Need To Merge Partitions

Hey,I used to dual boot Linux & Windows on my main computer, however, I now have a dedicated box that I want to put Linux on. So, I want to merge the Linux partitions (formatted of course) into my Windows NTFS partition. I know Partition Magic can do this, but I don't have that kind of money to buy a license and was wondering if there was a freeware alternative?Thanks!![N]F

the only program I know for doing this is partition magic..and it doesnt work its magic most of the time..it can be very tricky getting everything the way you want it..I would try to backup all the stuff you need to a portable HD then remove all partitions using the Linux install disks and start again with it..I have saved a lot of time and hassle in the past by doing this..Good Luck!

After a quick search I have found a number of freeware partition managers. Do you really need to merge the partitions? An easier alternative would be to remove the linux partitions and then resize the NTFS Windows partition. I honestly have never used anything but PartitionMagic and the partition managers integrated into OS installation disks so I can't really suggest a specific program. My advice would be to back-up everything important. (Good practice especially when you are working with partitions!) Then try and find a solid freeware partition manager.

Here are a few that I came across (there are probably many more):
Partition Resizer v1.3.4
Ranish Partition Manager
Super Fdisk 1.0
Cute Partition Manager 0.9.1
http://www.freewarefiles.com/Partition-Logic_program_18078.html

A Nice List Of Partition Freeware

Good luck!

An easier alternative would be to remove the linux partitions and then resize the NTFS Windows partition.

If that's easier than "merging" the partitions, then that works. Also, is there an easy way to remove grub? I tried using my XP setup disk > recovery console > "fixmbr" but then it wouldn't boot... I had to reinstall linux to get grub back on and then it booted fine and I could get into Windows again.

[N]F

There is no concept uninstall in boot loaders, because if you uninstall a boot loader, an unbootable machine would simply remain. So all you need to do is overwrite another boot loader you like to your disk, that is, install the boot loader without uninstalling GRUB.
For example, if you want to install the boot loader for Windows, just run FDISK /MBR on Windows. If you want to install LILO (I can't imagine why you want to do such a thing, though), run /sbin/lilo on GNU/Linux.

I grabbed that from here.

I also found a lot of useful info here.

You really should back up your important data. There is a possibility that you can make a disk unbootable or mess up your partition table. Use caution, things could get hairy. Just make sure you have access to another working computer in case you need to go online for help.

I recently had this problem with my laptop that had a dual boot of linux and windows goin on. My windows wouldent start up and i used to get this error ..

GRUB Loading stage 1.5

 

GRUB loading, please wait...

Error xx

 

These Steps / options should always be tried to fix the MBR if necessary after such a disaster IMO.

 

1) Boot with your Windows XP CD

2) Select "R" for the Recovery Console (Correct me if this is wrong)

3) When the command Prompt appears ..

Type ... fdisk /mbr ... OR

Type ... fixboot ... OR

Type ... fixmbr

 

Either one of these 3 commands should work for you. I dont know why only one does not work for all, but its good to have the extra info

 

Regards

Dhanesh.

The only one that works is fixmbr except it doesn't boot! With my Windows XP CD in the drive, I see:

Press any key to boot from CD....._

Without the CD in the drive, all I see is:

_

_ is the cursor.

 

FIXMBR used to work in the past, because I remember doing it. I think what I might do is just save all my stuff and then re-install Windows (which I want to do anyways because it feels a little "off" for me). Time to find good old SuSE! At least it reconizes Windows and GRUB gives me a chance to boot into that...

 

[N]F

I still have the Windows 98 SE boot up floppy. It can be found here:

 

 

It works much better than the Windows XP installation disc for recovering your MBR.

 

xboxrulz

Thanks, that's OK though... replaced XP with Vista... not to many problems now! ;)I found out I can't run as much as XP, but that's OK. I'll just add another gig this summer. But I'll keep that on hand just in case! Actually, I might have my original 98 disk still in it's plastic [N]F

Pre-vista I recommend PartitionMagic. The disk manager utility (control panel) in vista itself provided enough features for me.Although I'm not sure if that Disk Manager was in XP as well.

QTparted would be a better, free suggestion. It looks like partition magic, and it's free. You can find it on live linux distros like Mepis and Knoppix. Just boot the cd, open QTparted, and make sure your drives aren't mounted. Running QTparted will autodetect the drives and allow you to resize, delete, create, or merge partitions. Like I said, it's the free version of partition magic. It has nearly all the same features.

Replying to 04dsmith86I'm in a similar situation. I have two partitions on my primary drive, one of which doesn't have any files I need to save. I'm running Vista and I would like to just delete one partition and let the other partition "reclaim" that space. Any help/instructions would be appreciated.-reply by perfunktory

Its really easy, I just did mine (Windows 7 RC).

 Right click on my computer and choose manage.

Go to disk management and delete the partition you don't want. Then right click on the primary partition and choose "extend". Set how much space you want to "extend" to and done.

 Mac OS X still rules but Windows 7 has finally started to make Windows behave more like OS X; better.

I'm running Vista, and I got rid of the old partition, and it's now marked as "Free", but I can't extend my main partition...Can someone help me?

-reply by Revan343

merge partiionsNeed To Merge Partitions

thanks mate finaly an answer that works was scrathing my head for hours till I came to your answer once again thanks

-reply by chas