1 TB harddrive = 100 GB???

So a bought a computer a while ago on ebay (bad idea) and it said that the computer comes with a 1000 gb (1 TB) harddrive, when i finally got it, i immediately checked if all the hardware was up to the online specs. One thing i noticed in My Computer, was that only 100 or so giga bytes on the hard drive are available. At first i freaked out, but then noticed that the hard drive itself says 1 TB (no fake sticker). So how do you open up the rest of the space? I read up online and it said that most harddrives this size are like this, but im not sure what the process is like. It has something to do with formatting, partitioning, etc, does that mean ill lose what i already have on the comp? I have windows vista 64-bit and I have a picture attached of how the computer management screen looks. Can you please explain to me exactly what to do? I'm really scared i might lose what i already have on my comp if i do something wrong. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

Ya, get into device manager through control panel, then choose disk management and you'll be able to do what you wish there. rght click the partition and choose an option to format NTFS etc.

 

It looks like someone has sent you the HDD with 3 partitions but only one is actually formatted. Augie has given you the right info so you can format the other 2 partitions. Whoever sold it to you may have set it up this way so you can install another OS on the smaller partition and use the 3rd for data storage.

 

is there any way to join them all and create just one partition?

 

Okay you do this at your own risk and the easiest way to do it is a complete reinstall of the OS (including formatting the HDD).

This indicates that partitioning can be good on a big HDD and speed up system performance by storing the OS and primary files on the "faster" sections of the HDD and less often accessed DATA on the other locations:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_05.htm

Im not sure if this is true but it makes a bit of sense. Here are some Free Partitioning Software (Partition Editors, Managers, and Recovery Tools) which should do the job. Please make sure you have saved any and all DATA before using them and hopefully you can get the job done. Once again you do this at your own risk.

 

i dont think ill risk it. i need to learn more about this. what about storage on the other partition? can i just drag and drop from one partition to the other?

 

Yes, you can move data freely from partition to partition, but you must format them first. You can easily format the partitions using Disk Management in Windows, or use one of the tools listed below.

-BUT-

If you still want to resize the drive to a single large partition (recommended), you can use this info:
You can use the "Resize Partition" in Boot-It to safely resize the main partition to take full advantage of the hard drive's size. Download Boot-it from this link and create a boot disk (floppy or CD depending on your scenario) and boot to it. One of the first things you'll see is a prompt asking if you want to install it to the hard drive, you want to answer "NO"; do not install it; the program will then enter "Maintenance Mode". Then click the "Partition Work" button, then click the "Resize" button. From there, it's pretty straight forward to 'stretch' drive C: to its max capacity. I've used Boot-IT dozens of times to expand partitions and NEVER had any problems or data loss. Some other programs that should do it are listed below, but I haven't used 'em for safely resizing partitions....
http://www.majorgeeks.com/EASEUS_Partition_Master_Home_Edition_d5967.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/GParted_Live_d5757.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Partition_Wizard_Home_Edition_d6175.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Partition_Logic_d4780.html
Some of these run from within Windows, other are bootable....

GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

I have Easeus and it is a really good manager.
Just one word of warning after you have asked it to perform an action (partition/format) you will be asked to apply, be sure you want to apply the actions you have created or you could wipe out a disk.