How to merge 2 partitions

I'm posting this information in case some people might it useful. I used to have a 40GB hard drive with 2 partitions: 1 bootable (C:) and 1 logical drive. I've tried merging the 2 drives using PartitionMagic, but the program didn't seem to recognize the logical drive. Finally, after weeks of searching, here is my solution for people who want to merge 2 partitions, but are unable or unwilling to use PartitionMagic: 1. Make sure you backup partition #2 (in my case, the logical drive) that you want absorbed into partition #1 (boot drive). The data in #2 will have to be erased. 2. Go to the command line (Start > Programs > Accessories > Command line) and type DISKPART 3. At the prompt line (DISKPART>), type: - LIST DISK - SELECT DISK [enter disk number] - LIST PARTITION - SELECT PARTITION 2 (or number of partition to be absorbed) - DELETE PARTITION (this will format the partition to be absorbed, so make sure you have a copy of your files elsewhere) 4. Now, to extend partition #1: - LIST VOLUME - SELECT VOLUME [enter number of the volume assigned to your C drive] - EXTEND (this will resize partition #1 to take up all the unallocated space in the hard drive) 5. Type EXIT to leave DISKPART This is basically what PartitionMagic does automatically for you. I hope this helps other people who had the same problem as I did. Keep in mind that every warning you might have read for PartitionMagic applies just as well when doing this operation via DISKPART. You can find more information at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=325590

Strange - that Partition Magic didnt work for you - I use it for everything. What version did you try out of curiosity?

I used PartitionMagic 8.0. A few months ago, I also tried PartitionMagic 7.0, but it didn't work either.

Good tips! I have a 40GB drive with the following partition details (using "detail disk"): - Volume 1, C, WIN98, FAT32, Partition, 19GB, Healthy, System - Volume 2, D, WinXP, NTFS, Partition, 19GB, Healthy, Boot I want to remove the Win98 Partition/data and extend the WinXP Partition to contain the all the 40GB of disk. Is this possible with the above steps? Will WinXP still boot/run after the drive letter changes from D to C?