How to unpartition a drive

[Muzaffar]

The search for answers continues.....

Well, I think I should ask you guys again before I do something really stupid.... As you know, I did have some problems with my external hard drive a few months ago.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=99720
Not saying my HD is failing again, but its just that somehow, its bugging the 🤬 out of me. If I connect my HD onto my computer (before/after windows starts) it takes a long time for my pc to load up (probably like 5 minutes) but my pc would boot up windows in a second when my HD is not connected to the pc. Okay, my HD was already partitioned when I first used it, so I don't really know what to do next. But it seems one of my partitioned drives what causes my pc to lag. So far, I already deleted the logical drive memory at the computer management screen. Now that one of the partitioned drive is no longer working (which is a good thing, cause I don't use it anymore) my pc loads up as usual (no longer having to wait 5 minutes for my pc to boot up windows...)

So now, I'm asking if I could unpartition my drive and just use one single drive instead of two. But i'm just worried if I ruin my HD at the same time.... I already looked at this page for advice, but still, i'm not convinced to do anything yet....
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6122_102-0.html?forumID=44&threadID=26453&messageID=297147
Also, I'm worried I would corrupt my files again if my HD has a problem....

Any suggestions?
Also, i'm using a Toshiba MK8025GAS Hard Drive

 

[Pako]

Not without loosing your existing data. Backup your stuff, re-partition (no such thing as un-partition), and restore your backup files. Some controllers will allow you to change the size of your partition without having to actually re-partition it.

 

[Azuremen]

Partition Magic, whatever version you can get.

I've used it to merge partitions several times, effectively "un-doing" the partition.

And you talk about having two hard-drives, but you only list one. Which is it? Do you have two physical drives, or just a single drive with partitions? I cannot see why a partitioned drive would increase boot time much unless there is something physically wrong with the drive itself.

 

[Muzaffar]

Partition Magic, whatever version you can get.

I've used it to merge partitions several times, effectively "un-doing" the partition.

And you talk about having two hard-drives, but you only list one. Which is it? Do you have two physical drives, or just a single drive with partitions? I cannot see why a partitioned drive would increase boot time much unless there is something physically wrong with the drive itself.

Well I have 2 HD (one external, one internal) and both are partitioned into 2. The one i'm mentioning is the Tohsiba HD (the external HD). So I have 1 physical drive and 1 extended drive (which is unallocated)

Well I don't know why, but it seems it always have a problem when I connect my HD when I on my pc. So how good is the Partition Magic? Does it cause any freezes or hiccups when you use it? Well i'll try it out if I have some time....

 

[Eric.]

Partition Magic, whatever version you can get.

I've used it to merge partitions several times, effectively "un-doing" the partition.

And you talk about having two hard-drives, but you only list one. Which is it? Do you have two physical drives, or just a single drive with partitions? I cannot see why a partitioned drive would increase boot time much unless there is something physically wrong with the drive itself.

I'm thinking there is something on the external HD that is trying to boot. I have a weird flash drive that will halt my computer from booting if its plugged in.

 

[Azuremen]

I've used it numerous times on internal hard drives with no problems. What version of windows are you running and why are their 37 gigs of unformatted space on the second drive?

Having problems once its connected is not likely an issue with the partitions. Have you tested it with another computer, the external HD that is?

Eric, that could be the case.

Muza, have you tried booting up the computer with the external not plugged in and then plugging it on after its done booting up?

 

[wfooshee]

Is it on a USB 2.0 port? USB 1.x will be glacially slow with a hard drive.

(Or anything, for that matter. . .)

 

[Muzaffar]

I'm thinking there is something on the external HD that is trying to boot. I have a weird flash drive that will halt my computer from booting if its plugged in.

Well I might think its that as well, but I swear I formatted my HD already, but it still keeps doing that....

I've used it numerous times on internal hard drives with no problems. What version of windows are you running and why are their 37 gigs of unformatted space on the second drive?

Having problems once its connected is not likely an issue with the partitions. Have you tested it with another computer, the external HD that is?

Eric, that could be the case.

Muza, have you tried booting up the computer with the external not plugged in and then plugging it on after its done booting up?

Well this is what I said before....
* MS Windows XP SP2
* AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+
* 1.0GB RAM
* NVIDIA GeForce 6600

1. Yes, the unformatted drive is the drive thats causing me the problem (or so it seems....) My PC can boot up faster now even when my HD is connected to my pc.
2. Well, I did tried to run the HD on another PC, but the same thing happens. Took me ages to load up my HD onto the PC (occasionally freezing my PC in the process )
3. If I did as you say, it would be just the same. Probably even worse if I plug in my HD after I boot up windows.... (well, that was before I unformatted my HD)

Is it on a USB 2.0 port? USB 1.x will be glacially slow with a hard drive.

(Or anything, for that matter. . .)

Crap, I don't really know. I think my USB hub is a 2.0 (cause it could support my MX518 no problem) but my HD seems to be quite old. Maybe its running a 1.X connection or something...... I don't know, but its definitely slow.

 

[Azuremen]

3. If I did as you say, it would be just the same. Probably even worse if I plug in my HD after I boot up windows.... (well, that was before I unformatted my HD)

Crap, I don't really know. I think my USB hub is a 2.0 (cause it could support my MX518 no problem) but my HD seems to be quite old. Maybe its running a 1.X connection or something...... I don't know, but its definitely slow.

Your mouse working on the port has little to do with 2.0 or 1.x, more so since that mouse comes with a USB to P/S2 adapter.

Try booting the computer and then plugging in the HD after the computer is completely loaded. That means wait a few minutes from when you log into Windows so everything loads from the startup entries.

From what it sounds like, its the USB speed.

And I just went to look info on the Toshiba model you gave in the first post... and from what I found, its a 2.5" Laptop HD. This means two things; either you have the wrong model number (my bet) or you have an enclosure/IDE to USB adapter (unlikely I am guessing).

 

[Muzaffar]

Your mouse working on the port has little to do with 2.0 or 1.x, more so since that mouse comes with a USB to P/S2 adapter.

Try booting the computer and then plugging in the HD after the computer is completely loaded. That means wait a few minutes from when you log into Windows so everything loads from the startup entries.

From what it sounds like, its the USB speed.

And I just went to look info on the Toshiba model you gave in the first post... and from what I found, its a 2.5" Laptop HD. This means two things; either you have the wrong model number (my bet) or you have an enclosure/IDE to USB adapter (unlikely I am guessing).

Bah..... your probably right on the last part. Yes, I am using an enclosure to USB adapter. Well maybe it could be just that, someone had dropped my HD before (probably my brother in law, who likes to unplug my HD all the time ) and has been responding quite slow. I'll try and see what I can do. Try and install Partition Magic, merge the partitions together and see what happens next. If its still causing a problem, i'll try to open the enclosure and see if theres any damage on my HD.

Edit: I've already merge my partitions. It seems everything went fine and nothing too serious happened. I'm very happy now!!! Now I can use the full space (instead of half) of my HD for my files. The long booting time and load up seems to be gone now. All I need to do now is reformat my HD later tonight for good measures, and then transfer my files back onto my HD. Hoping everything goes well and hope I don't corrupt my files....