1TB HDD is split into two partitions. What do I transfer to the unused portion and how?

[Iskandr]

Hello All, I am currently running Windows 7 with SP1. I have an Asus Essentio CG5275.

 

The 1TB HDD is split into two partitions I believe. The first partition is almost full and I figured now would be a great time to start moving things to the second, unused, partition. Do I simply just drag and drop? What files are better to be on one partition or the other?  OR should I just delete the unused partition and expand my primary one to use the whole drive?  If that option, how is that done?

 

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Besttechie]

Hey Iskandr,

 

Typically if you have two partitions you would use the first partition for the OS and applications, and the second partition can be used to store all your files such as documents, musics, pictures, videos, etc.  

 

As for transferring them over to the second partition, yes, you would literally just drag and drop them onto the other partition.  

 

One of the benefits to storing your files on a second partition is that you can easily reinstall your OS and apps without having to worry about losing your other files.

 

B

[Falcon1986]

Separating OS from the data partition keeps things organized and can also improve general performance, but my understanding is that you only have gains in the latter when these partitions are on separate disks.

 

You see, if you have a single 1000GB hard disk that is separated into 2 partitions: e.g. 500GB for OS and 500GB for data, reading and writing files won't be optimized since it's the same disk head that has to do the work. If anything, you're making the drive jump from one part of the disk to another part of the disk to do work which can, in the long term, be stressful on mechanical drives especially if large file access is involved. For organizational purposes it makes sense as Jeff mentioned, but not technically so for performance.

 

On some laptops where you're pretty much stuck with a single disk, having multiple partitions is the best you can do. Windows Vista/7 allows you to expand and shrink partitions from within Disk Management. However, one important thing to remember: Windows might not offer you the full customization of the resize. This is because if files are scattered around the partition, Windows won't allow you to specify new partition boundaries if those boundaries interrupt files. As a result, you need to defragment all partitions on the disk before resizing. Unfortunately, Windows' built-in defragmenter doesn't do a good job at the type of defragmenting you want in this case. You're not looking to optimize file placement; you're looking to relocate files from the front of the partition so there is free space at the end to move your partition boundaries. I know for a fact that PerfectDisk allows you to do this type of defragmentation; other 3rd party options such as O&O should also have it.

 

Now, there are other free partition tools out there such as EaseUS and bootable alternatives that will allow you to resize partitions. My warning to you is to back up your data before using them. It's not that they are bad at resizing (they actually give you a nice GUI to do your stuff), but they might not look at the data occupying the areas around your proposed partition boundaries. As a result, you can end up losing data after applying the new partition layout.