[/quote]


To delete a partition or logical drive
Using the Windows interface

Open Computer Management (Local).
In the console tree, click Disk Management.
Where?

Computer Management (Local)
Storage
Disk Management

Right-click the partition, logical drive, or basic volume you want to delete, and then click Delete Partition.
If the menu item reads Delete Volume instead of Delete Partition, the volume is a dynamic volume. For instructions on how to delete a dynamic volume, see Related Topics.

Caution

When you delete a partition, all data on that deleted partition or logical drive is lost.
You cannot recover deleted partitions or logical drives.
Notes

To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. To perform this procedure remotely, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the remote computer. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.
To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump), or OEM partition.
You cannot delete an extended partition unless the extended partition is empty.
All the logical drives in an extended partition be deleted before you can delete the extended partition.

[quote]

Maleeq:

Uhm, Mod, running Disk defragmenting tools would not merge unallocated disk space. And the disk Defragmenter in Windows will not affect unallocated space.
@kuntash
The disk management GUI described by Kobojunkie will do everything from creating new partitions, logical drives and volumes but it would not merge unallocated disk space. It still very possible to get it done in XP with no 3rd party tools but its a bit more complicated and would only work for non-system/boot partitions.

Best Option:
Get a 3rd party disk utility like "Partition Magic" or "Parted Magic". A few clicks and you are done.

Alternate Option (For Non System partitions):
Notice:
You agree to following these steps at your own free will and Maleeq shall not be held, either directly or by implication, responsible for any data loss resulting for these procedure. However, these steps have been tested and should be safe

- Start a command prompt and enter "diskpart"
- Type in "list volume". This lists all available volumes/partitions on your system. (see attachment 1)
- Locate the volume you wish to add the unallocated space to and note the "volume ###".
- Type in "select volume ###" where ### is the volume number.
- Next, type in "extend" . Running this will extend the entire unallocated disk space to the currently selected volume.
- Depending on system configurations, you may need to restart your system after this!

Cheers!

Gbosa!  That's just what I was thinking when I read it too. . .at first I thought I had read the poster's question incorrectly.  Anyway sha Maleeq, thanks for clarifying that cause I was about to say something real smart but then again I'm glad you posted before I did.  Good ol' diskpart, back in the days of DOS  .  @poster, just like Maleeq stated, do the diskpart at your own risk. . .I've seen it done before but I haven't done it before cause I haven't found myself in a situation that warrants it.  The ones I've seen do it, well, let's just say it sorta worked but don't quote me on that.  You'd probably be better of using partition magic if you're not comfortable using the command prompt.  Good luck.  Peace!

oyb:

in my experience, 90% of those partition tools just do not work.

my recommendation will be  a little harsh

backup your files, then do a fresh install( not a reinstall ) of windows. you will find a n option to format/erase the partitions after which you can run the drive as a 40gb drive.

alternatively, from the disk managemnt gui described, you can create a new parition 20gb, but i can almost guarnatee you will soon start experienecs those virtual memory messages., and the sys will be slow. my brother's laptop also had 2 20gb partitions, nd on weekend i got tired of perpetual moving of files back and forth, and just backed up aand did a clean install of windows, and formatted the drive to 40gb