Lost space on hard drive

Windows 98SE. Have a 40gb hard drive with 2 partitions each of 20 gb.
Formatted C: for a new installation and then deleted the D: partition
assuming they would then merge back to one again. Having formatted C: and
reinstalled windows, there is only one 20gb drive. Where has the rest of it
gone and how do I get it back???

You are mixing up the functions of formatting and partitioning. To get the
use of the full 40Gb you need to start over with the partitioning. Use
FDISK to delete the primary partition and create a new primary partition
that uses the full disk space. Then format it and install Windows.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Redinthesun" wrote in message
...
Windows 98SE. Have a 40gb hard drive with 2 partitions each of 20 gb.
Formatted C: for a new installation and then deleted the D: partition
assuming they would then merge back to one again. Having formatted C: and
reinstalled windows, there is only one 20gb drive. Where has the rest of
it
gone and how do I get it back???

"Redinthesun" wrote in message
...

Windows 98SE. Have a 40gb hard drive with 2 partitions each of 20 gb.
Formatted C: for a new installation and then deleted the D: partition
assuming they would then merge back to one again. Having formatted C: and
reinstalled windows, there is only one 20gb drive. Where has the rest of
it
gone and how do I get it back???

The space has gone nowhe this is normal operation
of the tool FDISK. If you run FDISK again you can make
a new D: partition (Extended DOS nor Primary DOS)
using all the unallotted space on Drive O and
FORMAT it for everyday use.

Win98 utilities do not allow you to combine partitions
(whether existing or not.) Third-party utilities like Partition
Magic are more powerful.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"Redinthesun" wrote in message
...
Windows 98SE. Have a 40gb hard drive with 2 partitions each of 20 gb.
Formatted C: for a new installation and then deleted the D: partition
assuming they would then merge back to one again.

Wrong assumption.

Having formatted C: and
reinstalled windows, there is only one 20gb drive. Where has the rest of
it
gone and how do I get it back???

You deleted the former "d:" partition with fdisk. Draw a logical
conclusion. To help, fdisk creates and deletes partitions. Format.com
formats those partitions to create a filesystem.

As others in this post have noted the space is not gone. Fortunately=20=

there is a solution other than wiping your disk and starting over. =20
Partition Magic and other similar partitioning software will allow you t=
o=20
recover that space without re-installing Windows. As with any major=20=

change to your system have a good backup of your existing C drive just i=
n=20
case. The partitioning software will show you the drive as it exists=20=

when you run that software. While you deleted D drive the extended=20
partition may still be there. If it is you can delete it as well with=20=

the software and then extend C drive to include that space.

James

Original Message

On 1/16/05, 1:11:04 PM, "Redinthesu"=20
wrote regarding Lost space on ha=
rd=20
drive:


Windows 98SE. Have a 40gb hard drive with 2 partitions each of 20 gb.=

Formatted C: for a new installation and then deleted the D: partition=

assuming they would then merge back to one again. Having formatted C:=
=20
and
reinstalled windows, there is only one 20gb drive. Where has the rest =
of=20
it
gone and how do I get it back???