delete partition

[breadandbubbles]

i had some trouble recently with my pc and was forced to reformat it, without having a chance to backup most of my files.

so i decided to create a small partition (40gb) on my 250gb SATA HDD, where i could keep important media files, installers, etc. i did this during my instal of windows XP Pro.

i told windows to install on the C: drive, and create a partition labelled D:. instead though, C: has become the 40gb partition and windows is installed onto the D: drive.

its not that big of a deal but it is bothersome to work that way, which lead me to question...is it possible to delete a partition? can i get rid of this 40gb partition, combinging that space with my D: drive, or vice versa, so that i only have one drive. if i did that, would it automatically be named C: drive? if that is the case, then could i proceed to put back my partition, with the hopes that this time it will be called the D: drive?

is this confusing...? is there anyone who can help me?

[InTheWayBoy]

You can do that, but not very easily...and it would require tools that may cost $$$.

I've seen this switch up happen before. It's a pain...the only solid way I've found to ensure that your 'data' partition doesn't become C: is to make it an extended partition. That way it can't be C:

Now to do that would require you to reload everything, which isn't the greatest. Once you've installed Windows on a drive (D: in this case) you can't just move it to another one.

And if you wanted to do this without loosing any data, then you would need to use a program like PartitionMagic or Disk Director.