Which programs to use for merging partitions?

[ibex333]

I have a dual boot of XP and Vista atm, but I no longer need it. I have 3 partitions. 1 for Vista, one for XP, and one for general storage.

I'd like to merge my storage partition with the XP partition. Is there any way to do it without formatting? Thanks.

 

[JASTECH]

If I remember correctly last time I used "Acronis"

http://www.acronis.com/homecom.../products/migrateeasy/

Thanks, JASTECH

 

[Binky]

Many options, including but not limited to:
Acronis Disk Director (i use this one)
GParted (freeware, never used it)
Paragon Partition Manager (never used it)

Since you're multi-booting, you need to be more careful. If anything goes wrong with the boot, I'd assume that it would be safest to fix with the Vista repair utility, but you should read up on this first. I'm not really sure.

Here's a discussion about gparted that may or may not be relevant.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto...ndows-vista-partition/

 

[spinejam]

+1 for Paragon Partition Manager

used it countless times w/o incident!

 

[Blain]

I have paid for Partition Magic, but like the free EaseUS (for 32-bit OS), better.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Blain
I have paid for Partition Magic, but like the free EaseUS (for 32-bit OS), better.

partition magic was bought out by norton YEARS ago (like... 8?) and never updated since. It is horribly inadequate for modern operations and should not be used for the safety of your data.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: Blain
I have paid for Partition Magic, but like the free EaseUS (for 32-bit OS), better.

partition magic was bought out by norton YEARS ago (like... 8?) and never updated since. It is horribly inadequate for modern operations and should not be used for the safety of your data.

I had PartitionMagic -- and as said already -- no updates for newer OS environment.

V-COM /Avanquest makes Partition Commander, and it was fine for all flavors of XP, but I think it still may fall short on VISTA. I just checked their web-site for version 10; one tabbed information link says that it works with VISTA; another says it works with VISTA 32-bit.

I think I had already decided a couple months ago that I would grab Acronis if I needed it. There is some issue about whether Acronis Disk Director or Acronis Disk Image had the features needed. Probably ADD provides for merging partitions. Duplicating a bootable HD partition to another physical drive -- that may require the other package.

 

[graysky]

+1 for gparted livecd

It is like partitionmagic on 'roids and free of charge.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: graysky
+1 for gparted livecd

It is like partitionmagic on 'roids and free of charge.

That's good news for me, since I haven't shelled out for Acronis yet. Free is better.

 

[taltamir]

I use gparted for all my needs.

 

[Rifter]

Hello, I have used partition magic in the past but over six years ago and it worked fine, i can see it being outdated now if it has not been updated since then. Recently i have been using Gparted on a Linux Mint live Cd and it is all you could ask for in a partition program, if you pay for a partitioning program you are nuts. My .02