Partition problem

[7dragons]

I'm havin a problem with my hardrive and need the best advice,since money is an issue. I'll try and make it short and sweet.
    My 250GB hardrive packed it in last week. So i got it replaced. This time with a 500GB hardrive. Awesome. The tech didn't call and tell me what was goin on or ask me? Not so awesome.
So i get it home and realize that my p.c. only recognizes 238.88GB allocated on my C drive. Unallocated is 238.88GB of course same drive.
 Why he partitioned it this way i have no idea? The other problem is i have 18% before the 250 allocated is full and starts slowing down.
I understand the fact of why people partition.  This is my do everything p.c. Gaming/bills/music/etc.
I plan to keep on adding to my gaming library and am glad to have more memory.I have Windows xp Home.
 Now i can't figure out how to make the allocated larger and the unallocated smaller, or even take the partition out and leave it as a 500GB hardrive.
 I did download some software called Mini Tool Partition Wizard. I haven't tried it as of yet. Not even sure if that is the best one for Win XP. Still need to back up everything on my external hardrive.
 Emailed the guy, and he said he would have to charge me for an extra hour if i wanted this done? I'm like are you kidding me?!!!
 I called another guy that told me (BOOM) $75.00 flat rate. Maybe the next guy i call can repaint it and put a racing stripe on it too. I can't afford to help keep everyone working here.
 I just wanted the best bang for my buck. So i'm fed up with dealing with this guy if he's going to charge me again no less.
  So if anyone has any expertise on this subject could you please let me know or  send me a detailed email. This sort of thing is out of my league.
 If possible i think i'd like to leave the second partition as a lesser amount, maybe 20GB or more for pics and what not.
Thank You.   7

[RedDwarf]

The tech may have clone your old drive to your new drive, and leaving the remainder unallocated?
That been the case, you can use Windows Disk Management to add a new partition.
 a) right click on My Computer, and select Mange
 b) scroll down to Disk Management and right click on the GUI area that is unallocated and format it.
The other option is to download Gparted iso and burn a boot disk to change the the size of the partition or add a new one.
Sometimes it's best is to install windows and partition it the way you want it.

[7dragons]

Thx Red I'll try and give it a go when I get home from work.

[the_rat]

Now i can't figure out how to make the allocated larger and the unallocated smaller,

This can only be done by thrid party programs, windows will not extend a partition unless it is dynamic. There are many free partition programs on the web (use google).
 
I highly recommend backing up important files before modifying the partition tabe.
 
I think the free tool that you downloaded will work fine (Mini Tool Partition Wizard).
 
or this:
http://www.partitionmagicserver.com/resize-partition/partition-magic-free.html
 
or this:
free home version
http://www.partition-tool.com/landing/free-partition-magic.htm

[7dragons]

 Thx very much to the both of you. No time today but i will check it out as soon as i can and will let you
know how it turned out.
 If you don't hear from me in the next little while i'll have driven my truck over the tower

[7dragons]

 
 Well i was finally able to make the partition larger.
 Red you were correct the tech cloned my drive. I was a little confused on why i wasn't able to
reformat the unallocated portion like i was told by the tech.
  So i loaded up Mini Tool Partition Wizard Home Edition for XP.
Once i figured out what i wanted to do and how to do it. It took about 4 seconds to initiate and
i was done.
 Thx again to the two of you for your help.
  7 

[the_rat]

fyi - you need to allocate the additional space first then add a logical drive(s) to it.
 
Good that it worked without and trouble.