Changing the partition on my hard drive

[Guest]

The 60GB hard drive on my XP Home Edition PC came set up with C: 13.9GB, D:
36.8GB as shown in My Computer as Total Size. I am running out of space on
the C: partition and would like to increase it by decreasing the space on the
D: partition. Does anybody know if this can be done, and if so, how? Thank
you for any helpful information.

 

[Mark Dormer]

I would use and have done this many times using BootItNG.
Do it in maintenance mode and you don't have to install the boot manager.
Free, though if you like it, register it, as it is well worth it in my
opinion.

www.bootitng.com

Instructions here http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads/bootitng.pdf
and http://members.shaw.ca/bootitng/


Regards
Mark Dormer

 

[Guest]

You should also mention that XP doesn't like the operating system partition
to change in size once the operating system has been installed, you will need
to run a repair install after you have re-sized the partition, in fact don't
even boot to windows, just boot to the xp cd and run the repair.

I would use and have done this many times using BootItNG.
Do it in maintenance mode and you don't have to install the boot manager.
Free, though if you like it, register it, as it is well worth it in my
opinion.

www.bootitng.com

Instructions here http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads/bootitng.pdf
and http://members.shaw.ca/bootitng/


Regards
Mark Dormer

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The 60GB hard drive on my XP Home Edition PC came set up with C: 13.9GB, D:
36.8GB as shown in My Computer as Total Size. I am running out of space on
the C: partition and would like to increase it by decreasing the space on the
D: partition. Does anybody know if this can be done, and if so, how? Thank
you for any helpful information.

Unfortunately, no version of Windows before Vista provides any way of
changing the existing partition structure of the drive
nondestructively. The only way to do what you want is with third-party
software. Partition Magic is the best-known such program, but there
are freeware/shareware alternatives. One such program is BootIt Next
Generation. It's shareware, but comes with a free 30-day trial, so you
should be able to do what you want within that 30 days. I haven't used
it myself (because I've never needed to use *any* such program), but
it comes highly recommended by several other MVPs here.

Whatever software you use, make sure you have a good backup before
beginning. Although there's no reason to expect a problem, things
*can* go wrong.

 

[Guest]

Thank you all for your replies. I was hoping there was a built-in XP
mechanism for this, but as Ken Blake wrote, there is not, and I will have to
be careful if I try any third-party solutions.

 

[dobey]

He won't need to run a repair install.

BootitNG works from bootable media. I've restore system partitions to
different size partitions, and resized them without problem.

The OP should get a backup HDD, they are not that expensive, and he should
make a backup before he attempts the resize in any case. Of course chances
are if he did get another HDD, he wouldn't need to resize

You should also mention that XP doesn't like the operating system
partition
to change in size once the operating system has been installed, you will
need
to run a repair install after you have re-sized the partition, in fact
don't
even boot to windows, just boot to the xp cd and run the repair.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Even if Windows XP had the ability, you'd want to be careful (i.e., make a
backup first.) In fact, I'd be more worried about a Windows utility than I
would be using BootIt NG. I use BING all the time, resize and rearrange
partitions all the time, and I've never had a problem. But I still make an
image of the partition(s) before I go to work. I use Acronis True Image
these days, but BING includes its own imaging utility. Note that with BING,
you download and run an executable that creates the bootable installation
floppy. Boot to the floppy then CANCEL the installation. That will drop you
into Maintenance Mode where you can access Partition Work. Since you don't
actually install the boot manager, which starts the thirty day clock,
there's no worry about registration.