Hi Can anyone tell me how to sort a problemo i have with a computer? basically the drive is partitioned into 3 and all of data is piled into the main partiton (c:). I want to clone this data and put it onto a bigger drive with only 1 partiton so as to use all the space but when i clone this partiton it also takes with it the size of the partition its from. So even on a 20gig drive it dumps all the data into a 2gig partition and leaves the rest of the drive as unallocated !!! This means I cant use it as one drive and it has to be 2 partitions. I really want all of the data on 1 big partition if i can and be able to clone it across with out the limitations of the old partition size. Can anyone help?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

If you don't want to start the new drive from scratch, then you'll need a third-party partitioning software. Partition Magic is a good one. If all you want is the data, then add the new drive to the machine, install the OS, and then add the old drive as a secondary drive. You can then copy the data over to the new machine. Personally, I never partition a drive into one single partition. I prefer to keep the OS on one, data on another, and programs on a third. Life is more painless for those who are brainless.

Which program are you using to clone. Some programs will adjust the image to a new size. I 'think' Ghost will and I know that Drive image 2002 does. Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

I need this system on 1 partition as its being used by a user with limited knowledge of computers and doesnt understand the theory and the practise of using different partitions even if it is the better way of using drive space. And its the entire Operating system and settings including all the personal data i want to clone across to the new drive. I have been using Norton Ghost 2003 to clone the contents of the old drive to the new. It would be good if there was something that i could use that would open the partition to use the whole drive instead of limiting it to the old size. Thanks for all your help so far and I hope this additional info helps. Anymore suggestions would greatly appreciated.

I'm surprised that Ghost doesn't do it. Have you checked the options thoroughly? Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

I havent seen any options that refer to partitions in there and I have tried cloning to unallocated space and partitioned space, it makes no difference. i think what would help is if I could remove the partition (or extend it to the full size of the drive) after cloning on the bigger drive but I dont know how to do this. Any more help would be appreciated, thanks

Partition Magic will do that. Checkout Ranish Partition Manager. It can be pretty tough to do some repartitioning, but I think just extending a partition might be pretty easy. Hopefully it's still free. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ranish Do yourself a favor BACKUP!