Slave drive - and how can I use it?

[SuRichardson]

My computer was upgraded to a 40gb hard drive a year or so ago.  I am running Windows XP.  When I go to My computer I seem to have a C drive and a D drive - each drive being 20gb(ish).  The D drive seems to have more memory accounted for - and all the documents etc are filed there.  Can I use the 20gb that is sitting on the C drive - which seems to be redundant at present, and if so how?

[fo3nix]

sounds like the drive is partitioned.

to combine these partitions, you can use software like Partition Magic. I'd make a backup of all important data first though.

[SuRichardson]

Would they have partitioned the disk when it was upgraded in the shop?  My pc at work also has a 40gb hard drive - all on one drive.  I don't understand why it would need partitioning in the first place

[QmunkE]

Why do you need to combine the partitions at all? When you want to save or install stuff, just save it onto your C drive...?

It does seem a little odd - Windows is normally installed to the C drive, and the best reason for partitioning it like this is to ease in the wiping and re-intalling of the operating system. If Windows isn't installed on your C drive, who installed it and why did they do it in such a strange way?

[SuRichardson]

I don't know - I am asking myself the same question.  It was done in a shop that upgraded the old drive.  I have only started to question this sort of stuff recently.  Perhaps I should just revert back to being ignorant, and be grateful that it works at all!

[Hammer]

Instead of upgrading you from 20 to 40, I bet they installed another 20 gig drive so you now have two. Cheeky bugg3rs have charged you for 40 but given you 20.

[SuRichardson]

It was upgraded from 4gb to 40gb - but perhaps they installed 2 X 20gb drives! That might explain it. 

[Jay70]

Can you not go into your BIOS and see if you have two 20G drives installed instead of one 40G.  Maybe your BIOS wont support one 40G drive on one IDE port so they may have got round it by having two 20G's, one one each IDE port,  One being a Master and the other a Slave.   

[fo3nix]

having a drive partitioned can be handy.

for example, install all OS stuff (windows) and software on one partition, and have the other for your data.. all your personal files, music, etc.

if anything goes wrong, just erase the partition with the programs on it and re-install everything. but you still have all your data. its a lot easier than having to try and backup all your data first, if your computer is in a state to let you at that point (say if it got some terrible virus or some other catastrophic failure)..