Using Partitioned Drives - Sony Vaio Troubleshooting Manual

4-675-412-11.book Page 26 Friday, April 11, 2003 3:01 PM

Using partitioned drives

In My Computer you may have noticed the availability of two drive partitions (C: and D:). Your hard disk drive comes
from the factory with 2 logical partitions. This does not mean that your computer contains two physical hard disks.
When you start using your computer, your C: partition (also referred to as C: drive) contains all the files required by
®
Windows and other preinstalled software, while the D: drive is empty in most cases. The D: drive is the ideal storage
space for all your documents and files, especially larger ones like digital motion pictures captured by DVgate.
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Although you can perform a system recovery and change the partition settings in order to have one C: drive only, this option is not recommended for using video
editing applications like DVgate and is NOT available on computers with Giga Pocket 5.0 installed.
To optimise data storage, use the C: drive to install new applications, and save all your documents and files to the D: drive. Moreover, doing so will prevent the
loss of your data in case you need to perform a system recovery.
Do not try to add, delete, or resize partitions unless you really need to. Changing partition settings will delete all your files on the hard disk.
If you need to perform a system recovery, but do not want to lose all the data stored on your hard disk, copy all the files you want to keep on the D: drive. During
the system recovery process, choose to keep the current partition information. Doing so will keep your D: drive unchanged after the recovery process.
If you do need to change the size of your partitions, you can do so by choosing Custom Drive Recovery in the system recovery set-up process. In this case, it is
important to be aware that all data on your hard disk will be deleted. If you need to keep existing files, make sure you back them up before performing the system
recovery. You can use discs or floppy disks, for example, to make backups.
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