Partition changes - Worth doing?

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  1. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Home
       #1

    Partition changes - Worth doing?


    I am not very tech savvy, so I apologise for not knowing much about this.

    I recently fired up an old PC that I haven't used for a while. It is running very slow and I am trying various things to try to improve this. I have done the basics, like clean up the files I have stored, do a defrag and a disk clean up, change the size of the paging file, but there is something else I was considering. I don't know if it would help. I don't know if it would even be possible.

    I previously divided my drive into three. I had the C drive (200GB) contains the Windows installation. My D (50GB) drive is where I store most files, other than music files, which I store on my L drive (50GB). I have attached a screenshot of the partitions

    I have now moved all of my files, including music, onto a flash drive and was wondering if I can safely delete the partitions D and L and then expand the C drive. I have attached a screenshot of my drive partitions.

    A couple of things I am not sure of. I have checked out a few YouTube videos. A couple of things they have said are that you can only do this with contiguous drives. Between my C and D drive, I show 511MB Healthy (Recovery) and a couple of the videos have said never to touch this. However, on all of the videos I have seen, this part has either been before or after all drives, not in the middle. Is this going to cause me a problem?

    If I go ahead and do this, producing one larger C drive, is it likely to help with performance or would this just be a waste of my time?

    Any help is appreciated

    To save you going looking, I am running Windows 10 Home (Version 1803, build 17134.1345). My processor is an AMD Phenom 9150e 1.8GHz
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Partition changes - Worth doing?-partition.jpg  
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi, presumably this is a MBR installation.
    If you have unallocated space after the Recovery partition, a 3rd party partition manager will normally allow you to move the Recovery partition, leaving you unallocated space after C: - you can then expand C:

    200Gb for C: could be ok as it is- but the key question is - how much free space do you have on C: ?

    Windows needs free disk space as working space, as it were. If there is very little free space, that would be one possible reason for your PC being slow. You would then see a lot of disk activity.

    If you have, say, 30Gb or more of free space on C: then making partitioning changes will make no difference to performance.

    do a defrag and a disk clean up, change the size of the paging file,
    Defragging a disk makes very little difference to performance- Windows normally manages that itself reasonably well these days.

    Best leave the page file settings to default.

    Disk clean-up can release space- but if you've plenty, again unlikely to affect performance.

    Have a look at your task manager. When your PC is nominally idle- say 3 or 4 minutes after logging in- does your task manager show there's almost no CPU, disk or internet use? Does it show there's plenty of free RAM?

    When your PC is running slowly, what then does your task manager show? Post a screenshot thus:
    Partition changes - Worth doing?-screenshot-copy1.png

    In what way does it seem slow? Examples?
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  3. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #3

    First of all, thanks for the reply

    The first point you raised, regarding available space on the C drive. I am showing 135GB free

    Task manager - Disk seems to be very up and down. When I looked yesterday, it was on 100% usage and just staying like that. Now, it is much lower

    Regarding what I mean by slow - The whole system seems to freeze for several seconds at a time continually. When typing, words often take up to 20 seconds to appear on the screen. The mouse pointer stops dead. This was happening literally every few seconds. With the tasks I have already done, it has massively improved and happens about once a minute. I am looking to get it just running the best possible
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Partition changes - Worth doing?-disk.jpg  
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #4

    Please show the processes using the disk. Click the Disk column header to organise high to low.

    Then perform a clean boot (Google or see tutorial if unsure how.

    Then again post a screenshot of your task manager showing the top processes.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I have attached the screenshots below. The first one is AFTER ( I don't seem to be able to reorganise them)

    I have also attached a screenshot of running services (Taken before the clean boot). I am not sure if this helps at all
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Partition changes - Worth doing?-services.jpg   Partition changes - Worth doing?-task-mgr.jpg   Partition changes - Worth doing?-postcb.jpg   Partition changes - Worth doing?-precb.jpg  
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 41,412
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       #6

    If you're planning to delete D: and L: then consider performing a clean install:

    Clean Install Windows 10

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10
    Download Windows 10 ISO File
    Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10

    Check the BIOS for boot options: Legacy and UEFI

    If UEFI is available then in the future you can create up to 128 partitions with GPT partitioning and not have a logical partition.

    If UEFI is unavailable you can remain with BIOS: Legacy / MBR and clean all partitions.

    BIOS: Legacy / MBR >>>>> BIOS: UEFI / GPT


    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ive-partitions
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ive-partitions


    Also check the owner's manual for the maximal RAM.
    If < 4 GB then stay with 32 bit.
    If > 4 GB then consider adding RAM and clean installing 64 bit.

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...64-bit-windows
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #7

    Hi, the second- presumably after a clean boot- looks reasonable, although 70% RAM usage is rather higher than you might like.

    The first- presumably after a normal boot, clearly shows a problem- 100% disk usage, but no particularly high data transfer rates.


    You say 'The first one is AFTER' - I don't know what that means.

    Considering the top two processes in the first: Process Explorer from MS would tell you more about these.

    Looking at the transfer rate, I'm guessing you are suffering from a limited data transfer rate. I.e. your disk performance is limited. You can see what your is using your task manager thus:

    Partition changes - Worth doing?-1.png

    It's not clear what particularly is responsible. You could check by a process of elimination- go to your task manager's startup list and disable half of them, and see if you have little activity. If you do, enable more and try again. If you still have a lot of activity, disable half of the remainder that are enabled.

    This you can find what might be responsible.

    Security: what security software do you have? There appear to be references to Comodo and edatasecurity (whatever that is).


    Turning to your PC. You have not stated the model of your PC, but your graphics card seems to be from 2008.
    Your PC has just 2Gb RAM, which is somewhat limited, and also indicative of your PC being old, as is your CPU, also from around 2008.

    There is no guarantee of this running Win 10 without problems. You could have problems with drivers and performance.

    History: (so often omitted by posters):
    When did this start to be 'slow'?
    What happened that led to this? E.g. did it update after you booted it up?
    Do you remember it not being slow?

    A note on builds: You currently have build 1803 (obsolete). That just means updates are no longer provided, nothing more.

    Were you to do a clean install in the normal way, as Zbook suggests, you would get build 2004. This is causing problems for some users - and those seem to be increasing.
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  8. Posts : 2,487
    Windows 10 Home, 64-bit
       #8

    buzzbee said:

    If I go ahead and do this, producing one larger C drive, is it likely to help with performance or would this just be a waste of my time?
    You would likely notice few if any performance differences, but the most efficient use of the total space available on the drive would be 3 partitions:

    Recovery

    C for Windows and all applications that will fit.

    D for all data, including music. Just use a folder structure on D to separate music (or anything else) as you see fit.



    I don't see any reason to use logical drives in your case.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #9

    zbook said:
    If you're planning to delete D: and L: then consider performing a clean install:

    Clean Install Windows 10

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...load/windows10
    Download Windows 10 ISO File
    Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10

    Check the BIOS for boot options: Legacy and UEFI

    If UEFI is available then in the future you can create up to 128 partitions with GPT partitioning and not have a logical partition.

    If UEFI is unavailable you can remain with BIOS: Legacy / MBR and clean all partitions.

    BIOS: Legacy / MBR >>>>> BIOS: UEFI / GPT


    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ive-partitions
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ive-partitions


    Also check the owner's manual for the maximal RAM.
    If < 4 GB then stay with 32 bit.
    If > 4 GB then consider adding RAM and clean installing 64 bit.

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...64-bit-windows
    Unfortunately, this is an old computer I have started up after several years. I don’t have either the original Windows disk or the manual. A new computer may be an option, but I am looking to see if I can do something that makes this one workable (Am not a gamer or anything else that needs the latest)

    dalchina said:
    Hi, the second- presumably after a clean boot- looks reasonable, although 70% RAM usage is rather higher than you might like.

    The first- presumably after a normal boot, clearly shows a problem- 100% disk usage, but no particularly high data transfer rates.


    You say 'The first one is AFTER' - I don't know what that means.
    Basically, they are the opposite way around to how you have read them. The first one is after the clean boot

    dalchina said:
    Turning to your PC. You have not stated the model of your PC, but your graphics card seems to be from 2008.
    The computer is an Acer Aspire M3201
    dalchina said:
    Your PC has just 2Gb RAM, which is somewhat limited, and also indicative of your PC being old, as is your CPU, also from around 2008.
    It is an old pC that I am trying to get useable for basic stuff – Nothing powerful like gaming

    dalchina said:
    History: (so often omitted by posters):
    When did this start to be 'slow'?
    What happened that led to this? E.g. did it update after you booted it up?
    Do you remember it not being slow?
    Can’t really answer that. This machine hasn’t been used for years. I have fired it up and it is slow. It may be a case of replacing it, but I am trying to avoid that if possible

    dalchina said:
    A note on builds: You currently have build 1803 (obsolete). That just means updates are no longer provided, nothing more.

    Were you to do a clean install in the normal way, as Zbook suggests, you would get build 2004. This is causing problems for some users - and those seem to be increasing.
    I don’t have the Windows CD, so a clean install isn’t an option.

    I may let it run for a few weeks and see how it goes (It is certainly better than it was when I first fired it up) and if I find myself getting too frustrated, then I will just look at buying a new machine

    Appreciate all your help
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #10

    You can download Windows 10 from Microsoft and create a DVD or USB flash drive to install Windows with:
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...d/windows10ISO
      My Computer


 

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