merge 3 NTFS partitions into 2 (Win XP) without reinstalling

Question

I have a computer harddisc with 3 NTFS partitions:

C /dev/sda1/
D /dev/sda2/ extended /dev/sda5/
E /dev/sda3/

C and E are both 10 GB and D is 55 GB.

I want to merge C and E (or rather expand C to 20 GB).

(E comes from shrinking D using gPARTED...).

I have tried to change the size of C in gPARTED in serveral ways...

Please help me!

Answer 1

Acronis Partition Manager should be able to do it. It is listed as one of its features.

Answer 2

Do I have to use PARTITION MAGIC and ACRONIS from WINDOWS or are the LIVE-CD? Can I use the programs without reinstalling WINDOWS XP?

Can I remove the hard disc and use those programs on another computer, inserting the HD via USB? Is this better or will it create problems?

I read somewhere about changing to DYMANIC DISC (in WINDOWS) because D is extended...

COL: sounds like a lot of work...

Answer 3

If GParted won't let you resize NTFS partitions, you should make sure you have the ntfsprogs package installed.

Otherwise, make sure you are booted from the a modern LiveCD. Do not try to partition a physical volume while running your computer off of it.

I've heard about qtparted doing partition merges before. So you may want to try a LiveCD with that.

Answer 4

I have had similar problems when I've had a mix of extended and primary partitions. If this the situation you have then one of the lines will be labled extended for the file system and two of your partitions will be under it. If this is what you have you need to resize the 2 sub partitions and move them to the start of the extended partition, then resize the extended partition and move it to the end of the disk and then expand your c drive. Then you can shuffle everything onto your c drive and delete everything else and expand the c drive to fill the whole disk

Answer 5

I think the mistake may have been that you moved the free space from partition D into a new partition after partition D instead of before it. You'll need to have GParted decrease the free space in partition E and move the free space into partition D. Then decrease the free space in partition D by increasing the space before the D partition. And finally, you should be able to increase the space in the C partition.

Answer 6

Changing you partitions may not be required (depending on need). Using the XP Disk management tool, you can mount NTFS partitions as sub-directories similar to the way LINUX works.

Right click on My Computer and select Manage. Then go down to Disk Management. Right click on your E drive and select "Change drive letters and paths." From there you can create a sub-directory on the C: drive where the /dev/sda3 will be mounted.

Answer 7

I'm a big fan of KDE Partition Manager on a LiveCD. It runs GParted behind the scenes, of course, but i've found works when a GParted LiveCD doesn't by itself.

Answer 8

while there may be ways to achieve this, it bears a lot of risks that something goes wrong along the way.

i'd ghost the system drive, backup the data, partition the drive, re-apply the image of the system drive and move the data back their location (since this is a rather small drive, it's rather quick too).