Can I make my C Drive bigger and my D drive smaller?

dory

Hello,

I got some new software and it's a massive 6GB. Having 13GB free on the C Drive and 111GB on the D drive I wanted to install on the D but it kept saying the file name was either too long or invalid. I got impatient and it's not installing on the C drive but that's not going to work out very well.

When I first bought the laptop it said I could decide how much space goes on each drive but that the recommended thing was 50/50 so I went with that. But seeing as my desktop and all are on the C drive I now need more space on that. Is it possible to change my mind now?

Also, I did one of those system checks to see what is using all the space on my C drive and it only accounted for about half the used space. I have no idea what is using up the rest (about 60 GB) so I can't delete it. Any ideas?

Cheers!

Biggins

dory wrote: »

Hello,

I got some new software and it's a massive 6GB. Having 13GB free on the C Drive and 111GB on the D drive I wanted to install on the D but it kept saying the file name was either too long or invalid. I got impatient and it's not installing on the C drive but that's not going to work out very well.

When I first bought the laptop it said I could decide how much space goes on each drive but that the recommended thing was 50/50 so I went with that. But seeing as my desktop and all are on the C drive I now need more space on that. Is it possible to change my mind now?

Also, I did one of those system checks to see what is using all the space on my C drive and it only accounted for about half the used space. I have no idea what is using up the rest (about 60 GB) so I can't delete it. Any ideas?

Cheers!

You using Vista or Win7 ?

* Firstly, if the operating system is on drive "C" - a fair bit of space might be taken up with "Restore Points".
* Go to My Computer, right click on your "c" drive and select "properties".
* You can then select a box with "Disk Cleanup" in it.
Depending on what operation system your using, you need to also seek out in there "More Options".
Its a tab that is hidden in "Disk Cleanup" in Win7 under another box called "Cleanup system files".
* Under a tab called "More Options" you will find a section that will have "System Restore" in its title. In here is the ability to remove all but the latest restore point from your machine.
Ifs safe to do this IF YOUR SURE your system has and is running ok for a while.
System restore points over time can take up a huge amount of space by the way. Sometimes they are created automatically.

Also consider using a tool like CCleaner (or "WindowWasher") - this will help too with temp files, zero byte files, thumbnail files, etc...

There are partition tools out there for moving "size" from one drive to another (such as Partition Magic). These will do the moving job for you. Partition Magic I would recommend in particular for those not used to system software as it is clearer more graphic-wise, step by step as to whats going on, what you have to do and easy explanations, etc.

dory

Thanks for that. I'm on Vista.

I think my system has been running well, it had a bit of a meltdown last week where for no apparent reason it went into some kind of safety mode and was checking things for ages on start up. I wouldn't say it's 100% but I'd llike to try something anyway to get rid of unnecessary files.

kippy

I see you initially set up the C and D to be the same size, however now there is only a bit left on C.
This would point out to me that you are storing all your Movies and Music on your C drive. Have you thought of moving them to the D drive....this should increase space on C no end.

Apart from that, Would recommend what the last poster said.

dory

I have no movies and very little music on my laptop, it's saying the files are photos, I've put most of them of them on my external hard drive. The only thing left is my 200 or so songs and things like The Sims. I don't really have a whole lot left to move over. So there's no way to give the C drive maybe 40 Gigs of the D drive's space?

I haven't found any 'disk cleanup' or 'more option' buttons in the properties section of My Computer. I'll try the software mentioned above and see if that helps.

Biggins

dory wrote: »

I haven't found any 'disk cleanup' or 'more option' buttons in the properties section of My Computer. I'll try the software mentioned above and see if that helps.

The section you need is on the bottom right of the section/tab as pictured below.



Then...



Select "More Options"



See "System Restore and Shadow Copies"?

LOL Just ran it on mine and got 30 Gigs back.
Serve me right for not checking it for a while.

NOTE: do the above ONLY if your sure the system is stable and for a comfortable time.

kippy

dory wrote: »

I have no movies and very little music on my laptop, it's saying the files are photos, I've put most of them of them on my external hard drive. The only thing left is my 200 or so songs and things like The Sims. I don't really have a whole lot left to move over. So there's no way to give the C drive maybe 40 Gigs of the D drive's space?

I haven't found any 'disk cleanup' or 'more option' buttons in the properties section of My Computer. I'll try the software mentioned above and see if that helps.

Lets just look at this,
You've at least 111 gb on your C drive, and none of it is taken up by movies, very little of it by songs and now all your photos arent there at all.
What else is taking up the space. 111 gb is a hell of a lot of programs.

Use this app: http://sourceforge.net/projects/windirstat/
To see a graphical representation of the files taking up space on your C drive.

Honestly, Moving data of the c and onto the d is your best option for getting this done.

kaimera

easier to do a fresh install and change the partitions from there

monkeypants

PartitionMagic will do this easily, but it's not free. GParted or Knoppix Live CD will do the same job.

Having said that, you should find out what's taking up all that space or you'll have the same problem again in a couple of weeks/months.