Remove partition

[Footbacon]

I've had my Vaio for about a year and desperately need to remove the partition to get some more space.

I've got all of my docs, music etc on an external hard drive but still there's hardly any space left on c:

Downloaded Partition Magic last night to try and merge C: & 😧 When I tried to merge them it said I needed more space to do so! Then something went wrong and I think I've deleted the D:. I *think* that the third one down in this screenshot is my D:, but it's called '*' instead now.



Have I completely screwed it up? How do I get the 😧 back and how do I remove the partition?

[pmitev]

Check this link for the SystemRescueCd. I have used it to find lost partitions, but in my case the problem was something else.
There is a tool that can help you - Test-Disk. Check the manual and try to recover your lost partition. There are some other tools in the wild, so don't consider that one as the best one, but at least is free.

If we assume that you have recovered your lost partition then next you can use GPArted from the same CD to expand your C: drive. I would not expect merging to work without problems (GParted does not support merging anyway) so better backup your data and copy it back ones you are done. I can only assume that for the merging the files are first copied to the C: partition before it is enlarged (well it is not always necessary but...) and there was not enough space - if you continue, the next task is to delete 😧 so probably you are somewhere there...
The general rule when working with partitions is to try to make only few operations per task i.e. First delete the Extended partition (apply the changes) and then resize the partition. It should be the same to do all of them in one task but there are less chances to screw something because of errors during the separate operations.

[Footbacon]

Thanks for the link.

Just tried to download it and it says there's not enough space! Can I download it directly to external hard drive somehow?

Edit: Oh crap! Tried to uninstall a couple of things to get a little bit more space and it says there's not enough space to uninstall.

Am I gonna have to do a system restore?

[pmitev]

Thanks for the link.
Just tried to download it and it says there's not enough space! Can I download it directly to external hard drive somehow?

Well it is an .iso file so you can download it wherever you want, on another computer as well. Then you have to burn the .iso CD image in order to boot the computer from the burned CD.

[Footbacon]

Managed to shuffle some things around and download SystemRescue, but it wouldn't open. Something about an invalid certificate.

If I do a system restore will that put me straight back to square 1 with the 😧 back as it was?

And can you do a system restore without recovery discs?

[Blencogo]

Did you have any data on Drive D:\ that you needed to keep?

If not, will it not let you simply resize drive C:\ to 75GB?

[Footbacon]

I had nothing really on the 😧

How do I resize it? Sorry, I'm not too tech minded.

[pmitev]

Managed to shuffle some things around and download SystemRescue, but it wouldn't open. Something about an invalid certificate.

That is an .iso CD image format.. You can not simply run it. You have to burn it first as an image not as a file. Then boot from the CD. The iso file is 127MB make sure you have the real iso file not the redirections (do not use right click, save as).

If not, will it not let you simply resize drive C:\ to 75GB?

First one needs to delete the extended partition...

[Footbacon]

Do I have to stress again that it is an .iso CD image format.. You can not simply run it. You have to burn it first as an image not as a file. Then boot from the CD. The iso file is 127MB make sure you have the real iso file not the redirections (do not use right click, save as).

It looks like I'm screwed. Uninstalled so much crap that I can't find any way to burn it to a CD.

What happens if I restore without the recovery discs?

[Thalamus.]

And can you do a system restore without recovery discs?

Hi Footbacon

pressing F10 repeatedly when starting you vaio normally would start the recovery process..

You could use the Vaio recovery tool and at no 10 select C & D Recovery (Change Partition size)..
However all the data on your hard drive(s) will be removed and then your Vaio should be recovered back to the factory settings..