Win 7 64-bit

[Ceyrin]

So, I got a new laptop about a month ago now with Win 7 64-bit.

I have been enjoying it, and Win 7 is (for me at least) a good OS. It seems to function nearly the same as XP on the surface, and that's good for me too (I even changed the theme to classic mode).

Mostly everything is the same, with the exception of the two program files, the new one being that (x86) one which I am led to understand is for 32-bit files (which most things still are).

My biggest question/concern at this point is: My HD is a 500 GB HD, but it seems to have come pre-partitioned. I looked in to this some and found out that it's due to some recovery option that Microsoft thought would be good for people to help them not fuck their shit up so bad.

So, one partition came with 100 GB, about 30 of which seemed to be used already. This partition is the one with the OS, and the Program Files folders. The other partition is 350 GB, which is pretty much dead space. I can stick files there for storage I guess, but programs don't run (obviously, since it's got no OS).

Ok, so A) what happened to that other 50 GB? and B) how do I move some of that 350 GB from drive D over to the 100 GB of drive C?

I'm already rapidly eating up the space on Drive C with downloads of big games that I've been eager to try (since my old laptop was a PoS and didn't play shit).

Is there a workaround for this? Do I need to reformat and repartition my drives to suit my needs? The internet, for all it's glory, is largely unhelpful in this regard so far. Anyone have any experience with this and or any advice on how to remedy this without totally corrupting my new computer?

In the process of writing this, and poking around on the internet some more, I learned about the Disk Manager application. Looking around in there, I found an option to shrink a drive. I experimented by shrinking 1 GB off of my D Drive. I can't seem to find a way to tell C Drive to access this new 1 GB of unallocated space. Am I on the right track, or did I basically nullify 1 GB of HD space forever?

[Mogonis]

The recovery partition is not Microsoft's doing. It's the OEM that sold the laptop.

Did you find this guide during your search?
http://windows7center.com/forums/windows-vista/3724-how-do-i-delete-recovery-partition-my-new-hp-pavilion-a6742p-computer.html

[Sam]

You're better off keeping the C: partition fairly clean, and loading all your crap and downloading to D: anyway.

[Ceyrin]

The recovery partition is not Microsoft's doing. It's the OEM that sold the laptop.

Did you find this guide during your search?
http://windows7center.com/forums/windows-vista/3724-how-do-i-delete-recovery-partition-my-new-hp-pavilion-a6742p-computer.html

I just read this...

Start > Right click computer > Manage > Disk Management > Right click on a part > click delete volume then expand your volume

But it seems like a bad idea to delete my C volume.

Brute, I mostly do keep C clean. I only put on there what I need to because it won't run in D. However, lots of games take up lots of space these days. I can delete some of them, but eventually I imagine myself reaching a critical mass.

Basically, I just want a more even distribution of my partition. 100 GB and 350 GB is not even... something like 200/250 would work nicely and make me a lot less nervous.

[Endlin]

There is no reason you can't run things on D. If you can't, something is wrong.

And the "missing" space is taken up by the drive formatting.

Also, if it really bugs you. You could always create a recovery disk, reformat and do it all on one partition. I agree it's annoying that manufacturers do it this way instead of just including a god damn windows CD.

[Mogonis]

Hard drive capacity is calculated differently between manufacturers and operating systems. Manufacturers consider 1MB to be 1,000KB. Microsoft, for example, considers 1MB to be 1,024KB. That's why the actual capacity your OS reports is less than what the hard drive is advertised to have.

[Ceyrin]

There is no reason you can't run things on D. If you can't, something is wrong.

And the "missing" space is taken up by the drive formatting.

Also, if it really bugs you. You could always create a recovery disk, reformat and do it all on one partition. I agree it's annoying that manufacturers do it this way instead of just including a god damn windows CD.

There's no programfiles folder and no OS on D. I can use it for storage, and I can view files/folders/music/media on it. I can't install a game on it and run it though - it doesn't work.

Also, I get the whole thing about advertised space versus actual formatted space now, that's not my issue (nor was it ever really, just a mild curiosity).

My issue is I have 350gb of space that is basically a removable HD but without the removable part.

[Endlin]

Since Windows 2000, installing programs on any drive will work. Excluding removable media and network drives.

There is no reason you can't install things on that partition.

[Sam]

C:/Program Files and C:/Program Files(x86) are just arbitrary locations where most things will install by default. Unless it's some old software or shitty indie game, you should be able to choose where it installs. If it makes you feel better, just create D:/Program Files/ yourself and start installing things there.

[Ceyrin]

C:/Program Files and C:/Program Files(x86) are just arbitrary locations where most things will install by default. Unless it's some old software or shitty indie game, you should be able to choose where it installs. If it makes you feel better, just create D:/Program Files/ yourself and start installing things there.

This may be the case. One of the first games I downloaded/reinstalled when I got my new computer was Counter-Strike (yes, 1.6). It is pretty old, and I did try to install it to a file I made in D. It didn't run. After that, I just assumed that it needed to be on the partition on my hard drive that's got the windows emblem on it, which is C.