Windows Vista Installing Vista Ultimate how do I prep hard drive?

[Victorious1]

Hello, first day out here and it looks awesome. I just purchased a full version of Vista Ultimate and I want to install it correctly on my drive which has a partition called D: Recovery. Do I need to eliminate this recovery drive and just have one big C drive or is there a reason for keeping a D: drive. As far as I see it contains the original factory software which I no longer need but the problem is that I don't know how to get rid of D: drive or its contents. Can anyone help or offer suggestions so I can make a really good install of Vista ultimate.

 

[kemical]

Hi, if you want to get rid of the extra partition then open the control panel/ System and maintenance/Administative Tools/Computer management and then storage. Here you should see a 'snap-in' called 'Disk management', this tool will allow you to delete the partition (or set one up if so desired).

Oh, and welcome to the forum...

 

[Victorious1]

Thanks for the welcome. I tried what you said and the computer's response was NO. Apparently it is an active drive since it is a recovery drive. Any other suggestions on how I can delete this partion or content?

 

[kemical]

Hmm... I just tried with mine and for some reason it will not work like it used to (I tried to create a partition to then delete it). It used to work, perhaps SP1 has changed something, anyway I will find out...
Try this free download, it's a partition manager that creates and deletes partitions:
Cute Partition Manager - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com

 

[superbill]

Yep .....Partition Manager will do the job o.k. I think you can use a trial version for free.
Remember that the Recovery files are a small partition on the hard drive containing a record of all software installed at the factory and shipped with this system. This includes images for the Microsoft Operating System and supplemental products. If you have a problem with the operating system or device drivers, the programs on the recovery partition can restore the PC to proper operation. If you decide to delete all of this information and remove the Recovery Partition you will make a small amount space available for other programs. If you back up your data, and you create a set of Recovery disks before deleting the partition, you can restore the PC later.
If you do not need the disc space for anything else just leave it!!!!!

 

[kemical]

Hi superbill,
your right of course but I think now the op has disks they want to claim that bit of space back.. I'm not sure why it won't work for me though. I had no such partition of course as I built the system. Once on a whim I downloaded linux, created a partition and was going to dual boot but eventually decided against it. I then deleted the partition I'd created. The thing is I can't remember if this was pre sp1 or not, 'or', if indeed sp1 has anything to do with the fact that now it doesn't seem to want to play nice.. I'll check it out when I've got more time on my hands...

Just to go a 'tad' off topic, what do you think about the stewards decision at Spa?