# Solved: OS v Data split on hard drive?



## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

I have just bought a Dell laptop. On my old laptop I had the hard drive partitioned for OS and Data in the proportion of 50/50A. The new laptop with a hard drive of 750Gb is also partitioned with the C drive being for OS at 676GB and the D for Data at 7.96GB. This seems a strange way round because the data drive would be the one with pictures, music etc. on it and so would need to be the bigger one. Any thoughts please?


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Aaaagh, just after I posted I realised that the D drive is actually an SSD which is used for caching. I had forgotten that it had one. I would still like to partition the C drive though so that I can re-install the OS without affecting the data if necessary. Is there a way to do this please?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Shrink the "C drive" and then create a new partition in the resulting unallocated space.


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Do you have recovery disks? If your D: drive contains your copy of Windows (recovery partition rather than a DVD), changing your partitions in any way may make your access to recovery impossible.


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Thanks for the answers. I'm sorry but I don't know what "shrink the C drive" means? I don't have recovery disks but I have made a backup but I think that this only works if you can access Windows. There seems to be another backup which would allow a restore if there is a problem with Windows so I'll do that. The D drive shows as empty on Windows Explorer and on Properties it says that only 77Mb has been used.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I echo what my good colleague Elvandil has said - do NOT on any account change the partition lettered D.
It is the recovery partition, used in the event of something going wrong with the windows installation

If you go to Control Panel Admin Tools computer management - disk management or you may get there by right clicking computer and then click manage, then click disk management on left pane you will in the lower window see the partitions of the drive.

I have attached a screenshot for you
Yours will look something like but this computer has three operating systems and two internal hard discs
You then need to right click the C partition and shrink volume
With the space that is created - unallocated space, you then use that to create a partition which you can then use for your personal data etc.

*CAUTION *there is not any severe risk of something going wrong, but there is as always a risk and you would be well advised to have a system image on an external drive before you start
Of course you should really have that anyway in case of other disaster occurring anytime

HERE is a rather good guide although it is for HP but the principal is the same
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=uk&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c03375417

OR you may if you find that difficult to follow use the free Easeus partition master
http://www.partition-tool.com/

Here is the guide to that
http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/windows-8-partition-manager/windows-8-disk-management.htm


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> I don't know what "shrink the C drive" means?


Sorry; I meant to re-size it smaller. But Windows' Disk Management calls the Action "Shrink Volume."


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Also as an aside issue if that is one of the new Dell laptops with the 750GB spin type HDD and the SSD then if I am correct the minimum SSD is certainly greater than 7.69 - are you certain the partition lettered D is on the SSD
You need to check carefully what is being used where.
Disk Management lists disks in lower pane as Disk 0, Disk 1 etc.
See my screenshot please as an example, your disk management will tell you what partitions are on which disc with the allocated letter


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

PLEASE NOTE I have done some brief research and I would urge caution with this until you can confirm from your user manual or from Dell exactly what the situation is with that laptop

Whilst I do NOT think there is any real danger in shrinking the partition on the spin type 750GB drive I have read this
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/38175

and I am wondering if the actual OS is on the SSD - although you say it is on the 750GB

*The full model details may help us to assist you further*

Although it does indeed appear that you have the mSATA drive used as you say for the cache and therefore the used capacity will gradually increase, as you use the computer and should from time to time be cleared,
Basically the system looks for the info on the SSD drive and if it is there, it of course loads faster than from the spin type drive.

It is explained here
http://www.dell.com/learn/uk/en/19/help-me-choose/hmc-hdd-laptop-consumer

*Caching* is a system function by which certain data is stored in order to facilitate faster recall when needed. When a CPU or web browser attempts to access a given piece of data such as a file or a website, the cache client first checks the cache. If the cache contains the requested data, the client pulls the data from the cache (this is known as a cache hit). The greater the number of requests that can be retrieved from the cache, the more quickly you will be able to access the data you want. Because the cache continually accumulates data over time, it is advisable to clear it periodically in order to manage your overall system performance


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

I am really grateful for such detailed help, especially from Macboatmaster. Just to clarify, the laptop is an XPS15 (L521X). From looking at the Disk Management as you suggested, it does seem that the D dive is for caching only and is nominally 8Gb, in reality 7.96Gb. I have tried to attach a screenshot of the disk management but it doesn't look as though it is showing when I preview the post. How do I post one please?

I certainly won't be rushing in to do anything until I'm sure I know what I'm doing. I'm beginning to wonder whether it is worth any potential problems although I do like to keep the data separate from the OS.

Looks like the screenshot worked OK which will help hopefully.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

1. Having seen disk management you may I am sure safely right click C drive, click shrink volume
2. Select size to shrink to
3. Unallocated space will appear behind, that is to the right of C
4. then right click the unallocated space
5. Create new simple volume using all the space of the unallocated
6. Assign drive letter ENSURE IT IS NOT A DRIVE LETTER already in use
7. Format it NTFS

and you may then use that new partition as you wish for your programs you download or your personal data
DO NOT MOVE existing program files to the new partition as the registry entries will of course still refer to the already existing installation.

You may refer to the guides I have already sent you


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

I wanted to make sure that I had time to sit and work through this carefully but didn't manage that until today. I had another problem that I had to phone Dell about and they took over my laptop to fix it. When he'd done that, I asked hima bout partitioning and he went ahead and did that too! So I now have an OS drive C and a My Data drive F. The only drawback is that I had planned to have a 100Gb System drive and the rest as the my Data drive. But when he tried that it wouldn't let him and the split is 344Gb for the C drive and 331Gb for the F drive. I know that it's really one big drive but I would find it easier to work with a 100/600 split.

If you try to shrink C further it shows 0Mb amount of space to shrink and a message says that "You cannot shrink a volume beyond the point where any unmovable files are located. See the "defrag" event in the Application log for detailed information about the operation when it was completed." I tried Googling this but there seem to be rather a lot of suggestions which sound a bit scary. Can anyone suggest anything I can do? If not, thanks for your help in this as I am much happier with it now than I was.


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Meant to post a new Disk Management image with the above post but can't for the life of me remember how I did it before.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

That's typical failure for Disk Management. When it fails like that I use the free EASEUS Partition Master or the bootable GParted. Never had a problem with those, but I'm always ready to "recover" the OS in case of failure.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Indeed I agree as per my post 6 - Easeus is as I said very easy to use 
The cause of the inability to shrink beyond what you wanted is very likely certain windows files that are located into the area of the disk you wished to place on the new partition.

Easeus will move them for you
Personally I would make the OS partition 150GB
That should ensure you have more than enough space
I am sure you would manage with the 100 but as space is not an issue on the disk as a whole, the extra 
will ensure that you are never at risk of running short.
Remember that many downloads will more easily go to the C partition - windows store downloads
and of course future updates such as the 8.1 release in October are certainly going on C

Finally as I said before on my post 6 on the caution note and now a reminder 
INVALUABLE ADVICE from my colleague TeryNet


> but I'm always ready to "recover" the OS in case of failure


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Thanks to you both for your answers. Before I saw them I decided to stop being a wuss and followed some instructions which I found on several sites involving various actions including temporarily turning off paging and then shrinking again. This worked but only partially and the C drive is now 161Gb. I came back here and saw TerryNet's suggestion so downloaded Easeus. I watched the video and it all looked pretty straightforward so I tried shrinking the C drive which went OK but I couldn't get the unallocated space to join with the F drive. So I decided to do it in 2 parts and applied the change to the C drive. But as the sysytem rebooted it said that the procedure had failed and, sure enough, the C drive was still 161Gb. I tried again with the same result.

I've come back on here again and found Macboatmaster's post suggesting a 150Gb C drive which does seem more sensible. The 161Gb is pretty close to that but my tidy (and stubborn) mind would still prefer it to be 150G. Does anyone have any suggestions please as to why Partition Master didn't work when I thought I'd followed the instructions?


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

On my post 6 I said


> OR you may if you find that difficult to follow use the free Easeus partition master
> http://www.partition-tool.com/


and then provided you the link for the guide

If you look at it carefully you will see that the space created must then be used to extend the partition next to it by dragging the cursor the correct way

In simple terms if the free space is created from C drive and is NOW to the left of the F Drive then the cursor must be moved from the left of the F drive to the left

It is difficult to explain in words but is simply illustrated in the guide I sent you


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Yes, those are the instructions I am following. I can resize C OK but then, as you say, the unallocated space is between the C and F drives. I can see from the video that I should just be able to highlight the unallocated space and drag it to the right of the F drive and then resize the F drive. But when I highlight the unallocated space I can click on it or hover over it but the cursor doesn't change so there is no way of dragging it anywhere. I tried dragging the F drive left instead but that doesn't work either. 

That's why I thought I'd go ahead with shrinking C and then running Easeus again to deal with the F drive. But when it reboots it does the countdown and then says it has aborted the operation.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

I don't know why the resize of C failed to go below 161 GB.

For the other, to get the window in my attachment I clicked on the Data partition ("E drive") and in the Operations column selected Resize/Move Partition. To position Data adjacent to Windows 7 ("C drive") drag the handle I labeled L the entire way to the left. Stopping at that point would add the unallocated space to the Data partition. If I wanted instead to move the unallocated to the right of Data then drag the handle labeled R to the left until the original partition size is reached.


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Hi
That makes perfect sense but I still can't do it! I shrink the C drive using the Resize/Move option. This then shows the unallocated space of around 11Gb between C and F. But if I then click on F the only options showing in the Operations column are those to defragment, check partition, explore partition and view properties. The Resize/Move option is not available so I can't get in to change anything as in your post above. If I don't resize the C drive, I do get the option to Resize/Move the F drive but then, of course, there is no unallocated space to use.

That's why I was trying it in 2 operations by Applying after the C Drive shrinkage only, thinking that I could come back and re-allocate the space to the F drive in a second pass after the reboot. But the C drive shrinkage always fails as detailed above. It's quite frustrating as it appears that it should be simple but I can't get it to work.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I think a screenshot would help us to decide on the advice
With the disk management window open and showing where you have the now unallocated space do this
1. press the printtscreen key
2. open paint
3. click paste
4. click select
5. drag mouse around the part of image we need
6. click copy
7. click file, click new
8. click paste
9. click file click save as select jpeg
10. on reply click go advanced and attach


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Have attached a screenshot. I hope it helps.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

set up easeus
and send me the same screenshot as I have sent you in other words right click on F


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

OK, have attached the screenshot of the F drive. It now has some data in it as I have copied in some photos but have multiple copies so not worried if I need to reformat the drive. Thanks for sticking with me on this.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I have to admit that this has me puzzled at the moment
TRY closing all applications except Easeus
The only other possibility that comes to mind is AND I stress the need for a backup
Am I correct in thinking that half of this operation was completed with disk management and the second half attempted with Easeus
If so I would if you are really keen to pursue revert it back to how it was with Easeus
EG extend C using the present uallocated apace
make F unallocated space
extend C to that
then shrink C as required by you originally
and remake the new F


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## Noyb (May 25, 2005)

TerryNet said:


> I don't know why the resize of C failed to go below 161 GB.


You won't have that restriction if you can defragg the partition it while it's not running.
There's some stuff that's running that wont get moved down


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Hi
I have been closing all apps when running Easeus. You're right that half the reallocation was done using Disk Management and half using Easeus so doing it all with Easeus does make sense. I don't have any unallocated space at the moment as it always refused to actually do the shrink when I applied it. So I would just need to go from where you say to make F unallocated space. Is this done by deleting the F partition?


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

Delete partition - F
http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/help/deleting-partitions.htm

extend C to use all of F
complete operation.
Shut down - reboot
enter Easeus
shrink C
then if it will to the level you wish
as before on unallocated space
follow previous procedure for making unallocated apace simple volume etc


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I have signed off 
goodnight and good luck with it
back about 1900 hrs


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

I think I need to admit defeat with this. Deleted F and increased C to take all unallocated space and hit Apply. It rebooted and I still got the aborted operation message and the C drive stayed the same size. I tried playing around with thsi an then started to get a message to say that the Intel Rapid Start Technology was not enabled. No idea whether this was connected or not. Coincidentally, at this point, the Dell representative who helped me with a problem a couple of days ago rang to check that it was all working OK. I told him about the Intel message and an hour and 25 minutes later he had fixed it(!). I'm still not entirely sure what he did but he


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

Ooops posted too soon. He set up the unallocated space as a drive called Data which is now the D drive. The ex-D drive, the SSD, still shows in Easeus as a new volume with no drive letter but doesn't show up in e.g. Windows Explorer. Do I need to allocate it a drive letter?

I think that I'm so close to the 150Gb with 161Gb for the C drive that it's not worth worrying over it any more. I'm certainly a lot further on than when I started this thread. Incidentally, I don't think that the Rapid Start Technology was enabled when I first got the laptop as from the couple of times I've closed the lid and re-opened since it's much quicker to reload. I don't know why I got the error when I did though.

Thanks for all the help. I think I'd better get on with actually installing apps and data and start using it properly. Thanks again.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I am sorry I could not sort it for you
I really do not know if there are any special precautions you need to take re the SSD cache drive
If it were me and you do not yet have anything on the drive that was F and is now D, I would enter disk management and change the drive letter to F -
CHECK that NO other partition has that letter of course
REBOOT
DO NOT on any account change other drive letters if you change C you will have major problems
Hopefully the SDD will then show and back as originally lettered D


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

I have tried changing the data drive letter to F but it didn't have any effect, the SSD didn't reappear in the list as D. I supose that it doesn't make any difference whether I can see it in Windows Explorer or not as I don't need to access it. The Dell guy is ringing me back again on Monday to see whether the Intel problem has been sorted out which it has (much faster coming round from hibernation) so I'll ask him about it then. Meanwhile, I'll mark this as solved and thanks again everyone who has responded especially Macboatmaster.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

After changing the new D to F and then rebooting and entering disk management again is the SSD now shown and can you allocate drive letter D

Anyway pleased to have worked with you sorry once again we could not sort you out
please do keep us informed on how you go


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## Pinmac (Mar 27, 2007)

As promised, the Dell rep rang me back today to check all was OK and I told him that I couldn't see the SSD drive in Windows Explorer and he said that that was normal as the user doesn't need to access at all, as it is only to be used by the system. I'm OK with that and happy with the outcome. I've got a 500Gb+ hard drive which I now need to set about copying all my data to. Thanks, all.


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## Macboatmaster (Jan 15, 2010)

I missed the point before that you were saying in computer
What I was saying was did it show as it did - before on your post 10 in disk management
where it was then shown as lettered D - disk1

Either way pleased to have helped a little


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