DEMMI
asked on
SPLIT HARD DRIVE
CURRENTLY MY HARD DRIVE C IS SPLIT INTO C, D, AND E. It is an even split. I was told to defrag the hard drive, but I cannot find any downloadable shareware to do this job. I know it is out there....any suggestions/answers/or questions regarding my situation?
Why don't you download from the symantec site the trial version of Norton Utilities? This will get you out of trouble.
Why don't you go to the Symantec site and download the trial version of Norton Utilities. This should get you out of trouble.
ASKER
This is a situation refered to as 'drive partitioning', and was already on this computer. I am trying to help a friend unsplice the partition.
thanx--demmi
thanx--demmi
Now I am seeing this a bit clearer. Defragmenting and partitioning are two different things. You need a tool to repartition the drive, not defragment it.
It is not easy to repartition the drive without losing data. DOS/Windows 95 has a utility that does this called "fdisk." To use fdisk, simply run fdisk.exe, then delete each partition, boot to a bootable floppy containing the fdisk.exe program, and recreate a single partition using all of the available drive space. This is a simple procedure with one catch.
YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ON THE DRIVE. Unless you have a way to backup and restore your data, I would not recommend this.
There is a program called PQMagic (not shareware) that allows you to repartition the drive on the fly, without data loss (so it claims). I cannot make any gaurantee as to whether or not this will work for you but it is the simplest process I can think of for accomplishing the job.
It is not easy to repartition the drive without losing data. DOS/Windows 95 has a utility that does this called "fdisk." To use fdisk, simply run fdisk.exe, then delete each partition, boot to a bootable floppy containing the fdisk.exe program, and recreate a single partition using all of the available drive space. This is a simple procedure with one catch.
YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ON THE DRIVE. Unless you have a way to backup and restore your data, I would not recommend this.
There is a program called PQMagic (not shareware) that allows you to repartition the drive on the fly, without data loss (so it claims). I cannot make any gaurantee as to whether or not this will work for you but it is the simplest process I can think of for accomplishing the job.
ASKER
p.s. this is how a partition is done:
A) Boot up your machine from your floppy drive with a bootable disc and type:
DIR X: [ENTER]
X Being the letter that you have assigned the drive.
If you see a README.TXT file or a similar file name, proceed with the instructions indicated on that file for installing your hard drive.
B) If you see the following error message:Invalid drive specification insert a disc that contains the DOS command FDISK and FORMAT into drive A:. Do not low level format your hard drive. This was already done by the manufacturer at the factory. The FORMAT command that you will be giving in DOS is a high level format. At the A: prompt type FDISK x [Enter], and you will see the following screen
MS-DOS Version 6.00 Fixed Disc Setup Program
(C) Copyright Microsoft Corp. 1993
FDisk Options
Current Fixed Disk drive: 1
Choose the following:
Create DOS partion or Logical DOS Drive
Set active Partition
Delete Partition or Logical DOS Drive
Display partition information
Enter Choice: [1]
Press Esc to exit FDISK
C) After you have partitioned the disk, you will need to format it with the DOS FORMAT command. Type Format x /S [ENTER]
Create DOS partition
Current Fixed Drive :1
Create Primary DOS Partition
Create Extended DOS Partition
Create logical DOS drive(s) in the Extended DOS partition
Enter Choice: [1]
A) Boot up your machine from your floppy drive with a bootable disc and type:
DIR X: [ENTER]
X Being the letter that you have assigned the drive.
If you see a README.TXT file or a similar file name, proceed with the instructions indicated on that file for installing your hard drive.
B) If you see the following error message:Invalid drive specification insert a disc that contains the DOS command FDISK and FORMAT into drive A:. Do not low level format your hard drive. This was already done by the manufacturer at the factory. The FORMAT command that you will be giving in DOS is a high level format. At the A: prompt type FDISK x [Enter], and you will see the following screen
MS-DOS Version 6.00 Fixed Disc Setup Program
(C) Copyright Microsoft Corp. 1993
FDisk Options
Current Fixed Disk drive: 1
Choose the following:
Create DOS partion or Logical DOS Drive
Set active Partition
Delete Partition or Logical DOS Drive
Display partition information
Enter Choice: [1]
Press Esc to exit FDISK
C) After you have partitioned the disk, you will need to format it with the DOS FORMAT command. Type Format x /S [ENTER]
Create DOS partition
Current Fixed Drive :1
Create Primary DOS Partition
Create Extended DOS Partition
Create logical DOS drive(s) in the Extended DOS partition
Enter Choice: [1]
It sounds as if you are trying to install a new hard disk in this system, at least the instructions you have written down look as though they were taken from a hard disk installation instruction sheet. If this is the case, and you have no data on the drive that you care about, go ahead and follow those instructions. If you have 3 partitions (i.e. C: D: and E:) and wish to change this to be 1 partition, follow the instructions above except choose option 3, Delete partition or logical dos drive and repeat this process until there are no partitions. When finished, follow the instructions above and you will be asked if you want to allocate all available space to the primary dos partition. If you proceed, you will have a single drive C: and nothing else.
My suggestion of using PQMagic was based on the assumption that you weretrying to install Windows 95 on a machine that had data on it already and wanted to make it one drive. If this is the case, then fdisk will not help you.
Hope this clears things up. Cheers.
My suggestion of using PQMagic was based on the assumption that you weretrying to install Windows 95 on a machine that had data on it already and wanted to make it one drive. If this is the case, then fdisk will not help you.
Hope this clears things up. Cheers.
Are you trying to defrag the partitions or re-partition the drive?
Unsplicing the parttitons as you mentioned is not possible if each part is filled with data and you have no more room on the hard drive. Partition Magic can do a lot of things, but recombining full partitions in one easy step is not one of them.
You can ,however, gradually do it with Partition Magic, if you want. You can copy data from two of the partitions to one partition. Delete stuff you copied from the two old partitions. Then move and resize the one partition you want to keep. Do this again and again until you have all the data transfered to one partition. Then you can finally delete the two unwanted partitions and make the one partition be the whole hard disk.
If you don't care about losing data, the quickest thing to do is to delete all partitons and create one primary partition with FDISK. Make sure that you have a bootable floppy and the Win95 CDROM, if you decide to take this route.
If all you want is to fix the hard disk by Defragmenting it, the sotware is already there for Win95. It should be in Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter. Run it, but remember, it could take several hours, depending on your hard disk size, and so you won't be able to use the computer for that long.
You can ,however, gradually do it with Partition Magic, if you want. You can copy data from two of the partitions to one partition. Delete stuff you copied from the two old partitions. Then move and resize the one partition you want to keep. Do this again and again until you have all the data transfered to one partition. Then you can finally delete the two unwanted partitions and make the one partition be the whole hard disk.
If you don't care about losing data, the quickest thing to do is to delete all partitons and create one primary partition with FDISK. Make sure that you have a bootable floppy and the Win95 CDROM, if you decide to take this route.
If all you want is to fix the hard disk by Defragmenting it, the sotware is already there for Win95. It should be in Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter. Run it, but remember, it could take several hours, depending on your hard disk size, and so you won't be able to use the computer for that long.
ASKER
TO :MBREUKER
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND TO EVERY ONE ELSO WHO HAD SOOOOOO MANY REPLIES TO THIS QUESTION!!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND TO EVERY ONE ELSO WHO HAD SOOOOOO MANY REPLIES TO THIS QUESTION!!
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Adjusted points to 40
If you have enough space on one of your other drives, you can copy the contents of your C: drive using XCOPY /S/V/E, format the C: drive and use a boot disk to boot the system and xcopy your contents back to C:. You can then run Windows 95 setup without a problem.
I assume you want a shareware DOS defragmenter. I used to have a few, but all I can find now are Windows programs. You may check the licensing agreements on some of the old Norton speedisk versions. Sometimes older versions of software become usable freely after a time has gone by.