Disk partitioning problem

[Doug]

I was under the impression that it was possible to partition a hard disk via
Disk Management. I want to split the existing C drive into two drives but
when I right click the drive in Disk Management there is no option to do
this. Is this not possible in Vista?

D

 

[Robin]

I was under the impression that it was possible to partition a hard disk
via Disk Management. I want to split the existing C drive into two
drives but when I right click the drive in Disk Management there is no
option to do this. Is this not possible in Vista?

D

There' an option to reduce the size of the partition. You can then
create another partition in the empty space.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I was under the impression that it was possible to partition a hard disk
via Disk Management. I want to split the existing C drive into two drives
but when I right click the drive in Disk Management there is no option to
do this. Is this not possible in Vista?

D

Best to use a decent partitioning tool. If you are running 32bit Vista, this
one will work..

http://www.free-partition-tool.com/

for 64bit, consider paying for Acronis Disk Director..

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Doug.

Disk Management will not "split" a partition (commonly called a "drive", but
actually only a portion of the physical hard disk drive - and now often
referred to as a "volume").

But it will Shrink a volume. Unless there is an unmovable file way out near
the end of the volume, this will make your Drive C: smaller, leaving "free
space" or "unallocated space" following the shrunken volume. Then you can
create a new partition in that free space.

If your first attempt to Shrink Drive C: doesn't work, or doesn't give you
enough free space, defrag the drive and try again. Sometimes the defragger
can move far-flung files or segments closer to the front of the partition,
freeing up space at the end. If there are unmovable files out there, you
may need a more sophisticated defrag. See if Shrink volume will offer you
enough space; if not, post back with some details and we probably can guide
you.

Just remember that Disk Management's wizards usually work in MB, not GB. So
if you want to shrink the volume by 30 GB, type in 30,000, not 30. (Yes,
that's the voice of experience.)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100

 

[trouble]

No matter what the blurbs say repartitioning your working hard drive,
particularly your C drive, is not a slam dunk and you must be prepared for
disaster.
It is worthwhile learning about partitions, just be prepared for possible
casualties along the way.
Make sure you have back-ups of your files and documents and a way to
reinstall your OS if something goes wrong.
The tools in Vista are actually a good place to start as they severely limit
the amount of space you can take from your existing partition and severely
limit the way that partition can be set up. It is possible to lose access to
a small part of your hard drive if you later want to reverse the changes but
I do not think the Vista process can lead to disasters like other programs
can.
Once you understand how that process works you can try a more robust
program, e.g. Partition Commander, but something can still go very wrong
despite the programs assurances of safety: it is very easy to nuke the data
on a hard drive when repartitioning goes awry. Unless you are experienced it
is unwise to use freeware/shareware to repartition.

 

[ray]

I was under the impression that it was possible to partition a hard disk
via Disk Management. I want to split the existing C drive into two
drives but when I right click the drive in Disk Management there is no
option to do this. Is this not possible in Vista?

D

IMHO - it's not a great idea to change a mounted partition. I would
suggest you boot a Linux Live CD and do the partitioning from there.
There is a gparted Live CD made for that purpose.

 

[Robin]

IMHO - it's not a great idea to change a mounted partition. I would
suggest you boot a Linux Live CD and do the partitioning from there.
There is a gparted Live CD made for that purpose.

Gparted is a good free alternative to the expensive Partition Magic. If
you decide to go this route get the suite called Parted Magic*, which
includes gparted along with other tools and a nice GUI interface.

Agree with everyone who says don't even think of partitioning without
doing a drive image first, onto an external drive. Drive Image XML is a
good free drive imaging tool. If anything goes wrong you can get your
original partition back.

*PartEd = Partition Editor. 2 flavours gparted and kparted. If you
aren't into Linux you don't need to know why there are 2. All come as
downloadable bootable CD images. You don't need any knowledge of Linux
to run them.

 

[Doug]

Hmmmm, I think I'll get another hard disk rather than try to partition the
existing C drive.

 

[ray]

Gparted is a good free alternative to the expensive Partition Magic. If
you decide to go this route get the suite called Parted Magic*, which
includes gparted along with other tools and a nice GUI interface.

Agree with everyone who says don't even think of partitioning without
doing a drive image first, onto an external drive. Drive Image XML is a
good free drive imaging tool. If anything goes wrong you can get your
original partition back.

partimage ain't half bad either.