# Hard drive partitioning **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994 "2003-08-22T19:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![quelquechose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6f9a4e/32.png) [@quelquechose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quelquechose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/1 "2003-08-22T19:08:42Z")
I have one hard drive partitioned into C and D. How can I unpartition (That is, only have C listed)? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/2 "2003-08-22T19:18:46Z")
How attached to your data are you? If you intend to keep it, you’ll need a product like Partition Magic which can add and remove drive partitions while saving your data. It costs about $50. If you don’t care about your data, or have it backed up and don’t mind reinstalling your OS, you can use FDISK from a boot diskette to repartition your drive. ---
**Author:** ![quelquechose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6f9a4e/32.png) [@quelquechose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quelquechose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/3 "2003-08-22T19:25:59Z")
> [@](#): > > How attached to your data are you? I wouldn’t mind losing data on the D partition. Would unpartitioning essentially format the disc? I will probably be formatting it at some point in the future, so data loss isn’t a huge problem. ---
**Author:** ![quelquechose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6f9a4e/32.png) [@quelquechose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quelquechose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/4 "2003-08-22T19:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > If you don’t care about your data, or have it backed up and don’t mind reinstalling your OS, you can use FDISK from a boot diskette to repartition your drive. How exactly would I do this? Step-by Step instructions would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/5 "2003-08-22T19:37:18Z")
What OS are you using? I can’t be too specific without knowing, but basically you make a boot diskette and copy [FDISK.COM](http://FDISK.COM) to it. Shut down your PC and restart it with the boot disk in the A: drive, then follow [these instructions](http://www.newlogic.co.uk/kbase/fdisk/page2.htm). This is assumming a Windows-based OS. Macs, I can’t help with. ---
**Author:** ![quelquechose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6f9a4e/32.png) [@quelquechose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quelquechose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/6 "2003-08-22T19:47:22Z")
I’m using Windows 98 right now. How do I create a boot disk? (I assume I can’t just copy the file to the disk.) ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/7 "2003-08-22T20:01:40Z")
You will lose data on both partitions as you have to delete all partition information and then recombine the drive into 1 large one. Fdisk is fairly simple to use, delete partitions (from logical, extended etc) then make a new partition using 100% of the available space. Maybe Q.E.D. will post specifics, I’m too lazy and haven’t touched fdisk in ages. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/8 "2003-08-22T20:04:37Z")
The quick way to make a boot disk is simply go to your command prompt and type “format a: /s” without the quotes. Win98 also has a “book disk” maker somewhere in it. Copy [fdisk.com](http://fdisk.com) and then book on the disk. You will get only your command prompt, then from there start up fdisk and start deleting your partitions. After, you will need to format the C: partition and then start reloading the OS. ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/9 "2003-08-22T20:11:05Z")
Haven’t used Win98 in a while, but this should help: Open an MSDOS Prompt window. Type: format /? Should give you the format options. I believe “format a: /s” may be the command to format the floppy and copy the system files needed to make it bootable. Fdisk is a program w/lots of potential for loss of data, though, so read up. You should back up your important data whenever you mess with partitions. I recommend buying Partition Magic. It’s listed as $70 but you can find it for probably half that. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/10 "2003-08-22T20:24:25Z")
You should also make sure you really have the stuff to reinstall the operating system. A lot of computers do not come with the windows installation CD they come with recovery disks. These may or may not allow you to install the operating system. It behooves you to find out before you format the drive not after. ---
**Author:** ![quelquechose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6f9a4e/32.png) [@quelquechose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quelquechose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/11 "2003-08-22T20:26:07Z")
Where can I get [fdisk.com](http://fdisk.com)? Is there a place I can download it? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/12 "2003-08-22T20:32:51Z")
[FDISK.COM](http://FDISK.COM) should be on your drive. It’s been a while since I’ve used Win98, but if I recall, it’s in the C:\windows\command folder. If not, just use Start menu \> Find to search it out. ---
**Author:** ![quelquechose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6f9a4e/32.png) [@quelquechose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quelquechose)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/13 "2003-08-22T20:37:18Z")
> [@](#): > > You should also make sure you really have the stuff to reinstall the operating system. I’ve done it once before, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, I cannot find [fdisk.com](http://fdisk.com). I checked c:\windows\command\ and tried find. However, I did find fdisk.exe, will that work? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/14 "2003-08-22T20:42:47Z")
Yes. I was probably thinking of [FORMAT.COM](http://FORMAT.COM), and confused the extension. Or maybe Microsoft changed to a .exe extension for it. In any case, that’s the thing you want. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/15 "2003-08-22T21:32:03Z")
To emphasize, using fdisk to repartition your drive will make both partitions unusable. You’ll to reinstall everything from both your C: & D: “drives”. fdisk is used to manage partions, format is used to make those partions usable. Use fdisk to delete the partitions, then create a new primary parition that covers the entire disk. This is not a user-friendly experience. Once that partition has been created, format it, then reinstall Windows & all your stuff. IIRC, if you can boot to your CD, then booting to your Windows 98 CD and letting it setup your C drive will let you skip the formatting step. Partition magic will let you delete the D: partion and expand the the C: partition to the whole disk and retain your existing data. There’s Linux tools that do this, too, if you have a Geek friend. Those tools are free. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/16 "2003-08-22T22:08:12Z")
When you make a startup disk, it has all you need on it, fdisk, format, etc. Frankly you’d be better off using an old version of Partition magic or one that fits your OS. fdisk is pretty risky if you don’t know what youre doing. Try searching for ‘partition’ at download. com & see what you get. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/17 "2003-08-22T22:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*When you make a startup disk, it has all you need on it, fdisk, format, etc. \*\* This is wrong. A system disk made with an OS up to and including Win98 has exactly 3 files on it: IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS and [COMMAND.COM](http://COMMAND.COM). Anything else you want on it, you need to copy yourself. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/18 "2003-08-22T23:19:03Z")
I think he’s talking about making a startup disk, using the Windows utility to do so, not just the sys command which only puts the 3 files (plus the boot sector) on it. I never liked the boot disks that windows makes. I always start off with just the sys command, which leaves you with a disk just as QED described. Then I put the following files on it: ```auto Directory of A:\ 05/11/1998 07:01p 93,880 COMMAND.COM 05/11/1998 07:01p 69,902 EDIT.COM 05/11/1998 07:01p 10,790 EDIT.HLP 05/11/1998 07:01p 63,900 FDISK.EXE 02/26/1997 01:55a 16,547 MTMCDAI.SYS 02/23/1995 01:20a 5,449 MTMCDAI.386 07/11/1995 09:50a 25,473 MSCDEX.EXE 11/18/2000 01:05p 28 AUTOEXEC.BAT 05/11/1998 07:01p 49,575 FORMAT.COM 05/11/1998 07:01p 18,967 SYS.COM 11/18/2000 01:01p cd 05/11/1998 07:01p 3,878 XCOPY.EXE 11/17/2001 01:10p 51 CONFIG.SYS 05/11/1998 07:01p 3,878 XCOPY32.EXE 05/11/1998 07:01p 41,472 XCOPY32.MOD 14 File(s) 403,790 bytes 1 Dir(s) 620,544 bytes free ``` This is basically just a boot disk with FDISK, FORMAT, SYS, EDIT, XCOPY, and a fairly generic IDE CD ROM driver on it. If you don’t set the disk up with a dos mode CD rom driver, then you have to have a computer capable of booting from CD and also you have to have a bootable CD to install your OS from. There are many versions of windows which do not ship with a bootable CD. Whenever I install 98, I use XCOPY to copy the install files (everything in the win98 directory and all of its subdirectories) over to the hard drive, then remove the CD and run the setup from there. The advantage of this is that when you install new hardware or change things around, windows looks on the hard drive instead of asking you for the CD, which by then I’ve shoved into a stack with about a million other CDs and can’t remember exactly which version of 98 went with which computer, etc. The disadvantage of course is that you use up a bunch of hard drive space to hold all of the files from the CD. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/19 "2003-08-22T23:33:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by engineer\_comp\_geek \* > **I think he’s talking about making a startup disk, using the Windows utility to do so, not just the sys command which only puts the 3 files (plus the boot sector) on it.** Ah, that could be. I hardly ever used that either. I have a batch file that I can run to make my boot disks, which I vastly prefer. ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994/20 "2003-08-23T00:34:46Z")
Care to share, **Q.E.D.**? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hard-drive-partitioning/196994.md?page=2)