Repartitioning a live drive

[ajones]

Windows XP SP2 with latest updates installed.

I've got a 250GB drive with a Primary and and Extended Partition defined. My system runs in the Primary partition.

HDD: 250GB
-Primary Partition: C: 30GB
-Extended Partition: 220GB
--Logical Drive: F: 20GB
--Logical Drive: E: 200GB

The extended parition is split into 2 logical drives, one of which I use for online stuff that regularly gets patched so that it doesn't frag up the entire drive.

As with the best laid plans of mice and men, I now need to extend that logical drive at the expense of the other drive in that extended partition.

Is Partition Magic still the best app around to do this?

[2Cold Scorpio]

Partition magic is still good, though I personally found Acronis Disk Director to be slightly better (it's a toss-up, really). GParted, often found on Linux install CDs, is a free alternative that is pretty good too (though I had troubles getting it to work on my machine, so I used Acronis last time I needed to repartition).

[peterb]

If you download the latest version of GPARTED live, you can burn it onto a CD and boot the machine from there. It does a pretty good job - the advantage being that the target hard drive is not in use at all.

However, while it is a safe application, messing about with the partition tables invariably carries some risk, so it is a good idea to back up any critical data first. Once you have selected what to do, and told Gparted to do it, it may take a long time to complete, depending on the opeartions being done. Part of the time is making sure that the data and existing partiotions are intact, and part is the safe repartitioning process.

However you don't really want anything to interrupt the process, power cuts or anything else. That said I have used Gparted several times without any problems at all.

[directhex]

to make it clear, risk of data loss is the same with *all* partition editors, open-source or otherwise

personally i've lost data to partition magic but not gparted, YMMV

[TheAnimus]

to make it clear thats not true hex.

they all have some risk.

but some are better than others, as to which is most stable i couldn't comment, only that partition magic has messed some things up.

[neiledavies]

Used partion magic loads of time for changing the partions on several of my drives in real ime and never come undone, yet!. So shouldn't have a prob.

[ajones]

Cheers folks...

I'll give Acronis a pop as there's a 15 day free trial available and I'm a skinflint.

If I don't post for a couple of days you know whats happened!

[2Cold Scorpio]

I had no problems with Acronis (though I only used it once...the last time I had to resize my partitions). As I mentioned earlier, I couldn't even get GParted to boot. Kept getting odd errors. Much like how my last Linux trial went... >.< Never again, lol; I'll stick with Windows and Windows programs.

[ajones]

Well... downloaded the free trial version of Acronis, so started some basic prep of the system before I started (backing up important data, moving cr@p off the drive etc). Finally got the 60odd MB file downloaded to find that I'd got the wrong application...

Downloaded the Acronis Disk Director freebee trial version. Another 60odd MB later it's installed. So I'm messing about trying to get it to work.... get that sorted.... Commit the conversion ... "You cannot perform this operation with the trial version. Do you want to buy it now?"

/grumble

Sod it... It's only 39 dollars, which to my sense makes 20 quid... so I buy the thing and get billed for 60 dollars!!! Maybe Americans can count as well as they can spell.

Anyway. Download yet another 60odd MB file. Install it... panic cos I think I've deleted the kosher version instead of the demo version from my hard drive because it's coming up with the same "Do you want to buy now" message. A quick reboot later and everythings ok.

Configure everything up to change the partition size and commit.....

"Disk Director cannot modify those partition sizes as you have a bad sector"

/expletive

[peterb]

Now try Gparted....

Download the ISO image - burn it to CD and boot from it.

[mycarsavw]

to make it clear, risk of data loss is the same with *all* partition editors, open-source or otherwise

personally i've lost data to partition magic but not gparted, YMMV

I second (or third or more) this. I've lost data using Partition Magic but have been 100% successful with GParted - GParted -- Welcome

Back up everything first.

[Saracen]

I second (or third or more) this. I've lost data using Partition Magic but have been 100&#37; successful with GParted - GParted -- Welcome

Back up everything first.

I thought all these pieces of software had a "current backup exists" detector built-in. With me, the ONLY time any of them screw up is when I risked it and don't have a backup. If I have a backup, they work like a dream.

Or is my paranoia showing?


I fooled them though. The only time I repartition without a backup is when the data doesn't matter.

[DazJWood]

I have used Acronis in the past both for cloning and parition changing and they have worked faultlessly.