Please give more information.

It is very difficult to try and help you if there is no specific info:

Make and Model

Hardware: Hard drive size, processor, memory, etc

What operating system is on your computer?

If you have a small hard drive or have a lot of 'stuff' then 23 gigibytes is enough space for your system to run. 

SuzanS

Dell's Restallation Guide is HERE.

Bev.

SuzanS, 

Please do not post service tag numbers. It's not allowed by the Dell Community rules. It gives access to your personnal information, this is to protect you.

That is why your post was deleted.

 Your reply was (less the service tag),

"Re: Partitioned Harddrive
By SuzanS in New to the Community?

It is a XPS 1330 with a 200g hhd, vista maybe if I give you the sevice tag# that would be better. 

I want to get rid of the partitions and just have one with the restore, is that possible.

Thank you"

To answer your question I will assume you have the standard 3 Dell partitions:

1) The small usually hidden approx 70-100mb partition, your computer needs this do not remove it.

2) OS (C:) this is your operating system partition, you cannot remove this.

3) Recovery (D:) The  'Recovery D drive' was put there by Dell to be used instead of a Installation DVD so you can re-install your operating system as it came from the factory. It is basically your re-installation DVD put on this D drive. This will re-install Vista only. No other applications, programs or files that you have added to your computer can be re-installed from the D drive. 

Do not add anything into the Recovery (D:) this will corrupt the re-installation partition and quite likely will not work when/if you need it. 

Unless someone added more partitions to the hard drive before you got it, you need all 3 of these partitions.

From Windows Explorer you should see them under 'Computer':

OS (C:)

Recovery (D:)

If this is what you have then you can't delete any of the partitions.

You should have at least 150GB of free space on your C drive, which would mean you added 127 GB of you personnal apps and files, does this sound right?

If you did add 127GB and you still have 23GB free space, your computer will run fine. If not, then reply here.

Regards,

Sorry about the tag number.

Checking under the disk management this is what shows up 1. 78 mg healthy  2 59.08 gb healthy, and this is where vista is installed and where all of my programs loaded. 3. 98.14 Healthy and 4 29.01 unallocated.

Thanks again for the help

I have only added a couple of programs no way they filled up the harddrive. The previous owner must of partitioned it. I will delete all of the programs I have added, if need be.

Suzan S,

It looks like the previous owner has changed things somewhat.

Can you tell me what the drive letters are and any name (example OS (C:)? This will make it easier to communicate your options.

1.) 78 mg healthy

      - This is the standard Dell partition, it is OK and should not be changed in any way, this will not have a drive letter assigned.

2.) 59.08 gb healthy, and this is where vista is installed and where all of my programs loaded.

      - Some people, including me, like to put the operating system and other applications on a separate partition and all your personal data and files (music, photos etc) on another partition. This will make any future re-installation of the OS easier because your personal files are in a separate partition. This setup looks like the previous owner was trying to do something like that. Some people will delete the Recovery drive to use it for something else, this is not recommended as the Recovery drive makes it much easier to re-install the OS.

3.) 98.14 Healthy

      - Are there any files in this partition? This might have been used for personal 'Data' or another OS.

4.) 29.01 unallocated 

      - This space is currently not being used for anything. It can be used by extending '3.) 98.14 Healthy' into this unallocated space. After you confirm your drives and ask any other questions I can explain how to do this.

Is there any partition named "Recovery"? If not then the previous owner has deleted it.

Did you get any DVDs with the computer? Should be one labeled 'Re-installation DVD' and should say Vista and the version name, the other important one is 'Drivers and Utilities' there might be more for other applications originally on the computer. You can use the DVDs to re-install the operating System. I would recommend this, it will give you a fresh system and solve any other problems that might arise from the previous owner’s changes. If you haven't done this before, you can get information from the Dell sites I've listed below. This will help you to understand the general process, then I can refer you to other posts in this forum with excellent step by step procedures, and I can answer any questions you might have.

Your other option would be to expand #3 to use the unallocated space , use it for your personal data, and request the re-install DVDs in case you need them later.

If you don't have the DVDs you can request them (they will be given only once so, if the previous owner already requested them they won't be available) at these sites, info from PudgyOne's many posts Request a set of Dell backup discs(USA) and driver info How to Install Drivers in Microsoft® Windows® on Dell Systems.

For more information Your manual is here.

As shesagordie mentioned Dell's Re-installation Guide is HERE.

Dell warranties the software for a short time, I think it is 3 months, they will help you with software issues during that time but after that it will be for a fee. If the previous owner had it for less than 3 months and after your warranty clears Dell will help you.

Sorry about the bad news,

Hope this will help you make a decision,

Dave

Ok I will try to describe all of it to you.

Ist partition all it says is 78 MB Healthy

2nd Vista (C:) 59.08 GB NTFS below that is says Healthy (System, Boot,Page File, Active,Crash Dump, Primary Partition)

3rd Storage (D:) 98.14 GB NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition)

4th 29.01 Unallocated

And thanks again for the help

Just want to get back to orignal

SuzanS,

Did you get any re-installation DVDs with your laptop?

If you have them you can re-install Vista.

If you don't have the re-installation DVDs and, if you are in the US you can request them by clicking on this site:

 Request a set of Dell backup discs(USA)

If you are not in the US you will have to contact your Dell Customer service for the procedure to request the DVDs.

Your Recovery partition has been removed, so you will need the re-installation DVDs to re-install the operating system - Vista.

Please reply if you have the Re-installation DVDs or have any trouble requesting them from Dell.

Regards,

The disks that I have are

 Operating System Reinstallation DVD Windows Vista Hone Premiun 32 BIT SP!

Drivers and Utilities

Roxio Creator Premier Blu-Ray 10.2

SuzanS,

Now comes decision time.

Have you installed an operating system before? Any applications?

If you have, then you can skip the rest of this post. Just want you to be prepared for this process.

If not then you will have to weigh your computer experience and comfort level with re-installing the OS.

Generally, most of the time re-installation goes smoothly and can be a great learning experience. But, if there are any problems, you may require additional help. 

A few things to consider:

Do you have access to another computer? If there are any problems your computer may not be able to be used to get help. Do you know someone that would be able to assist you if required? Friend or local computer shop?

I suggest to download information from the sites I gave in the previous post. Copy them to another computer or USB thumb drive so you will have access to them if your computer, for any reason, cannot be accessed. Print any you feel will help.

Review these documents to familiarize yourself with the procedure. Then ask questions before you start.

Your manual states: 

"Reinstalling Windows Vista

The reinstallation process can take 1 to 2 hours to complete. After you

reinstall the operating system, you must also reinstall the device drivers, virus

protection program, and other software.

NOTICE: The Operating System media provides options for reinstalling Windows.

The options can overwrite files and possibly affect programs that are installed on

your hard drive. Therefore, do not reinstall Windows unless a Dell technical support

representative instructs you to do so.

1 Save and close any open files and exit any open programs.

2 Insert the Operating System media.

3 Click Exit if the Install Windows message appears.

4 Restart the computer.

When the DELL logo appears, press immediately.

NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue

to wait until you see the Microsoft Windows desktop, then shut down your

computer and try again.

NOTE: The next steps change the boot sequence for one time only. On the

next start-up, the computer boots according to the devices specified in the

system setup program.

5 When the boot device list appears, highlight CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive,

and then press .

6 Press any key to Boot from CD-ROM.

7 Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation."

The overall procedure will go like this:

Preparation:

1) Download your drivers for the XPS 1330 here. Just enter your service tag and you will get a list of Dell drivers. Copy and save these to your computer to load after your OS install. It is usually recommended to put these on a DVD or USB stick to load from.

Install the OS:

1) 1 to 2 hours to install Vista, (should take about 40 - 60 min)

2) Then you will need to install the current drivers from Dell, in the specific order as given on the link in the previous post. 

3) Install your Anti-Virus program, or check all settings in windows defender if you chose to use it. Most people use a third party program, a couple of free versions are reported to work well.

4) Click the 'Start' button, then 'All Programs', then 'Windows Update'. Download and install the 'Important' updates first, recommend doing maximum 3 at a time, rebooting when requested. Sometimes there can be 30 or more of these so it will take some time to complete, most are security updates and they are important.

5) Install your applications and personal files.

6) This is a good time to run a complete backup. Vista can do it but most people suggest third party software, several free versions will work very well. I can give you some suggestions if you want to try them. If in the future if you have any problems you can restore your computer to this point, and you won't have to do the entire process again,  just restore the backup. Some backup programs can restore in 15 -20 minutes. Always keep your backups on a different physical hard drive - internal or external, DVDs, ect. You want to be able to have access if your physical hard drive fails.

This whole process can take several hours for beginners, being prepared will reduce the time.

By the way, I am not a " Dell technical support representative", only a Computer User trying to help other people solve their problems. I have installed OS in most ways possible, Startup repair, System repair, Upgrade install, Clean install, re-install from DVD, Dual boot install, Install from USB thumb drive. But do not consider myself an expert on this subject. There are many experts giving help on the Dell community forum that are very knowledgeable. 

Look at this site for a good pictorial and walk through, How to Do a Clean Install and Setup with a Full Version of Vista. This is for the actual Vista OS install only, loading drivers, updates, your files, help (walk throughs) can be found on this site and the Dell forum.

With all this information and help from the forum, you should be ready to Install Vista.

Reply here if you have any questions,

Regards,