Deleting A Virtual Drive And Partition W/o Reformatting (98se)

Lydia_C · Joined: Feb 05, 2006 Posts: 4

My brother-in-law has a PC that he wants to spruce up a little rather than replace, because it's really only needed for text writing and such anyway. One of the things we'll be doing is going from Win 98 to Win 98 SE. A hitch in this process is that he doesn't have all his application install disks any more, so I can't just do a reformat and fresh install (and yes, the 98 SE disk is a full copy with valid key number). I've found others' instructions here for how to handle the 98 -> 98 SE transition with an OEM disk, and I intend to try those.

My question here is how best to delete a virtual D: drive, residing in separate partition, that was apparently set up as a back-up disk when my brother-in-law first bought the machine. He plans to back up to an external drive and so wants to reclaim this space for regular use. The instructions for the back up utilty explain how to remove the virtual drive, but state that the partition will remain.

How can I best handle this, and should I do it before or after the switch to 98 SE?

Werebo · Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:10 pm Post subject:

Allo Lydia and welcome to Lockergnomes Smile

What you need is called a 'Partition Manager'. There's lots out there (Google) that are free and lots that aren't. Wink

I've only tried one, oddly called 'Partition Manager' :laugh: that was free on a PC magazine CD and it was excellent :thumbup: .

You can resize any partition up or down, also add and remove as required too. All without losing the data already on the disk. Although to be safe, make a backup first, you knever know Wink

If you don't want to pay for one, you can always download it, and 'test' it for the 30 day trial :whistling:

Lydia_C · Joined: Feb 05, 2006 Posts: 4

Thanks for the greetings, Werebo, and thanks for the tip. Smile

I did actually find Partition Manager through Version Tracker, and I think I'm good to go. :thumbup:

Werebo · Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject:

Good to hear, Lydia, I don't think it'll make much difference in which order they're done really, repartition or upgrading.

Good luck and thanks for getting back to us :thumbup:

Morbius · Joined: Sep 05, 2005 Posts: 1712

Mornin' Lydia,
For many years I've made, resized and removed partitions more times than I'd even like to remember and I've always used just one program, although several different versions.....that would be "Partition Magic". I'm currently using version 8.
I understand there are some copy-cat programs out there that are free, but I've never used one, and probably never will.

As for the upgrade to 98/SE with an OEM disk....well that too has been written up here, by me, so many times that I can't count them anymore.

The simplest way is to make a folder on your existing HD such as C:\win98SE
and copy all the files from the CD folder \win98\ to the new folder on your HD.
Then boot up with a 98 boot floppy.
rename "C:\windows\win.com" to anything else, like win.old, so the 98/SE setup program can't see it.
(if setup sees the win.com file on your HD, it will abort with an error message)
Once the win.com file is renamed,
change to the C:\win98SE\ folder and run the setup.exe program. It will run a bit faster with fewer questions asked if you'll just type it like this:
Setup.exe /ie /is
(leave a space before each "/". OK?
Follow the prompts to complete the job.

Good Luck,
The Doctor (Dr. Morbius)

Lydia_C · Joined: Feb 05, 2006 Posts: 4

Good morning, Doctor, and thanks for the suggestions. I did come across some of those earlier descriptions of handling the move to 98 SE, but very much appreciate your spelling it out again in a very handy way for me. Smile

I'll likely not get a chance to work on my BIL's PC till this coming weekend, but I will post back re my success.

Cheers!

Morbius · Joined: Sep 05, 2005 Posts: 1712

Even with ol' 98, having a second partition for backup storage is essential to an effecient system. I'd not worry about the partitions just now unless you're OUT of space on C:.

Even then, maybe it's just time to clean up C: and get rid of a whole bunch of junk.
That's more often the case, than not.

I do this stuff all the time for my customers, so it's no big deal to me. I could do it in my sleep.
But I can imagin, it's a little bit daunting for the unschooled.

Feel free to PM me for details, I'm glad to help.

:cheers:
Morbius

Lydia_C · Joined: Feb 05, 2006 Posts: 4

Morbius · Joined: Sep 05, 2005 Posts: 1712

For our General Audience:

Too often people try to make some massive change to their computer, like repartitioning or installing a Service Pack, without doing the very basic preparations. The rusults can be disastrous. :thumbdown:

There are several very good programs out there for cleaning up a HD. Heck, I've even written a couple myself.
Getting the garbage off of a HD is paramount to a smooth running PC.

Following a good garbage cleanup, a disk scanning program should be run to establish that there are NO errors on the HD. Scandisk does that for '98 and Chkdsk does it for XP.
Finally once the HD is cleaned and certified error free, a full defrag should be done to finish the job.
Then and only then, are you ready for repartitioning or installing new software.

Every major program that I've ever installed has asked that all running programs be shut down and all browsers and ISP connections be closed before the install procedes. I use a program called "End It All" to perform that little feat. It can also be done manually, but takes a heck of a lot longer.
However it's done, it's a critical step to the successful install of new software.

This is meant only to be a helpful reminder and not a complete course.
I do hope it's helped someone....somewhere.

God Bless,
The Doctor (Dr. Morbius)

User: inactive Posts:

Hi Doc!

"End It All 2", as it's now called, was re-written for Windows XP.

It works great and will shut down all running programs, a requirement, before you install new software, do system maintenance or burn CD/DVD's.

Did I mention, it's FREE?

I've used it through two versions now and I just love it.

It can be downloaded here:

End-It-All 2

Cheers Mates!
The Shadow Cool

is224sac · Joined: Feb 08, 2003 Posts: 41