why did ASUS partition this hard drive this way?

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I have never seen a Hard Drive partitioned the way ASUS did with this store bought PC. This is on a ASUSTeK Computer INC. ET2321I 0307-All in One PC. (See attachments).

I stumbled on this when I had to help him back something for him. I physically put it on his D: for now and will move it later.

Description of Issue: This is not on my PC but on a friend who is in his 60's so he wouldn't even know the first thing about computers. He called me for an issue and I saw this. The hard drive was partitioned with a C: and D Drive. (Nothing out of the ordinary here) Windows (on the C: Drive) taking up 150 GB while the D: Drive is set for Data using 761 GB. I am attaching a screen shot of my description. I am aware (my friend is not) I can change the Target path to go to the D: drive, but it then changes all the folders to a Hard Drive icon.

The HD appears to be a 1 TB HD. Any data he saves, automatically saves on the C: Drive and is quickly filling up. I was going to do a fresh install, including a format for him and delete this partition. I have never used a 3rd party software to expand the C: drive or combine the C: + D: any recommendations?


Jamie HD.PNGJamie HD Manager.PNG


Thanks in advance!!!!
 

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  • Get a copy of windows 8.1 (in the tutorials)
  • Get a copy of Ubuntu and make a live disk or usb(you can burn it using windows burner at the slowest setting.
  • Before you do a reinstall don't forget to sync windows with onedrive
  • Download your model drivers to your ext. HDD so you have them ready(burn to a DVD or place on a thumb drive for future use).
  • Then to save time later download all installed program installers ahead of time(to reinstall later)
  • Also let windows backup your libraries using file history to an external HDD so you can restore them quickly after.
  • Then boot the ubuntu live disk up go to try ubunto(live disk session) call up gparted and destroy the partitions by deleting them.
  • Then install proceed to install windows. should only take about an afternoon to reinstall everything. That's still much faster than Windows 7 and earlier. Then reinstall windows.
 

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A quick fix would be to move your user folders like documents, downloads, pictures etc to the data drive. User Folders - Change Default Location - Windows 7 Help Forums Then anything downloaded to the downloads folder will save to D:. Ow, and by the way, why assume because somebody is 60 years old that that means they don't know anything about computers?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
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    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
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    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
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    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
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Forgot to add, I don't know why all the recovery partitions? My ASUS laptop I think had 2, The first one Windows 8 installs, plus a factory one at the end of the drive. Plus the EFI and Windows partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
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    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
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    Stock heatsink fan
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    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
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    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
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    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
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    Internet Explorer 11
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    Windows Defender
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    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
This looks very familiar for a W8.1 installation except for the additional D partition. But that was a smart move by Asus because shrinking a huge C partition in order to gain a data partition is not obvious - at least with disk management because it cannot move the MFT.

You have 2 options to move the data to D:

1. With the location tab in Properties. That makes the folders on D the default. I personally don't like that option for various reasons,

User Folders - Change Default Location - Windows 7 Help Forums

2. Make new Documents, Music, etc. folders on the D partition and move the appropriate data there. Give them a slightly different name for distinction - e.g. Documents 2 etc.. Then right click on those 4 folders and INCLUDE them into the appropriate library. That leaves the default folders on C where programs sometimes store some repositories. Make sure the repositories that are already there and are not folders owned by the user do not get moved to D. That is generally only the case in Documents.
 

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    Vista and Win7
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    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
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Ow, and by the way, why assume because somebody is 60 years old that that means they don't know anything about computers?
:what: I got my first PC when I was 70. It was the first day Vista was out - and actually the wife bought it and I was not too pleased. There is always time to learn.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
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    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
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    T7600
    Memory
    3
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    ATI Radeon X1600
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    1440 x 800
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    40GB
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    Apple
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As there is a 450MB recovery partition between C and D you can't use disk management but you could merge C and D.

Copy everything to from D:/ to C:/, delete D:, use Free Partition Manager for Window PC | MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition to move the 450MB partition all the way to the right and then extend C: to take the free space.

This is the worst option. I would never do that. The data should always be in a separate partition, not on C. Then your data is safe when the system goes down.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
As there is a 450MB recovery partition between C and D you can't use disk management but you could merge C and D.

Copy everything to from D:/ to C:/, delete D:, use Free Partition Manager for Window PC | MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition to move the 450MB partition all the way to the right and then extend C: to take the free space.


This is the worst option. I would never do that. The data should always be in a separate partition, not on C. Then your data is safe when the system goes down.

That's my feeling to. I always use a separate Data partition for my docs pictures etc. Then on a clean install all I do is nuke the Windows partition and other system partitions, leaving the Data partition intact. I have it backed up externally but it saves me having to copy it all back to the drive. It's a lot easier to just change my user folder locations after the reinstall.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
  • Get a copy of windows 8.1 (in the tutorials)
  • Get a copy of Ubuntu and make a live disk or usb(you can burn it using windows burner at the slowest setting.
  • Before you do a reinstall don't forget to sync windows with onedrive
  • Download your model drivers to your ext. HDD so you have them ready(burn to a DVD or place on a thumb drive for future use).
  • Then to save time later download all installed program installers ahead of time(to reinstall later)
  • Also let windows backup your libraries using file history to an external HDD so you can restore them quickly after.
  • Then boot the ubuntu live disk up go to try ubunto(live disk session) call up gparted and destroy the partitions by deleting them.
  • Then install proceed to install windows. should only take about an afternoon to reinstall everything. That's still much faster than Windows 7 and earlier. Then reinstall windows.


I don't want to quote everyone here that responded, but Thanks to all! you all have valid points.

I meant no disrespect (WHS & alpha) in regards to him being in his 60's. I can say that about him as I have known him for years and he admits, he know's absolutely nothing about computers. I actually tried changing the default location. This is where it would change all the nice folder icons to an HDD icon. He didn't want that. I also agree in this for a faster format/re-install of the OS. He would never understand what, or why I did what I did. I actually have that setup on my Windows 7 PC. Only once in a while, (for some unknown reason) I get duplicate user folders to reappear on my C: and I know to delete or do what I need to, he wouldn't if that were to happen. He don't even know how to Copy/Cut/Paste.

I suppose I could try again to just set the D: as the target path for his Documents. With out clicking on the link above, basically, all I do is right click on each folder I want on the D: partition and change the LOCATION from C:\Users\username\Documents and set it to D: That;s all I do...and hope he don't get the double Download, Documents, Music ect folders. At least his stuff would be there in case of a system wipe.

Thanks again!!! I"ll keep you posted...
 

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LOL, I know the kind. We have over 800 like this in my computer club. If you move an icon from the right side to the left side they are lost. I have tried for a couple of years to educate them with really simple and benign Windows stuff, but they decided that every right click is "advanced". I gave up and joined the small Linux group in the club. At least they are more adventurous.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
:roflmao:

SO TRUE!!
 

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    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
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Just so you know, Microsoft, not ASUS put the 450 MB partition on the drive. Otherwise, as you seem to state, the configuration is pretty normal for an install.

You don't say what type of data is being downloaded, but you might check into how to move that data to the data partition. It can be advantageous to keep a streamlined OS partition and keep your data on another partition, especially during backup and recovery type operations.

Tread lightly with the "in his 60s" crack... ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown
    CPU
    i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77 -v Pro, Z87-Expert
    Memory
    16 G
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 680 Classified (2)
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD 240 GB
Just so you know, Microsoft, not ASUS put the 450 MB partition on the drive. Otherwise, as you seem to state, the configuration is pretty normal for an install.

You don't say what type of data is being downloaded, but you might check into how to move that data to the data partition. It can be advantageous to keep a streamlined OS partition and keep your data on another partition, especially during backup and recovery type operations.

Tread lightly with the "in his 60s" crack... ;)

Yeah, I know it's Asus and not MS...I'm 50+ myself....but it's his normal user Data...Pictures, Music Exec that I'm rerfering to. They should have given him a little more for his OS and programs and put the rest towards his Data, IMO.....What if he were a gamer or heavily into Music or whatever....not much room to install programs and updates if he doesn't know much on how or what to do.

I started this post because I found it strange that they would do this to your "non-everyday PC user".

Again, sorry if I offended anyone with the age reference, I was merely painting a picture for people to understand where I was coming from. I myself have a crazy set up, but that's just me, I'm into gaming and what not, I don't have your normal/basic set up. -again, trying to paint you a pic. ;)
 

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Give me a break. The C partition is 150GB. I am running all my desktops on 60GB SSDs with the data on the spinners. Not too long ago the normal total HDD capacity for laptops was 120GB and that included the recovery partition. I think the man has ample room on his 150GBs and if you move the user data folders to the data partition there will never be a space problem.

Hard core gamers are OS smart and know how to manage their space. I don't think your man is that kind.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Give me a break. The C partition is 150GB. I am running all my desktops on 60GB SSDs with the data on the spinners. Not too long ago the normal total HDD capacity for laptops was 120GB and that included the recovery partition. I think the man has ample room on his 150GBs and if you move the user data folders to the data partition there will never be a space problem.

Hard core gamers are OS smart and know how to manage their space. I don't think your man is that kind.

Yes, you are correct. I've seen a few PC's (gamers) that had SSD's (125-400gb) and they got completely full with their Games and programs. They did have their user data on another drive correctly, especially the lower size drives. Granted, my friend isn't a gamer, but his system only has 85gb left for storage in his C: and he doesn't have anything in there yet.
 

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@whs is only expressing his opinion.

The data should always be in a separate partition, not on C. Then your data is safe when the system goes down.
Some find it more convenient, some (like me) don't. If you do want to have separate OS and data partitions on the same disk you have to guess the size of C:\ or you either waste space or run out. There is no advantage when your disk fails if you have partitioned your disk or not.

The advantage of 8.x is you can refresh without losing your documents so unless you like doing clean installs the whole thing is rather moot anyway.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
@whs is only expressing his opinion.

The data should always be in a separate partition, not on C. Then your data is safe when the system goes down.
Some find it more convenient, some (like me) don't. If you do want to have separate OS and data partitions on the same disk you have to guess the size of C:\ or you either waste space or run out. There is no advantage when your disk fails if you have partitioned your disk or not.

The advantage of 8.x is you can refresh without losing your documents so unless you like doing clean installs the whole thing is rather moot anyway.

Yes.. Correct. I myself find it easier to put my user data on a completely different HDD, and just run my OS and games on my SSD. Everything else is on a "mechanical /spinner" HDD. Apparently Asus sets up their HDD's to do this, however, your "basic" PC user won't know to move the target paths for the "user data '.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Multiple
  • Get a copy of windows 8.1 (in the tutorials)
  • Get a copy of Ubuntu and make a live disk or usb(you can burn it using windows burner at the slowest setting.
  • Before you do a reinstall don't forget to sync windows with onedrive
  • Download your model drivers to your ext. HDD so you have them ready(burn to a DVD or place on a thumb drive for future use).
  • Then to save time later download all installed program installers ahead of time(to reinstall later)
  • Also let windows backup your libraries using file history to an external HDD so you can restore them quickly after.
  • Then boot the ubuntu live disk up go to try ubunto(live disk session) call up gparted and destroy the partitions by deleting them.
  • Then install proceed to install windows. should only take about an afternoon to reinstall everything. That's still much faster than Windows 7 and earlier. Then reinstall windows.


I don't want to quote everyone here that responded, but Thanks to all! you all have valid points.

I meant no disrespect (WHS & alpha) in regards to him being in his 60's. I can say that about him as I have known him for years and he admits, he know's absolutely nothing about computers. I actually tried changing the default location. This is where it would change all the nice folder icons to an HDD icon. He didn't want that. I also agree in this for a faster format/re-install of the OS. He would never understand what, or why I did what I did. I actually have that setup on my Windows 7 PC. Only once in a while, (for some unknown reason) I get duplicate user folders to reappear on my C: and I know to delete or do what I need to, he wouldn't if that were to happen. He don't even know how to Copy/Cut/Paste.

I suppose I could try again to just set the D: as the target path for his Documents. With out clicking on the link above, basically, all I do is right click on each folder I want on the D: partition and change the LOCATION from C:\Users\username\Documents and set it to D: That;s all I do...and hope he don't get the double Download, Documents, Music ect folders. At least his stuff would be there in case of a system wipe.

Thanks again!!! I"ll keep you posted...

Try this, before you move the locations create duplicate Documents,, Downloads, Pictures etc folders on the D drive. The change it from C:\Users\username\Documents to D:\Documents. The icon should then be a folder Icon and you files won't all be lumped into one place.

It was just the "a friend who is in his 60's so he wouldn't even know the first thing about computers" comment that irked me a bit. I'm 57 years old. Without knowing you or your friend that comment could rub some people the wrong way. People my age or older for instance. I get it now so no hard feelings. Most of the time I just ignore stuff like that, not sure why I didn't this time?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
It was just the "a friend who is in his 60's so he wouldn't even know the first thing about computers" comment that irked me a bit. I'm 57 years old. Without knowing you or your friend that comment could rub some people the wrong way. People my age or older for instance. I get it now so no hard feelings. Most of the time I just ignore stuff like that, not sure why I didn't this time?
Nah, I don't think this is a problem - unless you are extra sensitive. I am 77 and don't have an issue with that. I got my first PC at age 70, but not everybody is that interested in IT.

Every month at the general meeting of my computer club I see a few hundred of the PC oldies. The average age is 70+ and although they joined a computer club, most have no clue on what is going on inside the PC. They just follow the icons on the desktop. A right click is considered 'advanced'. LOL
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
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