Off topic-Computers

[captainron]

Sorry about this, but I'm a computer dummy. I use a Sony laptop I bought new with Windows XP, and a 40 gb hard disc. The disc is partioned with drive c being 14 gb and drive d at 25 gb. It is my understanding that Windows XP doesn't need or want a partioned drive so I don't know why it was built this way. Anyway, as the drive c is almost full, the computer is running really slowly. I have tried to move stuff to d, but it just seems to run worse. Any ideas how to un-partion this drive or other methods that might work? Please, not too technical! Thanks.

[RV-3Bravo]

I had a 30 gig in mine before I switched to a 80 gig. It was running super slow as well as the HD was almost full. I upgraded the HD and the Memory and it hasn't given me any problems after that.

[captainron]

What is the intention of D being almost twice as large as the drive C that everything seems to want to operate from? It's like a 400 hp engine that only allows 140 hp to be used. What is supposed to be on drive D?

[jedimike007]

When you reformat the computer it will ask to erase all partitions, and then asks how many you want to create, and what size for each. Easy to do, the hard part is backing up your files and programs for reinstallation.


Mike

[TSwezey]

My son partitioned his so he could run two different operating systems. Some poeple run Windows XP on one and Linix on the other. Have you tried defragmenting your disk?
This should be done every few months. The program is on your computer. Click on control panel, then administrative tools, then computer management,the storage, then disk defragmenter. This will help speed up your computer.

[lucky333]

It can re-partition drives without losing data. Current version is 8.0 . There may be other drive utilities that work as well.

The main reason for partitioning a drive is that windows lives on one partition and all of your data lives on the other. That way when windows goes TU, you can reinstall it without losing your data. (You'll have to reinstall all of your programs, though).

You can start by running Disk Cleanup in Accessories-> System Tools to get rid of some old junk. Then run Disk Defragment.

You could be infected with spyware. Download and run AdAware and SpyBot, both free. Windows has a bad habit of accumulating all kinds of things in your day to day computing, cookies, spies, 'helpful' utilities.

How much RAM do you have? 512MB is getting a bit thin for WinXP. At 256MB, the thing will spend a lot of time on the HDD, slowing things down.

Microsoft has some good stuff on their support sites.

Finally, any decent computer shop will offer a Windows tuneup for a nominal cost that may help.

Have fun.

[hevansrv7a]

The usual purpose of partitioning the HD is to put your data on a separate drive for protection and ease of backup. It's also done a lot in a corporate, managed environment for ease of remote mgt. over the network. Also, it means that you can upgrade the operating system and applications without endangering the data.

That said, since XP tries really hard to put all your data under "documents and settings", the value of the partition can only be realized if that folder is written to the D: drive. You don't say if it is. That's not the normal configuration. If it's not on D:, then you are cramming everything into the C: partition of 14 GB.

I don't know for sure, but 14 sounds low for the operating system and the applications. On a home-use computer, it's often not partitioned and I would not do it. On my home desktop unit, I'm using a little under 8GB for "program files" and "windows" alone.

OK, now for the speed issue. If there is a lot of writing and re-writing to the HD, it will become, to some degree, fragmented. This is a tekkie way of saying that the areas where files are written are no longer in nice, adjacent, compact chunks. Rather, the data for a single file, if it's large, will be all over the place and the HD has to keep jumping around to read the whole file, let alone write it. Windows provide for de-fragging, but PLEASE fully back up your data before you do it. Or get an expert to do it. There are third party programs which do it even better.

Speed issue again - the more likely candidate is physical memory (At the risk of insulting the more informed readers, memory and storage are not the same. Storage is on the HD, memory is in the chips and is constantly being reused at the speed of light, nearly.) When there is not enough memory to hold everything the computer is trying to do at one time, Windows writes large chunks of the memory to the HD. We used to call the "paging". This is very slow. I don't remember the numbers, but I think it's no exaggeration to say that memory is at least 100 times faster than the HD. If you don't have a lot of memory (I won't run XP on less than a GB of memory) then you have to try to keep its use clean and efficient. There are two primary techniques. First, only load into memory what must be loaded. It's OK to take a little longer to start a program if it runs well after it starts. Don't keep in memory what is rarely used. Look in your
c:\documents and settings\username\start menu\programs\startup folder to see what is getting loaded on log-in. Secondly, close each application when done with it before starting another. Sometimes you want to run two or three at a time, but often you don't really need to.

The first step in a solution is to decide what you want to do about the partition. The second is to take it to someone who knows what he or she is doing and pay them a fair price for their work. Work interactively with him/her on cleaning up your startup stuff. Do not attempt this at home if you are a self-professed novice. Good luck.

PM me if you need more consultation on this.

[RV7Factory]

Make sure your computer's virtual memory (aka pagefile) is set-up to run on the partition with the most free space.

I won't bother to explian the process here, but for more info do a search in Windows Help for "Virtual Memory", "Performance" or "pagefile".

Some computers are set up with multiple partitions to keep operating system and application files seperate from data. In other words, Windows and all your installed applications would reside on one partition, and all your data (e.g. pictures, music, documents), would live on another. It can make back-ups easier. (edit: Looks like HevansRV7A beat me to the submit button )

[sportpilot]

I have a sony Vaio laptop with a c: and d: drives. Instead of trying to move stuff form C to D I just put all the new large programs and files that I add on specially pictures, on the D drive. I use D for all my heavy duty storage and let C operate the system.

I have moved some things from c to d by using drag and drop. If you have any programs that you have added to drive C and you have the installation disk, it is easier to use the remove programs to uninstall it from drive C and then reinstall it on to drive D. Dont do this if you have any files that operate with the program unles you first save the files to a CD so you can add them back to the program on drive D. Instead of letting my pictures build up on the hard drive I burn them on to a CD once a month.

You can also "clean up" your C drive using the "disk cleanup" program in your accessories folder under system tools. Dont forget to run the defrag program form time tro time. If you do much internet surfing, you might be infected with "spy ware" that will retard your OS big time. I down loaded the windows "defender" program and it cleaned off a bunch of mess I didnt even know I had.

Its a never ending chore. Like any machine you have to devote time for maintainence.

[N62XS]

Ron:

I'll fix it for you. Call me. Check PM.