Partitioning Question.

Can I partition a hdd that has already been partitioned? I don't want to cause a problem by messing in unfamiliar territory. I want to increase the E/ partition by decreasing the C/ partition, but I don't want to create a third partition. What do I do?

 

It has been a while since I partitioned a drive. From what I remember reducing the size of a partition creates free allocated space which can be added to the other partition by expanding it.
My advice is to backup the drive before you start.
s.

 

Do the operations one at a time. Set the new size for the "C" partition first and let the operation complete. Then you can drag the left side of the "E" partition all the way to the left so there's no space between the partitions.

As Stephen_c16 said back up the ENTIRE drive before partitioning.

 

I recommend MiniTool Partition Wizard.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/minitool_partition_wizard_home_edition.html

I have used it a number of times for moving and resizing on hard drives and solid state drives with no problems.
It has a clear and simple interface.
A video tutorial here:
https://www.partitionwizard.com/help/resize-partition.html

Once installed, use the software to create a bootable CD and use that to perform the modifications.
Use the Enhanced Data Protection option.
You can do the operations one at a time with this software, as mdonah suggested.
You have to select Apply, either from the toolbar or the "General" menu item, to execute each change.

 

As mjnc states, it's better to do the partitioning pre-OS from the bootable CD. I've used both MiniTool Partition Wizard and AOMEI Partition Assistant (it gives the values in GB rather than MB like MiniTool does) from the bootable CD both create.

But, once again, backup the ENTIRE drive before partitioning so if there are any problems, you can restore the drive to it's previous state.