How do I make a dynamic boot partion bigger

[Guest]

I was running out of room on my boot partion. I decided to convert it to
dynamic but discovered that the boot partion could not be extended. Now it is
a dynamic disk and my disk imaging software will not copy it.

I made an ASR, but it looks to me that the documentation shows that ASR
restores the partition structure so it wont do me any good to make a larger
partition and use ASR to recover to that partition.

I am also concerned that the ASR will not restore the SP2 update...perhaps
it will...

any ideas on how to make the boot partion larger....Is there any way to move
the whole documents and settings default location to a new partion I know
that I can move the MyDocuments folder, but i dont like to separate the My
Documents from the UserSettings and Aplication data info......

It seems to me there aught to be a simple way to accomplish this....image
and restore......lol....but I'm sort of in a "Dynamic" bind....

Any ideas?

 

[R. McCarty]

Imaging preserves the underlying format of the partition. You can
undo the Dynamic conversion by using Disk Management and put
it back to a basic disk. You'll need a 3rd-party Disk Mgmt tool to
resize partitions. Best known is Partition Magic (now a Symantec
acquisition). Alternately, you can get a 30-day trial of BootITNG
or a Linux based utility called NTFSResize.
Before making changes I would definitely convert the disk back
to basic mode and image it. You'll need to shrink the adjacent
partition, leaving unallocated space between your System partition
and then resize the XP partition to include that unallocated space.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Imaging preserves the underlying format of the partition. You can
undo the Dynamic conversion by using Disk Management and put
it back to a basic disk. You'll need a 3rd-party Disk Mgmt tool to
resize partitions. Best known is Partition Magic (now a Symantec
acquisition). Alternately, you can get a 30-day trial of BootITNG
or a Linux based utility called NTFSResize.
Before making changes I would definitely convert the disk back
to basic mode and image it. You'll need to shrink the adjacent
partition, leaving unallocated space between your System partition
and then resize the XP partition to include that unallocated space.

You cannot go backwards without loosing the data on the volume. You can't
convert from dynamic to basic. You have to back up the volume then delete it
and recreate it as a basic partition.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309044#4

Kerry

 

[Kerry Brown]

I was running out of room on my boot partion. I decided to convert it to
dynamic but discovered that the boot partion could not be extended. Now it
is
a dynamic disk and my disk imaging software will not copy it.

I made an ASR, but it looks to me that the documentation shows that ASR
restores the partition structure so it wont do me any good to make a
larger
partition and use ASR to recover to that partition.

I am also concerned that the ASR will not restore the SP2 update...perhaps
it will...

any ideas on how to make the boot partion larger....Is there any way to
move
the whole documents and settings default location to a new partion I know
that I can move the MyDocuments folder, but i dont like to separate the My
Documents from the UserSettings and Aplication data info......

It seems to me there aught to be a simple way to accomplish this....image
and restore......lol....but I'm sort of in a "Dynamic" bind....

Any ideas?

You need a different imaging program that works with dynamic volumes.
Acronis TrueImage Server and Ghost 2002 or later do. They will image a
simple or mirrored volume but only restore to a basic disk. There may be
other programs that work as well. They only other alternative I can think of
is a full backup and restore with ntbackup.

Kerry

 

[szcs]

You cannot go backwards without loosing the data on the volume. You can't
convert from dynamic to basic.

Here is a way how to do it:
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-ntfs-dev&m=109462253506161&w=2

In short, change the partition type from 0x42 to 0x07.

 

[R. McCarty]

Sorry about the Dyn->Basic with Disk Mgmt. That only works
when the Dynamic disk contains no volumes.

I can't remember the specifics, but once I helped on an Imaging
project that had Dynamic volumes. I think we used Ghost 2003
which would image a Dynamic volume. You could only restore
the image (.gho) to a Basic Disk. This might be an option for you.
See the following:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...nsf&view=docid&dtype=&prod=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl

 

[Kerry Brown]

Here is a way how to do it:
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-ntfs-dev&m=109462253506161&w=2

In short, change the partition type from 0x42 to 0x07.

That sounds pretty cool. I'll have to test it. I won't recommend it though.
The OP in the link you posted says he resized the volume to make it quite a
bit smaller. Later he says it will only work with minor changes of less than
a MB. I would be worried about troubles down the road as the volume fills
up. I also don't think this method would work with enlarging a volume. I'll
test it when I get a chance. If it is reliable it is way too easy

Kerry

 

[Guest]

I would love to do a full back up of my boot disk, however, as I understand
the documentation. that requires using ASR and ASR restores the partition
information and so when I restore it my partitions will be recreated as they
are now.

I will try the Norton Ghost, but my question is still unresolved for I would
like to be able to solve this in the Microsoft House with their tools and
documentation in order to understand how the operate the systems as designed.

 

[Kerry Brown]

I would love to do a full back up of my boot disk, however, as I understand
the documentation. that requires using ASR and ASR restores the partition
information and so when I restore it my partitions will be recreated as
they
are now.

I will try the Norton Ghost, but my question is still unresolved for I
would
like to be able to solve this in the Microsoft House with their tools and
documentation in order to understand how the operate the systems as
designed.

The procedure is long and involved. That is why most people use an imaging
program. Basically you do a full backup including the system state with
ntbackup. Then you wipe out the partitions on the drive and reinstall
Windows creating new partitons of the size you want. Once Windows is
installed you restore your backup overwriting the new install. There are
many possible setbacks. Usually there are so many problems it is easier and
quicker to reinstall windows, all your programs and drivers then restore
your data. Set aside the better part of a day to do it. An imaging program
is the way to go.

Kerry

 

[Guest]

Thanks Kerry,

I have managed to ghost the boot partition with nortion.

I am, as a budding virginal MCP, interested in accomplishing the task
utilizing the available system tools.

I am still trying to understand how to overcome the ASR limitation that
restores the partitions. I have read the documentation and I cannot seem to
figure out clearly how to proceed. I do have the ghosted image as a back up,
but i would like to think that there is a way to do this as much of the
microsoft training matterial seems to suggest.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks Kerry,

I have managed to ghost the boot partition with nortion.

I am, as a budding virginal MCP, interested in accomplishing the task
utilizing the available system tools.

I am still trying to understand how to overcome the ASR limitation that
restores the partitions. I have read the documentation and I cannot seem
to
figure out clearly how to proceed. I do have the ghosted image as a back
up,
but i would like to think that there is a way to do this as much of the
microsoft training matterial seems to suggest.

The Microsoft tools are often not the best or the easiest. There is no
reason not to make your job easier by using a more appropriate tool. There
may be an easier way than I described using Microsoft only tools but I have
not discovered it. Even Microsoft recommends using 3rd party applications
for imaging. It is good to know how to use the Microsoft tools but a full
tool box includes many 3rd party apps.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr...Kit/1966be93-8e89-4b91-855d-5cc8a496b318.mspx

Kerry