I want to make my slower drive just one partition for media. it does not contain windows, but it has the C: drive. It appears there is a boot folder on there, is this needed?
i have tried using Paragon Partition Manager 9.0, it tells you to use to RecoveryCD, which i did and there is no way that i could find to resize a partition!
using microsoft's version is complete crap :|
i also need to change around the sizes of some partitions on my SATA drive....
im running vista ultimate 64 bit.
i want to know an easy program to do this, i dont mind booting the pc through CD etc... but Partition Manager didnt have the option to resize (afaik)
Thanksany ideas anyone?If the smaller drive has the C: partition on it wiping it will render the machine unbootable...
Post alot more info on the machine; number of drives; how they were setup etc. and there may be a way out of this dilemna without losing everything.

WARNING: At this point in time i would not be foolin around with partition utilities until we know what's going on here...well, i dont think i have ever had windows on the C drive. yet because windows loves it so much it apparently contains system files. Just to help, here is a screenshot of what appears in disk management.


I PLANNED on having 'Disk 0' as only one partition, all for media (NO BOOT)
I also wanted to expand Vista 64 bit partition by taking off some space from the other partitions, (you can see the Unallocated Space) however it seems i can only take off some data from the partition, then put it back on the same one which is completely pointless.
Tried doing it through command prompt, still no success.
BTW, i have just put the page file on the C drive because i've ran out of space on M lol (it wasnt effecting anything earlier)

i would like it to look something like this---
'Disk 0'       Media (Primary Partition, Page File) approx 160gb        | Page file to speed up pc |
'Disk 1'       Media (Primary Partition) 175gb
                Programs (Primary Partition) 65gb
                Vista 64-bit (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) 60gb


Hope this helpsSuggestions:

Disk 0 = Vista drive + Program files  and Swapfile etc.   Space = the whole drive.
Disk 1 = Data divided up however you want it.

There's a reason any flavor of Windows writes a certain # of files to the root sector of C:....don't resist it ....GO with the Force.
It's the most trouble-free setup there is.so you recommend reinstalling vista? :S
Disk 0 is IDE, Disk 1 is SATA, that is why i want media etc. on Disk 0 and Vista and programs on Disk 1...
Should i rename M (Vista Drive) C? or something like that?
maybe that could trick windows lol
suggestions?any help?please? lolSorry...been real busy.

First some basics to clarify things which will simplify it.

Any version of Windows HAS to write certain files to the root dir. of C: to function properly.
This is why it makes sense to have it installed there anyways.

Having programs installed on another partition/drive doesn't have many benefits speedwise....other than making things maybe more organised it's not really worth it.

Your SATA drive is probably faster than the IDE.

Keeping all this in mind and following your original parameters for your drive setup here's how i would suggest laying it out:

_______________________________________ _________________

Split the SATA drive in 2 equally....roughly 150G each.

Primary partition:  C: = Vista; Programs  and pagefile.
2nd partition: D: = Storage and or media work...MUSIC; video etc.

Then wipe your IDE drive after grabbing any important data and use it for additional storage.

This will involve re-installing Vista and your apps but you'll have a neat clean setup and should see a small performance gain.
I've tried to merge/move/expand partitions before and even with the best 3rd party apps out there it has never worked clean enough for me...

A clean start would be best.

Obviously the size paramaters mentioned above can be customised to your liking but you get the general idea here.

Let us know.so you'd recommend putting all my media in a partition on the SATA, completely wiping everything else, then reinstalling Vista?
thing is, i've just installed vista again- taken me quite a while to get it how i want it When you say install all your media i'm not quite sure what you mean by that....
As far as getting it set up how you want you could use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to copy your settings.
Info Here

The main problem with what you want to do is your boot info is stored on C: and your installation resides elsewhere...
I've never been successful using any partitioning APP to merge a boot sector to an OS install but if you want to try it OK.
The reason it probably won't work is even if you did merge the 2 successfully the bootloader will be looking in different partitions for your Vista install because this is how it was set up originally...well heres the next problem- how on earth do i find a program that works with 64 bit?
(i dont mind paying) i tried Paragon Partition Manager 9 but in the Recovery CD it doesnt have the resizing function

do you think there is a file i can edit for the path of the boot sector?... im guessing this wouldnt happen because its all linked...
the files and settings transfer seems to want me to have 2 pcs tooParagon does work in Vista 64....
You could try Ranish which is Free but i still don't think the bootloader will operate properly.

Here
  is another guide to using FAST...you don't need 2 machines. Simply run it to gather your CURRENT settings and save them to a floppy or USB drive.
Then when you need to migrate them into the new install run it again and point it to the settings file you saved.
I have good luck with partition manager....you could give it a shot....


http://www.paragon-software.com/home/pm-personal/comparison.html

It works with 64 bit vista
yes, i know paragon works with 64 bit.
anyone know where the resize function is in it though? :S
i cant find it :|