Safe Speed Forums

I was hoping to scrounge some help and advice!
I have a Toshiba laptop that appears to have three drives but I seem to only run on one and I think the other is free while the third is for Vista (again I think).
I am about to run out of space on the one I use and was just about to remove some pictures and music to free up space but seem to have around 30gb on the free drive so don't really want to.
What are these and can I merge them safely and if so, how?
Any help would be greatly appreciated as although I am slowly getting better with computers in general I am hopeless.

ps. I don't wish to appear rude but could any answers be kept very simple.

Cheers!
Paul.

If it's a laptop it probably only has one real hard disk.
This would be 'split' into three partitions. I can't tell you what they are for, but "WinRE" could be 'recovery' data, so you can re-build the system every time windows goes wrong.

It is possible to resize partitions, but if you want simple answers this probably isn't something you want to do yourself.

ie. if you go wrong you loose everything.

If E: (Data) is empty then you could move your music/etc. on to there instead of storing it in My Documents, which resides on C:. Usually.

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Andrew.

If there is space on another drive, use it. Especially if it is empty, it won't do any damage.

Alternatively, you could just purchase a USB external hard drive for £40.

80gb - nice and small unit. http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/113876
250gb - bigger unit, same price. http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/129523/rb/0

As already stated, the "WinRE" partition is the recovery information should you ever want to put things back to the state they were in the day your machine left the factory.

The "Data" partition can quite easily be merged in to the current operating partition using a utility such as Partition Magic.
Ther is a small chance that something could go wrong during the merge process (although this is rare) so I would have my personal data backed up just in case.

Personally, I'd be tempted to keep all my program files on the C: drive and all my personal data (Word docs, xls's, mdb's etc.) stored on the E: drive and keep the E: drive backed up. That way, if a problem does occur with your C: drive, you can recover your C: drive from the Restore Partition D: and not lose any data.

An external USB drive is EXTREMELY useful - if you've got the cash, I'd recommend you get one and back up your data to it...

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Doesn't work that way BB, when you invoke the restore process the hard disk is put back to factory standard.

Surely not, otherwise it would erase the restore partition too and then the restore utility would no longer be able to run...

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Andrew.

The restore partition is hidden to the imaging (restore) process, however any valid partitions are completely rewritten (that is why so many so called "help desk" merchants tell you to run the restore disc, because then they know you have a completely clean machine that is known to work from a software point of view).

All I can say (as an IT consultant) is that it works for me! All I have to do in the event of a HDD failure (or stubborn virus etc) is blat the HDD, re-install the programs and then copy my data back from my external USB drive...

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

My bold....
Of course the data will still be there on an external disk, Ghost/Drive Image/Whatever is only going to restore the disk it has already been told to in it's prewritten batch file.

And that's just one of the several reasons why factory restore discs/partitions tend to be the first things I chuck out/nuke when setting up a new off-the-shelf PC... Give me a kosher Windows setup disc unencumbered with any preconceptions as to how it thinks I'd like my system configured, and uncluttered with third-party crapware that I'd only end up removing as soon as possible if I couldn't simply prevent it from being installed in the first place.

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Chris

Thanks everyone.
I think I will go for the external hard drive option.
Can I backup to it and say place it in a drawer and not lose anything as like most people I CANNOT lose my pictures.
I have them on DVD but have read they break down.

Assuming the drive never breaks down, then whatever you place on it will remain on it.

Please remember though, a hard drive is an electro-mechanical device and can fail at any time during it's lifespan.

I personally use a ReadyNAS from Infrant Technologies to backup the stuff I need to keep, and unless more than one drive fails at once (extremely unlikely) then I can afford for a hard drive to go down and not worry.

http://www.store2go.net/shop/ultimatest ... NAS+NV%2B/

I prefer to say that every hard disc WILL fail (if it remains in use). It's not a question of IF, simply a question of WHEN.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Absolutely Paul, I was just trying to make the OP aware that a hard drive can fail sooner than expected and that it shouldn't be relied upon as the ultimate backup solution.

I'd just throw all my data onto the E: drive, since it looks like that's what the computer manufacturer intended for you to do.

If you're someone who stores everything in My Documents -> Properties, and there will be a "Target Folder Location" field. Change this to "E:\" and press the Move button and it will move everything for you. Then you can just carry on as normal. (Disclaimer: This works on XP, I have so far managed to avoid using Vista )

If you're worried about hard drive failure than get a NAS with RAID functionality (RAID0 doesn't count, 0+1, 3, 5 and above are fine) and external USB drive wont protect you from drive failure unless you are using it to backup onto.

Waiting for SP1, huh.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

I'll maybe think about testing it when SP1 is out, with a view to maybe putting it on a production machine when SP2 is out.


Seriously though. I have a GeForce 7900GTX which doesn't benefit from DirectX 10, and Vista will just make my games slower, everything else I do in Linux with my XP games machine as a very expensive X-Terminal.

We will definitely not be using Vista at work until we can't get Xp any more. I really don't feel that any of the claimed benefits will do anything for us.

Unrelated, but the crazy size of modern software has resulted in us now getting Quad core workstations with 4GB of RAM and 256MB video cards. To think I used to use an IBM PC with 1MB.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

In a managed environment like an office with even a half competent admin, you really don't need the additional security "features" of Vista. Unlike a lot of techies I can see what they are trying to do, and why it's a good thing when the computer is put in the hands of numpties, even though I hate it personally.

In many ways it's exactly the same as cars. I'd imagine the majority of people here to be enthisiasts who prefer RWD, no ABS, possibly no PAS. Theres also going to be a few loonballs who actually like double declutching (these people would run DOS or OS/2 ) but in the hands of the numpty behind you on the motorway who is tailgating you, you will be much happier if their car has ABS! And FWD is safer in the hands of a numpty even if it does have performance disadvantages.

The only real difference is they haven't (yet) found a way to force you to upgrade your car in order to make it compatable with modern roads.

If you don't beleive this analogy has any merit, think on this: Vista sounds a little bit like Vectra

Also, you realise that Microsoft licences come with downgrade rights? Your XP licences can be used to run MS DOS or Windows 95 if you like, so providing you keep your XP CDs around there is no reason not to get Vista licences, then install XP. Of course it helps if you have a corporate key for your organisation.