How to combine two partitions in Windows 7?

Question

I have a laptop with a 500 GB hard drive, running Windows 7 64-bit. The hard drive is partitioned as follows:

• C - 58 GB
• D - 136 GB
• E - 136 GB
• F - 133 GB.

C is my primary partition, where I've installed the OS. Now I need to combine my D and E partitions, without re-installing my OS. I might be able to take backups for D and E, so the data on those partitions won't be a problem.

Any suggestions on how to do this?

Answer 1

Since your OS is on partition C you should do the following to combine D and E:

1. Back up all data from drive E (e.g. external hard drive or D partition if there is enough free space).

2. Use Disk Management Snap-in from the Microsoft Management Console (mmc.exe) to delete partitions E.

3. Extend partition D using the unallocated space created from the actions in step 2.

4. Copy the data back to the larger partition if necessary.

Answer 2

The easiest way to do this, is with the freeware Easeus Partition Manager.

You can download it here: http://www.partition-tool.com/download.htm

The Home Edition (which is free) offerrs enough features. It's has no spyware or adaware and i use it several times for repartitioning hard disks.

Even if you would resize your main boot partition (where windows is installed) Easeus will do this with ease.

As Mike recommends, it's always recommended to make backups of your partitions before. But my experience with Easeus is that it works flawlessly.

Also the handling is very easy. Just move some sliders, press the apply button and let Easeus do the rest for you. You don't have to worry about moving files from one to another partition or about unallocated space...