Its gone badly! how do I resize a partition ???

[rigsyb1208]

Hi
I have managed to build my new PC and install all my software etc, great!!
Being cautious and taking advice from here, I set up several partitions, however the one I have installed windows, documents and settings, etc on was only 10gb and is now running out of space everytime I try to install things!!!!!
How do I increase the partition size without having to start again with the instal? will Acronis disk director will do it? the free trial version doesnt seem to be fully functional if it can and I dont want to spend £30 just to increase the partition, unless I have to!

Any ideas/advice???

[Choo Choo]

If you're using vista you can use disk management (under computer management) to shrink one of the other partitions, and then extend the windows one.

[Yosh]

You could always just install the said software to a separate partition. If you get stuck.

[rigsyb1208]

Sorry its windows xp professional

[mehmeh]

GParted should do what you want and best of all its free!

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

[rigsyb1208]

Thanks, but gparted looks pretty complicated, not even sure how to get to download it! Is there anything a little more idiot proof?

[mehmeh]

Thanks, but gparted looks pretty complicated, not even sure how to get to download it! Is there anything a little more idiot proof?

It can seem a bit daunting, but I assure you its simple.

Downloaded latest stable release in .iso format

or .zip if you prefer

Burn that to a CD and then boot from it. Options are self explantory. If you have problems with the display going funky, choose "Force Vesa 1024x768" from the options.

Easist thing, assuming you have a spare partition there you can afford to lose. Is delete it and then on your XP partition choose "extend", leaving everything else pretty much default and it'll extend the XP partition into all that space you've just created. You can use the slider at the top or put in MB figures and not swallow up all that free space, creating a new partition with what you dont give XP.

Gets more complicated and alot easier to lose data when you start shrinking partitions.

As always, Google wins.. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...e+Search&meta= (second link caught my eye)

Other freebie approach I know of is to use a Vista disc if you have one. Just go through setup untill it comes to diskpart, partition away and then quit setup before its too late. *EDIT, Thinking now, not 100% sure if Vista will let you fiddle with an XP partition, anyone?

[watercooled]

Remember to defrag before messing with partitions - I hear files are more likely to get corrupted if you don't.

[rigsyb1208]

Thanks for the guide. Is there much chance of totally scr*wing things up by carrying out this process? Also, how do I make a back up of my current installation to save having to install windows, drivers, software, etc etc again? Presumeably this should be to a dvd disc so I can boot off it??

[mehmeh]

Theres always the chance to make a complete hash of it, but ime extending partitions is alot safer than shrinking them. If your shrinking a partition with data on its very easy to chew into and destroy that data if you make the mistake of not shrinking from the end of the partition with the free space (yep, gparted will let you cut as many gigs as you want off the start of a boot volume lol) or don't leave yourself a margin for error. Extending is simplier, aslong as you don't mind lossing all the data on the partition/space your extending into. Theres little chance of destroying data on the drive your extending, which is to say I dont know anyone whos managed to do it.

Only way I know to provide safe backups for when fiddling like this would be by taking an image of the drive that you can restore later (preferibly backed up on DVD(s) or a HDD other than the one your planning on messing with. Not aware of any free software that does that, but Norton Ghost (sucks ) and incidently Acronis are two that can.

[watercooled]

Back up any important documents on a flash drive if you can. If you have an external HDD or enough DVDs, there is a free version of Paragon Drive Backup which should be ideal. It doesn't have the more advanced features of the full versions but should be OK for you: http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/

I'd still recommend keeping important documents and emails separately on a flash drive or something for safekeeping as restoring a drive image can take time and it's not always easy extracting individual files from a proprietary archive if you need them for some reason.

[iranu]

I've always used Partition Manager 8.0 (now paragon). Never had a single problem with it ever. Just does what it says on the tin. Surely the free trial will allow you to do what you want.

I personally only have windows on my C: drive and create another partition to put all my apps apart (from games). I also move the My Documents folder from C: onto the partition I use for storage (which then gets backed up) as this clutters the C: drive because alot of programs write to this folder. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147

[rigsyb1208]

Isnt the partition manager free trial a limited version?
I found this which looks like it might do the job.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...scription.html

Has anyone tried it?