full 31 GB to be added to Drive C:, then be sure
> you specify the size in MB, not GB (for 10 GB, enter 10,000, not 10 - voice
> of sad experience). You haven't mentioned Disk Management; are you familiar
> with it?
>
> If you need more help, please post a screenshot of Disk Management's
> Graphical View so that I can get a picture of just how your hard drive is
> organized.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@grandecom.net
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)
>
> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:762C34AA-2E83-46C5-9D90-8DCA7E90BA5F@microsoft.com...
> > Hello R.C. White,
> >
> > I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
> > option
> > was disabled and that I should do a clean install. It did offer to
> > partition
> > the corrupted hard drive, which I let it do and it installed correctly. I
> > managed to get some settings back from a One Care back up. It was only
> > when
> > I double clicked computer that I realized that my free space was
> > dangerously
> > low and slowing things down. I deleted 'old windows installation' which
> > appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
> > still
> > about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around
> > with
> > that in terms of shrinking volume etc, but it creates yet another simple
> > volume rather than let me increase the volume of the default drive.
> > My computer is a Dell Inspiron 6000, 80GB HD and 1000MB RAM. I installed
> > Office on the default drive C (thinking I would be able to access the free
> > space at some point).
> > My data is backed up on One Care on an external Hard Drive, I have had
> > some
> > difficulties with that too, but I can replace anything missing in time.
> > If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
> > size
> > of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
> >
> > Many thanks again,
> >
> > Latoon.
> >
> > "R. C. White" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi, Latoon.
> >>
> >> You've left out a LOT of details! Vista does not partition a hard drive
> >> without instructions from you.
> >>
> >> What is the make and model of your computer? Was Vista pre-installed on
> >> it?
> >> Which version of Vista?
> >>
> >> HOW did you reinstall Vista? Step by step? Did you boot from the Vista
> >> DVD-ROM and run Setup from there? Did you tell Setup to create a new
> >> volume? Where did you re-install Office? Where is your data?
> >>
> >> We know how to shrink or expand a volume, using Disk Management, but we
> >> need
> >> to know more about your existing arrangement before we go making
> >> suggestions.
> >>
> >> Maybe it is as simple as deleting your second volume and expanding Drive
> >> C:
> >> to cover the whole drive - or maybe not.
> >>
> >> RC
> >>
> >> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:23CCE08F-D1D9-4E63-8BF7-63ADA5A8A9FC@microsoft.com...
> >> > Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a
> >> > clean
> >> > install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have noticed
> >> > that
> >> > instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has partitioned
> >> > the
> >> > hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single
> >> > Volume
> >> > that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to the
> >> > main
> >> > drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume on
> >> > the
> >> > free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't seem
> >> > to
> >> > be
> >> > able to expand the space on the main drive.
> >> > Any thoughts would be most welcom.
>
>

Dear R. C. White,

I am happy to report, it worked and I now have a hard drive of 71.2GB
available to me, which is as good as I can expect.

Many, many thanks,

Latoon..

"R. C. White" wrote:

> Hi, Latoon.
>
> I asked:
> >> What is the make and model of your computer?
>
> You answered that question.
>
> >> Was Vista pre-installed on it?
>
> You didn't answer that one.
>
> >> Which version of Vista?
>
> You half-answered that one: Vista Ultimate - but you didn't say if 32-bit
> or 64-bit.
>
> > I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
> > option
> > was disabled and that I should do a clean install.
>
> Upgrade from what? I guess this answers my "was Vista pre-installed"
> question in a roundabout way. :>{
>
> > appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
> > still
> > about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around
> > with
>
> More cryptic comments, rather than a straightforward description of the
> layout of your hard drive. :>(
>
> > If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
> > size
> > of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
>
> IF that's what you want to do, then use Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to
> delete the new volume. IF that leaves free space CONTIGUOUS to your Drive
> C:, then you should be able to Extend Volume C: to include that free space.
> If you want less than the full 31 GB to be added to Drive C:, then be sure
> you specify the size in MB, not GB (for 10 GB, enter 10,000, not 10 - voice
> of sad experience). You haven't mentioned Disk Management; are you familiar
> with it?
>
> If you need more help, please post a screenshot of Disk Management's
> Graphical View so that I can get a picture of just how your hard drive is
> organized.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@grandecom.net
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)
>
> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:762C34AA-2E83-46C5-9D90-8DCA7E90BA5F@microsoft.com...
> > Hello R.C. White,
> >
> > I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
> > option
> > was disabled and that I should do a clean install. It did offer to
> > partition
> > the corrupted hard drive, which I let it do and it installed correctly. I
> > managed to get some settings back from a One Care back up. It was only
> > when
> > I double clicked computer that I realized that my free space was
> > dangerously
> > low and slowing things down. I deleted 'old windows installation' which
> > appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
> > still
> > about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play around
> > with
> > that in terms of shrinking volume etc, but it creates yet another simple
> > volume rather than let me increase the volume of the default drive.
> > My computer is a Dell Inspiron 6000, 80GB HD and 1000MB RAM. I installed
> > Office on the default drive C (thinking I would be able to access the free
> > space at some point).
> > My data is backed up on One Care on an external Hard Drive, I have had
> > some
> > difficulties with that too, but I can replace anything missing in time.
> > If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
> > size
> > of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
> >
> > Many thanks again,
> >
> > Latoon.
> >
> > "R. C. White" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi, Latoon.
> >>
> >> You've left out a LOT of details! Vista does not partition a hard drive
> >> without instructions from you.
> >>
> >> What is the make and model of your computer? Was Vista pre-installed on
> >> it?
> >> Which version of Vista?
> >>
> >> HOW did you reinstall Vista? Step by step? Did you boot from the Vista
> >> DVD-ROM and run Setup from there? Did you tell Setup to create a new
> >> volume? Where did you re-install Office? Where is your data?
> >>
> >> We know how to shrink or expand a volume, using Disk Management, but we
> >> need
> >> to know more about your existing arrangement before we go making
> >> suggestions.
> >>
> >> Maybe it is as simple as deleting your second volume and expanding Drive
> >> C:
> >> to cover the whole drive - or maybe not.
> >>
> >> RC
> >>
> >> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:23CCE08F-D1D9-4E63-8BF7-63ADA5A8A9FC@microsoft.com...
> >> > Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a
> >> > clean
> >> > install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have noticed
> >> > that
> >> > instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has partitioned
> >> > the
> >> > hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single
> >> > Volume
> >> > that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to the
> >> > main
> >> > drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume on
> >> > the
> >> > free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't seem
> >> > to
> >> > be
> >> > able to expand the space on the main drive.
> >> > Any thoughts would be most welcom.
>
>

Hi, Latoon.

I'm glad you're up and running now! ;<)

Thanks for the feedback.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@grandecom.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8EDB0725-0E2B-4312-AB4F-362A28641579@microsoft.com...
> Dear R. C. White,
>
> I am happy to report, it worked and I now have a hard drive of 71.2GB
> available to me, which is as good as I can expect.
>
> Many, many thanks,
>
> Latoon..
>
> "R. C. White" wrote:
>
>> Hi, Latoon.
>>
>> I asked:
>> >> What is the make and model of your computer?
>>
>> You answered that question.
>>
>> >> Was Vista pre-installed on it?
>>
>> You didn't answer that one.
>>
>> >> Which version of Vista?
>>
>> You half-answered that one: Vista Ultimate - but you didn't say if
>> 32-bit
>> or 64-bit.
>>
>> > I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
>> > option
>> > was disabled and that I should do a clean install.
>>
>> Upgrade from what? I guess this answers my "was Vista pre-installed"
>> question in a roundabout way. :>{
>>
>> > appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
>> > still
>> > about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play
>> > around
>> > with
>>
>> More cryptic comments, rather than a straightforward description of the
>> layout of your hard drive. :>(
>>
>> > If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
>> > size
>> > of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
>>
>> IF that's what you want to do, then use Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to
>> delete the new volume. IF that leaves free space CONTIGUOUS to your
>> Drive
>> C:, then you should be able to Extend Volume C: to include that free
>> space.
>> If you want less than the full 31 GB to be added to Drive C:, then be
>> sure
>> you specify the size in MB, not GB (for 10 GB, enter 10,000, not 10 -
>> voice
>> of sad experience). You haven't mentioned Disk Management; are you
>> familiar
>> with it?
>>
>> If you need more help, please post a screenshot of Disk Management's
>> Graphical View so that I can get a picture of just how your hard drive is
>> organized.
>>
>> RC
>>
>> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:762C34AA-2E83-46C5-9D90-8DCA7E90BA5F@microsoft.com...
>> > Hello R.C. White,
>> >
>> > I installed Vista Ultimate from the DVD, it told me that the upgrade
>> > option
>> > was disabled and that I should do a clean install. It did offer to
>> > partition
>> > the corrupted hard drive, which I let it do and it installed correctly.
>> > I
>> > managed to get some settings back from a One Care back up. It was only
>> > when
>> > I double clicked computer that I realized that my free space was
>> > dangerously
>> > low and slowing things down. I deleted 'old windows installation'
>> > which
>> > appeared on the default drive C. This gave me 10GB extra, but there is
>> > still
>> > about 31GB free lying around in the new simple volume, I can play
>> > around
>> > with
>> > that in terms of shrinking volume etc, but it creates yet another
>> > simple
>> > volume rather than let me increase the volume of the default drive.
>> > My computer is a Dell Inspiron 6000, 80GB HD and 1000MB RAM. I
>> > installed
>> > Office on the default drive C (thinking I would be able to access the
>> > free
>> > space at some point).
>> > My data is backed up on One Care on an external Hard Drive, I have had
>> > some
>> > difficulties with that too, but I can replace anything missing in time.
>> > If it is a simple as deleting the new simple volume and increasing the
>> > size
>> > of the main drive then that would be just wonderful - but how?
>> >
>> > Many thanks again,
>> >
>> > Latoon.
>> >
>> > "R. C. White" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi, Latoon.
>> >>
>> >> You've left out a LOT of details! Vista does not partition a hard
>> >> drive
>> >> without instructions from you.
>> >>
>> >> What is the make and model of your computer? Was Vista pre-installed
>> >> on
>> >> it?
>> >> Which version of Vista?
>> >>
>> >> HOW did you reinstall Vista? Step by step? Did you boot from the
>> >> Vista
>> >> DVD-ROM and run Setup from there? Did you tell Setup to create a new
>> >> volume? Where did you re-install Office? Where is your data?
>> >>
>> >> We know how to shrink or expand a volume, using Disk Management, but
>> >> we
>> >> need
>> >> to know more about your existing arrangement before we go making
>> >> suggestions.
>> >>
>> >> Maybe it is as simple as deleting your second volume and expanding
>> >> Drive
>> >> C:
>> >> to cover the whole drive - or maybe not.
>> >>
>> >> RC
>> >>
>> >> "Latoon" <Latoon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:23CCE08F-D1D9-4E63-8BF7-63ADA5A8A9FC@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Have just suffered a catastrophic software meltdown and had to do a
>> >> > clean
>> >> > install of Vista and Office. All are running fine, but I have
>> >> > noticed
>> >> > that
>> >> > instead of a single drive C like I used to have, Vista has
>> >> > partitioned
>> >> > the
>> >> > hard drive. I have managed to free up all the space on the Single
>> >> > Volume
>> >> > that used to hold my data but I cannot reassign the free space to
>> >> > the
>> >> > main
>> >> > drive C. Does anyone know how to do this? I can shrink the volume
>> >> > on
>> >> > the
>> >> > free simple volume but it only creates yet another one and I don't
>> >> > seem
>> >> > to
>> >> > be
>> >> > able to expand the space on the main drive.
>> >> > Any thoughts would be most welcom.