XP drive partition

[Witmo]

I have a single hard drive that is divided into C and D drives. The C drive is a fraction of the size of the D drive and is nearing capacity. I've tried to move stuff off the C to the D but it would be a lot easier to just have the partition moved so that the C is closer to the D in size. Can this be done without starting from scratch?

 

[RJM62]

Yes, partitions can be resized using quite a few different bootable utilities. XP has no built-in functionality to resize partitions. (Vista does.)

You first run a CHKDSK /f and a defrag on both partitions. Then boot into the utility, shrink one partition to create free space contiguous to the partition you want to enlarge, and then enlarge the other partition into the free space. Then you start the computer and run a CHKDSK /f on each partition (if it doesn't do it automatically).

There are any number of utilities that can do this, including Acronis Partition Manager, Partition Magic, Partition Commander, Paragon Disk Manager, Drive Works, and probably dozens of others. Some of them, I believe, can be installed on the hard drive and allow resizing from within Windows, but I usually use bootable utilities (generally Paragon or Acronis). Resizing can also be done using almost any live Linux distro if you're familiar with Linux.

Resizing partitions is a routine and common job for computer techs, but it's not completely without risk. You may want to let a shop do this one. As for precautions, I always clone the drive in its current configuration first as a backup, and I do the repartitioning while the machine is on a UPS. Losing power during the process could result in a disaster.

Rich

 

[mikea]

I have a single hard drive that is divided into C and D drives. The C drive is a fraction of the size of the D drive and is nearing capacity. I've tried to move stuff off the C to the D but it would be a lot easier to just have the partition moved so that the C is closer to the D in size. Can this be done without starting from scratch?

A commercial program like Partition Magic can do it, effectively once because for no reason they make it so it won't work if you upgrade the OS. The current Linux disk utilities can do it too, but they're a mite scarier. I made a disk thoroughly munged by using an early version of partition manager in Linux many years ago.

I know nuttin about these guys...
http://www.used.cheapdown.com/product_info.php?products_id=418

You NEED TO DO A FULL BACKUP FIRST. Use Acronis True Image or Casper to make an image to another disk or CD/DVD.

 

[Witmo]

Thanks.

 

[alaskaflyer]

Is there a freeware disk image utility?

 

[RJM62]

Is there a freeware disk image utility?

There are quite a few open-source projects that can make a disk image. Most of the ones I'm aware of run on Linux (but can image Windows partitions, as well).

There also may be non-OSS freeware imaging products (though I'm not aware of any offhand, nor would I necessarily trust a freeware imaging tool that wasn't open-source).

Some of the open-source projects I'm aware of include SelfImage, CloneZilla, and of course PartImage. There are others, but those are the three that come to mind. I've played with each of them, but none very recently. I usually use commercial software for this particular operation (at least on clients' machines). I probably should download and play with the newest versions of the above now that the slow season is coming.

If you're familiar with Linux, you can also use most "live" Linux distros to image a partition, as well as do resizing and other manipulations.

Rich