[Closed] re-partitioning windows help - total luddite stuff

Is it possible to get rid of D drive and make all of C drive the whole memory?

It is, but you have to get rid of C too which means losing the current install of the OS so you'll need the product key for windows. [for obvious reasons windows won't easily let you delete the OS or it's hosting partition from within windows]

It's also good practice* to keep a separate partition for the OS from the rest of your data.

A fresh install will give you options on removing and creating partitions as you get to the "select a partition" step iirc, though it's been a while since I ran one.

What's the backup of?

If you're a complete lud can you smile nicely at someone who isn't and get them to sort it? it's quite possible you'll end up with an unusable (recoverable) laptop if you're not careful and then need to get it sorted anyhow.

*predominantly from a housekeeping perspective.

What’s the backup of?

just photos and files from an old mac.

With this being my own PC i'd like to put the back up on the laptop so I've got the photos and stuff on more than one device.

Can I edit the partition then, allocate more space to D drive?

I would buy an external drive, 250 is not a big drive and you will fill up very quickly, even without using it for archiving.

It is, but you have to get rid of C too which means losing the current install of the OS so you’ll need the product key for windows.

Yeah no, the serial/key is associated with the hardware, so you can't loose the key, once it's been activated online.
I've used mini partition magic (free util) with success, a number of times. TBH I reckon you can delete your D drive partition, then extend the C drive into that space, without loosing the OS. Though having the Windows 10 installation media on a USB stick (free download from MS) would be handy.. and/ or you could just do a custom re-install of Win 10, choosing to delete the old partitions & re-install the O/S.

PS: I totally agree an external drive to store a copy of your data, would be a better option, than filling your laptop SSD.

Can I edit the partition then, allocate more space to D drive?

Not really as it requires reducing the size of your active partition.

As gobchul suggests, additional storage isthe solution for your needs. A usb stick or two are vastly more durable than your laptop for archiving stuff, for day to day use a decent external drive isn't a bad call though for most work stuff 256gb should be ample unless you're in video or image editing etc. (my office desktop is about 10 years old, has 512gb, I've used less than 200 and I do no housekeeping of documentation within that, [actually 80gb of my usage is a backup of my phone])

You can resize disk partitions using the Dick Management tool.

https://www.diskpart.com/windows-10/windows-10-disk-management-0528.html

I've got a seagate 1Tb external HD with the back up on, so we suggesting I just plug this in and just read from that as and when I neeed it?

It is, but you have to get rid of C too which means losing the current install of the OS

That's not true. If the D: drive is empty, you can just delete it and extend the existing C: partition into the empty space.

Tap "Start", type in "disk man" and hit enter. The delete and extend controls are pretty self explanatory. In theory you shouldn't be able to nuke your Windows partition doing this anyway but a backup would be prudent.

Edit: Don't zap anything labelled EFI or Recovery, no matter how tempting it might look.
Edit 2: crossed with hols.

It should be possible just to delete drive d and expand c into that space using the built in disk manager.  With things like OneDrive these days that's a better way to go as that is usually under c:\users and although you can specify to put it on drive instead that gets messy

And yes to a backup drive or even better OneDrive so you only keep on your machine what you need.  SSDs die and it's painful when they do if your backups aren't up to date.

Edit: what flaperon sed

I’ve got a seagate 1Tb external HD with the back up on, so we suggesting I just plug this in and just read from that as and when I neeed it?

Basically yes.

However, a lot of IT people say that if you don't have your data in 3 locations, you haven't backed it up.

How important is that stuff to you?

That’s not true

Happy to stand corrected/learn something new every day - been a long time since I've done any actual faffing with partition sizes on bootable disks etc but do you not run into issues with the partion being primary/active.

How important is that stuff to you?

Very, it's 20 years of photos of my kids and loads of MTB videos and stuff.

I've just found THIS link from Huwaei, followed the instructions and have someone how just removed D drive and then re-added it pmsl

Very, it’s 20 years of photos of my kids and loads of MTB videos and stuff.

Consider paying for cloud storage.

At the very least buy another external drive and put another back up on it.

Maybe a SSD, as I think they be more reliable than a standard HDD?

One consideration here is that the way this is partitioned, the links to Documents etc folders might be pointing to the D:\ drive. So blindly performing a partitionectomy might not be the best course of action.

There's a (very slim these days) argument for "system" and "data" partitions but really with a drive that size it's more likely to cause problems. Presumably there's some sort of recovery partition on there also, chewing up space.

Very, it’s 20 years of photos of my kids and loads of MTB videos and stuff.

Ah. The technical name for what you have there is a "time bomb." Backups are easy, data recovery is hard and four-figures expensive.

I’ve just found THIS link from Huwaei

If you're around tomorrow and are amenable I'll do it remotely for you. If you're following random guides on the Internet then at least get a USB pendrive and get the W10 installer on it in case you knack it. (Google "windows 10 media creation tool.") "Luddite" and "DISKPART" should not be in the same sentence.

If you’re around tomorrow and are amenable I’ll do it remotely for you

Thanks, i've sent you message

You have.