C disk versus D disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert
  • Start date Start date
R

Robert

I know this must be very basic, but I just don't know. What is the
difference between a C disk and a D disk? I'm using Windows XP Home. The D
disk is defined as a "local disk" (in Explorer). Can I put data on this
disk, as it has 59 GB of free space? Is it ever erased? Will it restore if
I do a system restore? If not, can I transfer some of that space to my C
disk?

Thanks.

Robert
 
Without actually looking into your PC I cannot tell whether you have two
physical hard drives, or a single drive partitioned into two (or more)
partitions. The System Recovery partition (if that is what you have rather
than a System Recovery CD) is normally hidden and marked as such even if you
choose to unhide it and would normally be much smaller than the 60gb you
mention.

Yes, you can use the d:\ drive for programs etc, however you cannot just cut
and paste them from the c:\ drive to the d:\ drive as their Registry entries
would not be correct and they would end up not working. You can choose to
uninstall them from the c:\ drive and using a custom install (usually an
option on the first screen) choose to install them on the d:\ drive.

Is the data ever erased from the d:\ drive?.... probably not until you tell
the PC you wish to do so!

Can you resize the partition (if it is indeed a single drive partitioned
into two)... not without either losing data and reinstalling everything ..
or using a third party software like Partition Magic which can do the job
without loss of data.

Cari
www.coribright.com
 
Thanks for responding.

The computer is a Sony VAIO PCV-RX650. I don't think it has 2 hard drives.
Right now local disk C has a capacity of 14.9 GB of which 13.3 GB are used.
Local disk D has a capacity of 59.5 GB of which 98.2 MB are used (note the
M). So there are more than 59 giga bytes of unused space on the D disk.
The 4 top folders which are on D disk now are "image", "msdownld.tmp",
"SonicStage", and "TEMP" and appear to be empty. This is a waste, isn't it?
Does the computer have to reserve 59 GB for System Recovery? What gives?
I'd like to be able to access some of that space, so do you recommend
Partion Magic? Is this a common situation?

Robert
 
The system is not reserving that space, you simply have 2 partitions.
That has been common since "almost" the beginning or personnal computers.
You have access to that space, and can use it anytime you want.
You may install programs there, save any files there, whatever.
If you have programs that are taking up a lot of space on the C drive, you
can uninstall them from C and re-install them to D.
If you want to reduce the size of the D drive and increase the size of C,
then yes, you could use Partition Magic.
 
Okay. I got it.


Spinner said:
The system is not reserving that space, you simply have 2 partitions.
That has been common since "almost" the beginning or personnal computers.
You have access to that space, and can use it anytime you want.
You may install programs there, save any files there, whatever.
If you have programs that are taking up a lot of space on the C drive, you
can uninstall them from C and re-install them to D.
If you want to reduce the size of the D drive and increase the size of C,
then yes, you could use Partition Magic.


choose everything
Click to expand...
 
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