Partitioned-can't install anything on full drive

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I'm dealing with a hand-me-down laptop with WIN 2000 OS,and I have none of the disks. Also, the relativey small hard drive was partitioned into a total of 4 local disks (C,D,E,G) All system and program files are on D, which is now about 96% full, though one of the other locals has 2 gb free remaining. When I attempt to load anything new, ANYTHING, by default it heads for D. Most programs don't allow for another choice, and so I invariably get the "disk full-delete files" message. I've deleted everything I dare (should I have kept autoexec.bat?) Can I change the default drive for loading new programs, or is there some other no/low cost solution available to me without the Win 2000 disks?
 
Bluetone said:
I'm dealing with a hand-me-down laptop with WIN 2000 OS,and I have none of
Click to expand...
the disks. Also, the relativey small hard drive was partitioned into a
total of 4 local disks (C,D,E,G) All system and program files are on D,
which is now about 96% full, though one of the other locals has 2 gb free
remaining. When I attempt to load anything new, ANYTHING, by default it
heads for D. Most programs don't allow for another choice, and so I
invariably get the "disk full-delete files" message. I've deleted
everything I dare (should I have kept autoexec.bat?) Can I change the
default drive for loading new programs, or is there some other no/low cost
solution available to me without the Win 2000 disks?
============================

It seems you did not really acquire an operational laptop; you only acquired
the hardware. It's like getting a car engine without the chassis. You will
have to get the software too: Not only will this make your possession legal
but it will let you redo your partitions and re-install your software.
 
I'm in exactly the same situation as Bluetone, and Pegasus' response isn't helpful or informative. Whether from the law's point of view, or Microsoft's, there's nothing "illegal" about taking/using a 4.5 year old laptop from a friend who is upgrading, even if the friend was ignorant and disorganized enough to have lost the disks for the OS he had installed. Rather than a car with an engine but no chassis, a better analogy might be getting a used car with a mechanical problem, but fixing it requires getting into the car's trunk, but the previous owner lost the trunk key.

Because we have exactly the same problem as Bluetone, should we infer from Pegasus' message that there is absolutely nothing to be done short of buying a new OS and starting over? There's no way to reconfigure Windows 2000 to have it install all new software on the nearly vacant drive, or to move some Win 2000 files from the drive nearly filled to capacity to the one that's nearly vacant? It would be helpful to get clear answers to those questions. Thank you.
 
Bluetone said:
I'm dealing with a hand-me-down laptop with WIN 2000 OS,and I have none of the disks. Also, the relativey small hard drive was partitioned into a total of 4 local disks (C,D,E,G) All system and program files are on D, which is now about 96% full, though one of the other locals has 2 gb free remaining. When I attempt to load anything new, ANYTHING, by default it heads for D. Most programs don't allow for another choice, and so I invariably get the "disk full-delete files" message. I've deleted everything I dare (should I have kept autoexec.bat?) Can I change the default drive for loading new programs, or is there some other no/low cost solution available to me without the Win 2000 disks?
Click to expand...

Hi

You can use a 3rd party utility to resize your partition(s). You will need to make one of the adjacent partitions smaller (or delete it) before you can make D: larger. Be sure to make backup of any valuable data first!

Here is a couple of products:

PartitionMagic
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

BootIt NG (shareware, have a trial period)
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html
 
More like a buyer beware. You really need to be an
informed buyer. knowledgeable about what things you need
to make your purchase work for you, buying used gear is
problematic, you never know for sure what your getting.
in my position if I didn't already have the install cd
and the seller didn't offer it with the equipment, then I
had best have the bucks to buy it, no other choice works.
a legally offered system needs to have the install cd with
it, and the person selling it, needs to acknowledge he is
giving up his license to own the software. if the software
is installed .


-----Original Message-----
I'm in exactly the same situation as Bluetone, and
Click to expand...
Pegasus' response isn't helpful or informative. Whether
from the law's point of view, or Microsoft's, there's
nothing "illegal" about taking/using a 4.5 year old laptop
from a friend who is upgrading, even if the friend was
ignorant and disorganized enough to have lost the disks
for the OS he had installed. Rather than a car with an
engine but no chassis, a better analogy might be getting a
used car with a mechanical problem, but fixing it requires
getting into the car's trunk, but the previous owner lost
the trunk key.
Because we have exactly the same problem as Bluetone,
Click to expand...
should we infer from Pegasus' message that there is
absolutely nothing to be done short of buying a new OS and
starting over? There's no way to reconfigure Windows 2000
to have it install all new software on the nearly vacant
drive, or to move some Win 2000 files from the drive
nearly filled to capacity to the one that's nearly
vacant? It would be helpful to get clear answers to those
questions. Thank you.
 
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