HDD Question

[CrazyBones]

My C drive has less than 1 gig left on it. Are the C and D drives actually physically separated or are they just basically like folders organizing the HDD memory? I'm just wondering if I'm at a serious risk here or not.


Another question I have regarding Windows XP: When you hit the start button you see that you have a "my pictures", "my music", etc displayed as options. If I were to move these(basically everything in the "my documents" folder") to the D drive, would they still be accessible in the start menu options?

[Err]

I’m assuming that you have a Dell, Gateway, HP, or the like. If so, then the “D” drive is most likely a recovery partition. If you move everything to your D drive from you’re my Documents you will not be able to access it from the start menu. What you are seeing on the start menu are just shortcuts. You can create new shortcuts to where you moved the data.

I would not move anything to the recovery partition. There is usually only enough room for the files needed to restore the system. You’re best bet is to buy an additional Hard Drive or get an external.

[FlyingPenguin]

As Err said, I have to assume (since you're asking) that the D drive is not a separate drive but a partition, and that if you didn't create the D partition yourself, and if this is a retail PC, then the D partition is a special recovery partition used to store a factory image that can be used to put the hard drive back to the way it was when you bought it. If so, you want to leave it alone.

If the D partition has a huge amount of space available on it and is not setup as a recovery partition, then yes you could move your Documents folder, but not the way you're thinking. Right-click on the Documents folder shortcut (in the start menu or on the desktop) and select "Properties" then click the "Move" button. Create a folder on the D drive (call it "My Documents" for clarity) and specify the location of that folder as the new Documeents folder. Windows will then ask if you want it to move the files for you from the old folder to the new one and you can say yes.

Again, you don't want to do this unless you're SURE the D partition is not a recovery partition. Give us a little more info on what's in the D partition. What do you see when you open it in Explorer and how much space is used and how much is free?

Your other choice is to get a bigger hard drive. If you buy a retail hard drive then it will come with software that will allow you to temporarily connect both drives and "clone" your old HDD to the new one (making the C partition larger in the process).

If this sounds too technically challenging, then Err's suggestion of an external hard drive is the simple fix. Then move your really large folders to it (I do NOT recommend you move your documents folder to an external drive as this could lead to real headaches if you inadvertently disconnect the drive - Windows NEVER wants to lose the Documents folder). If you have several gigs of music, for instance, you can move all that to the external drive. As long as you know where it is, it doesn't need to be in your "My Music" folder.

You can also buy more room on your C drive for now by reducing the space reserved for your System Restore files and your Recycling Bin - many people have these set too high.

BTW: Windows starts getting unstable when your free hard drive space gets down under 200Mb so you have some breathing space.

[CrazyBones]

I'm running on a Sony Vaio. I did not create the D partition myself. When I open D I do see things like a "components" folder and a "defaults" folder as well as a "documents and settings" folder. Everything else is really stuff that I added myself. I also have over 20 GB of free space on the D partition.

[FlyingPenguin]

It doesn't sound like you have a full recovery partition on the D drive. You probably have one or several CDs that are labeled "Recovery CD" or something like that. You boot with the first one if you ever want to wipe the drive and put it back the way it was from the factory.

The folders that were already on the D partition from the factory probably contain the drivers and apps that the recovery CD installs after it installs Windows. You need to leave those alone.

If you have 20Gb to spare on the D drive, and you've already been putting stuff on there, then I see no harm in moving your documents folder there (assuming your documents folder is substantially smaller than 20Gb). Just move it following my previous instructions.