I got a dell laptop in which there was Dell recovery partition of about 10 gigs, of which only around 6 were filled. As i was already having 4 primary partitions and I could not create new partition for installing XP, i used already existing 'recovery partition' for Win XP installation. Everything is working fine, I can boot into both Vista/WinXP.
Now the problem is, when i try to install any program in WinXP, it is running out of space. Disk Management console wouldn't let me extend my recovery partition(D drive)
any solution on this?

Kenn K pretended :

You can try using a third-party utility like Acronis Disk Director 10. acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/
Mamamegs.
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
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"Mamamegs" wrote:

ok..i will try this link.
Just to mention, partition diiagram looks like this -
Partition X | D: (Recovery Partition, XP) | C: (Vista) | Unallocated space(shriked from C:) | Partition Y

Hi,
You'd have to use third party software to slide C: back into the unallocated space and then expand the D: volume. The disk tools included with XP or Vista are not capable of sliding existing partitions.
Best of Luck,
Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - rickrogers.org My thoughts rick-mvp.blogspot.com
"Kenn K"

Thaks Rick. Could you please suggest any third party softwares (freeware)?

Hi,
With freeware, you get what you pay for. BootIT NG from terabyteunlimited.com can do this from the bootable floppy that it creates. As you don't need to install it, there is no need to register the program. If you find it useful, as many do, you should purchase a license.
Best of Luck,
Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - rickrogers.org My thoughts rick-mvp.blogspot.com
"Kenn K"

Please start from scratch...
I also bought a Dell Vista Laptop a few months ago. It is now complaining that my Recovery partition is full, and I need to delete some files. What do I do? Can I expand the partition? How? If I want to delete files, which ones can I safely delete? Is there a written procedure from Dell on how to do this, and maintain the partition?
Thanks,
Ron
"Kenn K" wrote:

"Headscratcher"

I think you need to ask Dell about how best to deal with this. Sometimes, these recovery partitions are proprietary and can't always be dealt with using standard partitioning tools. You need to consult with them in order to make sure you don't corrupt or otherwise destroy the partition and/or the day within.
Michael Solomon Backup is a PC user's best friend DTS-L.Org: dts-l.org/

You can do some limited action through control panel/administrative tools, but to really change you partition safely you need a program like Partition Magic.
"Michael Solomon"

"Ian"

anything with it until he has some answers from Dell about what can do and shouldn't do with this partition.
Michael Solomon Backup is a PC user's best friend DTS-L.Org: dts-l.org/

One thing that you don't do is place any data on a recovery partition. That is the reason that there is so little empty space. For example mine has 6.39 GB and only 602MB free. "Michael Solomon"