Computer hard drive - Disk is partitioned in 3 volumes. How do I reverse the situation?

Question

Running XP Home.
Volume C: is now almost full and I think this is slowing down my pc. I always have to cleanup to gain space. I can't find anything big that is clogging the C (none that I want to take away).
The other 2 volumes have a lot of files on them.
MY PLAN: buy an external drive; copy all files from 2 volumes to the new drive.
But how do I get rid of the 2 volumes and have C take up the full hard drive?
Will I be putting drive C in danger by doing ... whatever you are going to suggest?

OK, I've researched this. Even some freewares can edit/delete partitions. Found out XP can delete partitions, but doesn't seem to have any info on changing the C: volume (extending the size).
Roughly: C is 20 gb, F is 30, G is 30.
I want C to use the full 80gb, but I have not been able to confirm that this is possible without reformatting C (and thus losing all software). Some software I can't reinstall.
In short: can I change the size of C without losing it's content?

Answer 1

An external hard drive is a very good idea, for doing BackUps or video editing, etc..

But, you would be better to buy the largest hard drive you can afford, install it inside your PC and set it up as your NEW drive C:, then, do a Windows XP Clean Install.

Then, change the jumper to "slave" on your OLD drive and re-install it as Drive D:. Then copy all your personal files back over to the NEW C: drive, reformat it and use it for BackUps.

Answer 2

Easiest way? Use Partition Magic software.

Answer 3

You can easily merge these partitions using Disk Director by Acronis. You don't need to move your data because Disk Director can merge partitions without data loss.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/

Answer 4

you can use portion magic, it is a utility that you can change the size of the partitions without formatting or loosing your data.