My Sony Vaio laptop is partitioned into a C and D drive, but I'm running out of space on the C drive. What can I do to fix that?
There's no easy fix for a too-cramped C drive -- especially not on Sony's models. The most straightforward, but not cheap, option is to buy a disk-partitioning utility that can merge partitions without reformatting them, such as Symantec's Norton Partition Magic ($70). Before you run this, back up your data, just in case anything goes wrong. Also, make sure you don't erase the hidden system-recovery partition (Sony, like too many other manufacturers, does not include standard Windows XP CDs with its machines, instead sacrificing some of the hard drive to store those files).
We frequently criticized Sony's past drive-partitioning habits for precisely this reason. Once the C drive -- the home of Windows, most of its supporting files and many applications -- runs out of space, the computer grinds to a halt. To me, the high risk of this far outweighs any benefits you might derive from keeping your data on a separate partition.
The pictures I e-mail to my family always arrive embedded in the body of each message, not as separate attachments -- so when they open my e-mail, they've got baby pictures all over the screen. Can I stop the photos from displaying automatically?
No. The recipient's e-mail program, not yours, usually determines how attachments are displayed. And most now present any photos inline to save people from having to fire up a separate program to view them.
The simplest workaround is to post your pictures at a photo-sharing site, such as Ofoto (www.ofoto.com). That way, your recipients will see only a link to the pictures (plus, in some cases, a small preview of one of them). They'll also spend less time downloading your message.
-- Rob Pegoraro
Rob Pegoraro attempts to untangle computing conundrums and errant electronics each week. Send questions to The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or rob@twp.com.
