Computer management XP

is because I've never noticed this before and I'd assume the content may be the cause or possible may be mapped or GPO's applied to prevent.

If you look at the following help file details and if none of the exceptions apply try using the command line method.

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 volume you want to delete, and then click Delete Partition.
Important

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 open Computer Management, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.
You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump).
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.

Using a command line

Open Command Prompt.
Type:
diskpart

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
list disk

Make note of the disk number of the disk from which you want to delete the partition.

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
select disk n

Select the disk n from which you want to delete the partition.

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
list partition

Make note of the number of the partition that you want to delete.

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
select partition n

Select the partition n that you want to delete.

At the DISKPART prompt, type:
delete partition

Caution

Deleting a partition on a dynamic disk can delete all dynamic volumes on the disk, thus converting the disk to basic disk. To delete a dynamic volume, use the delete volume command instead.
Important

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