Some hard-drive setups waste space — even on brand-new systems. Here’s how to make sure every bit of your drive is available for use.
Plus: Getting files off a password-protected PC, running Microsoft Works and Money on Windows 8, and solving email file-attachment woes.
New laptop doesn’t make full use of HDD
Reader Anas Khan has a new PC, but the hard drive isn’t set up well.
“There’s 42MB of unallocated space on my new Lenovo laptop, as configured by the company. I don’t have any idea why it’s there. I could use some help with this problem.”
Unallocated space is any portion of the drive that’s empty and not assigned to a partition. It’s basically wasted space. (You want to ensure that the “empty” space is truly unallocated — and not a protected or hidden OEM recovery partition.)
On new drives, unallocated space can be due to a manufacturing shortcut. The vendor installs a disk image that’s designed for a smaller drive but then doesn’t extend the new system’s partition to use the entire drive.
You can easily correct this yourself by expanding or extending an existing partition to include the wasted space.
It usually takes only a few clicks, and the process isn’t particularly dangerous. But it makes sense to take precautions any time you’re making fundamental changes to your hard drive.
Start by making an OEM recovery image. Almost all new PCs come with some way of making an externally saved copy of the original factory setup. Lenovo, for example, typically calls it “Rescue and Recovery” (described on a Lenovo support page). Store the OEM recovery files in a safe place, off the drive you’ll be working on.
Next, make a complete, normal Windows backup or image of the system as you currently have it configured. As with the OEM recovery files, store the image or backup files in a safe place, off the drive you’re repartitioning. For information about making backups and images on XP through Win7, see the May 12, 2011, Top Story, “Build a complete Windows 7 safety net.” For Win8, see the Oct. 10 Top Story, “Creating customized recovery images for Win8.”
Now you’re ready to safely change the drive structure.
You can use Windows’ built-in Disk Management tool, as described in the May 19, 2011, Top Story, “Don’t pay for software you don’t need — Part 2.” Skip down to the section titled Win7 does all the disk partitioning you’ll need. (Win8′s tools are almost identical.)
With Disk Management up and running, right-click a partition adjacent to the unallocated space and select Extend Volume. (In this case, “volume” is simply another name for partition.) Follow the on-screen prompts to enlarge/extend the selected partition to encompass the unallocated space. For detailed, how-to instructions, see the TechNet article, “Extend a basic volume.”
There are also many excellent, third-party, free/paid partitioning applications that offer options other than Disk Management. Some free products include MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition (site), EaseUS Partition Master Free (site), and Paragon’s Partition Manager 2013 Free (site). A Web search will turn up many other partitioning tools.
Any of those options should let you add the unallocated space to an existing partition in minutes!
Recover files from a password-protected PC
Reader HB was trying to give help in a difficult circumstance:
“The family of a recently deceased friend has asked me to recover music, photos, emails, and so on from her password-protected Windows 7 Toshiba laptop.
“I thought I’d use a Linux (e.g., Ubuntu) Live CD to copy the files to an external drive.
“Does that approach make sense to you? Or am I missing something?”
It really depends on which password you mean.
If it’s a BIOS-level/power-on password — in other words, a password stored on the laptop’s hardware, outside of Windows — you might be able to reset it by any one of several fairly simple means (though you’ll probably have to open the laptop’s case). On some systems, there’s a small switch or set of electrical contacts that lets you reset the BIOS password. On other systems, you remove the coin-type battery on the mainboard and wait a few minutes; the system will then “forget” the stored password. You can find general how-tos on this method by searching the Web with the phrase reset bios password. Add the laptop brand and model to your search terms to find more specific help.
Sometimes, the hard drive itself is password-protected. If the hard-drive password is stored in the BIOS, the technique mentioned above should remove the password. However, if the password is stored within the drive’s firmware, you might be out of luck! By design, passwords stored in the drive’s electronics (not on the platters) are difficult or impossible to bypass.
But again, a Web search is the place to start. Try the phrase bypass hard drive password, and then add the laptop and hard-drive brand/model for more specific information.
If the disk has been password-protected with an encryption tool such as Windows BitLocker (info) or TrueCrypt (site), the data will almost certainly be completely out of reach. You can try searching the Web for “hard-drive data-recovery service,” but it’s unlikely any of those specialized services will break the encryption — and the cost will be high.
Let’s hope it’s just an ordinary Windows 7 password, with nothing else in the way.
As with XP and Vista, Win7′s password is mainly intended to thwart casual snoops. If you have physical access to the system (as you do in this instance), it’s easy to get around those passwords.
(Win8′s password is harder to bypass, due to the operating system’s Secure Boot feature. See the Oct. 3 LangaList Plus column, “The pitfalls of Windows 8′s Secure Boot.”)
Bypassing Win7′s password should be easy. As you thought, you can boot the laptop with just about any free Linux “live” DVD (a self-contained Linux that runs entirely from the DVD — it doesn’t require installation on the hard drive). To my knowledge, all major, current Linux versions can read NTFS drives without difficulty. So once the laptop is running Linux, you’ll be able to look inside the hard drive and locate whatever files you wish. You can then export the files via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, or save them on an external drive.
An alternate approach is to physically remove the laptop’s drive (usually just a matter of loosening a few screws) and then to attach the drive to your PC as a secondary, non-booting disk. If your system doesn’t have an empty drive bay, you can use an inexpensive USB drive connector, such as those discussed in the Feb. 13 Top Story, “House Call 2013 — Part 1: Sanitizing a drive.”
With the laptop’s drive connected to your PC, you’ll be able to access its files just as you do any other attached drive. Simply copy/paste any desired user files to your system — or to any other location you wish.
With luck, one of these simple methods will let you access the files with a minimum of time and fuss.
Running MS Works and Money on Windows 8
Susan Puente would like to use two venerable Microsoft packages on a new PC.
“I had a Vista system with Works and Money installed. Where can I find these programs again? Does Windows 8 have them somewhere?”
Those programs weren’t part of Windows itself. Instead, your old PC probably had a “bundle” of additional programs installed by the vendor.
Unfortunately, I’m assuming you do not have the original Works and Money setup disks. If you had them, you probably could have just reinstalled the two apps in Win8. (See the Nov. 28 LangaList Plus item, “Running Windows XP–era software in Win8.” Skip down to the section that discusses Windows Compatibility Mode.)
Again, assuming you don’t have the setup disks, you’ll probably need to find replacement products; both Works and Microsoft Money have been discontinued. Luckily, there are many excellent replacement products available!
Works was a stripped-down version of Microsoft Office. If you’re looking for a 100 percent free replacement, see the March 14 Top Story, “Two free, full-blown alternatives to MS Office.”
If you’d rather stick with true Microsoft software, you can either buy the standalone Office 2013 or get a subscription for Office 365. You can read about them in the Feb. 14 Woody’s Windows, “Software SmackDown: Office 2013 vs. Office 365,” and last week’s (Dec. 4) Top Story, “MS adds more options to Office 365 Home Premium.”
Money (a basic financial tracking and management tool) is long gone, but Intuit, the 800-pound gorilla of that software category, offers free, basic financial tracking and management via its cloud-based Mint service (site). The company’s immensely popular, standalone Quicken software (site) starts at under U.S. $30.
A Web search for Microsoft Money replacement alternative will turn up other options, too.
After Win upgrade, trouble with email attachments
Ronnie Haig has lost the ability to attach files to his emails.
“I am a professional songwriter/musician, and I frequently need to send my songs to prospective customers.
“I had no trouble at all on my XP system. Then came Win7 and Win8, and things got really confusing.
“When sending a message through AOL, clicking the lower-left ‘Attach file’ button would take me directly to my Windows Media Player, where a couple of clicks would send songs on their way. With Win7 or 8, it would be easier to win on Jeopardy.”
There are multiple ways to access and use AOL mail. I don’t know which one you’re using, so I’m making an educated guess.
I tried the current browser-based version of AOL mail in Chrome 31 and IE 11. I had no trouble at all in attaching files to emails — up to the AOL limit of 25MB per email.
If you’re using an older, standalone AOL email client or one of the old toolbar versions, I suggest you uninstall it — it’s obsolete. Instead, use AOL email directly from within a fully up-to-date browser.
If that doesn’t work, you could try a different email system. For example, switch to a free Gmail (site) account, Outlook.com account, Windows Essentials (site), or any similar service. They all allow for normal email attachments.
Most email services also allow mail forwarding. You should be able to configure your AOL account to automatically forward all your AOL email to whatever new account you set up. That way, people who know you by your AOL address will still be able to contact you the way they’re used to — and you’ll be able to use a non-AOL email and client to reply and to attach files.
Another possibility is to use a file storage/sharing service such as Dropbox (site), SkyDrive (site), or Google Drive (site). You can post your music files there, then mail the URL for the stored files to your clients. They can download the files directly to their PCs. (You can password-protect your cloud-stored files to prevent public access. Share the password only with your clients.)
I think using a more up-to-date method to access your AOL mail — or using an alternative email or file-sharing service — will resolve your file-attachment problems!