Windows 7 Drive space allocation problem

[hoop goobner]

Lets get this out of the way - I'm fairly dumb when it comes to computers! So I'm thankful for those who aren't.

Here's my problem - I have a new computer that's only a few months old. I bought it before Windows 7 came out, so they sent me a disk to install myself once it was available (32 bit pro). I am currently out of disk space! As you'll see in the disk management screen capture below, my drive C is very large and has tons of room. However, my drive D is small, and is full! Everything I install or download defaults to drive D. I realize I can change that manually at the time of installation (which is a pain), but my bigger concern is the things I can't (or believe I can't) control go to drive D too, like anything in my "Libraries", which includes music, video, documents, etc. I can't understand why, and I certainly can't figure out how to fix it.

 

[hoop goobner]

This must be tougher than I thought. I posted question on "justanswer.com" and after 3 hours I got an e-mail that nobody could help. Now I'm scared

 

[hoop goobner]

Got some help, and the news isn't good. Apparently I installed windows 7 to the wrong partition. I got answers from justanswer.com, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I asked about uninstalling windows7, and reinstalling it in the proper partition. He suggested collapsing the partitions and formatting the whole thing. I have no idea how to do this stuff, and the local computer shop is going to charge 75 to 100 bucks to fix this thing.

So how about this - can I just buy a new hard drive and start over? I might as well, because the cost to fix is going to be close the cost of a new hard drive. I could backup important stuff.

So... is it possible to just take out the hard drive, put in a new one that already has windows 7 loaded properly, and just start over?

 

[Saltgrass]

Your current condition is your boot files are on the C: partition and the OS you are currently booted into is on the D: partition

OK, you are running Win 7 right now I assume, so your D: drive is Win 7? Do you have an OS on C:, and if not can it be deleted after you remove the boot files?

You don't have to delete anything, if you do not have an OS on the C: drive, we will move the boot files to D:, make that partition a primary partition. and set up Win 7 to boot from there.

Basically, what type of a final configuration do you want. Be advised, anytime you move or change partitions, there is a chance data will be lost, so backup what you can.

While you respond, go to the link provided and download and burn the bootable version of Partition Wizard and have it available.

 

[hoop goobner]

Running 7, it is on D. I'm pretty sure that XP is on the C drive.

Basically what I am looking for is a small partition for system files, and a large partition for everything else. That's what you're supposed to do, right? Something about crashes, and having the files necessary to keep the computer running seperate from everything else.

 

[Saltgrass]

Before I can suggest anything, I have to know exactly what you want.

I only run one OS per drive. If I want to dual boot, I will put in another drive. My Win 7 partition is 150G, but that is personal preference. Different people set it different ways. You can move the library files to another location, but it seems to me the only time it would really make a difference is if you wanted to backup. But now, with drives being so cheap and so large, you can backup an image of a drive very easily.

If you want to dual boot, we can set that up. If you want the Win 7 drive to be primary or C: we can move the boot files there. Basically we can do just about anything you want.

You can shrink your large partition if you want and make another partition after it if that is what you want.

Once again, if you were going to spend $100 to get someone to fix it for you, what would you tell them...

While you are thinking, set the folder options to view hidden system files and look for a file called bootmgr and ntldr and post where you find them.

 

[hoop goobner]

Thank you saltgrass for taking the time...

To make it plain and simple, what I really want is to be able to utilize my hard drive's full capacity, and not have to deal with running out of space already when I have a 1TB drive. I like Windows 7, and could care less if I had XP or not (that was a temporary thing because 7 wasn't out yet when I bought the computer, and XP was what I was comfortable with at the time). Vista is also on my computer, but its my understanding that it has to be there because my W7 disk says its an upgrade from Vista. So that's it. I don't necessarily care about partitions, dual boots, etc. I thought all that stuff was needed. To be honest, I don't even know what dual boot is exactly or why anyone would want it.

That's what I would tell them. I mean, I was thinking about just buying a new hard drive and completely starting over with just windows 7 on it, so that sums up my feelings on this I guess.

NTLDR - C:\windows\I386

BOOTMGR (this came up a bunch, but most has .exe extension) The two that came up in my search that were just bootmgr were located in:
D:\windows\boot\pcat
d:\windows\winsxs\x86-microsoft-windows-b..rebootmanager

Again, thanks. I realize I'm probably difficult to communicate with due to my "born too early to learn the basics in school" syndrome, ha.

 

[Saltgrass]

OK, let's do this one step at a time.

First, while in Win 7 open an administrative command prompt. Type the following and hit enter after:

bcdboot D:\Windows /s D:

Look for a confirmation then close the command Window.

(An administrative window can be opened by going to Start Menu, All Programs, Accessories and right clicking on Command Prompt and select "Run as Admin")

This will put the boot files on the Win 7 partition. So far nothing has been really changed on your system.

Now, boot to the Partition Wizard CD. Allow it to boot by itself and when it is ready, right click the Win 7 partition. Select Modify, then set partition primary.

Now, do the same thing but use the set active option.

Now click the Apply check mark. (You may have to apply after setting primary, but don't know for sure)

This will set up the Win 7 partition to boot and make itself the System partition. If something goes wrong you can go back and set the other partition active and you will be back where you started.

Close the Partition Wizard utility and remove the CD when you can, but prior to reboot.

It should boot back into Win 7 with the Win 7 partition set to C:

Post back how it goes.