Partition too small for Windows 2000

[Guest]

I am working with a computer that is running Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.
This computer was originally set up as a print server. It was then set up to
hold the shared folders for the organization.

For some unknown reason, somebody set the OS up on an 8 Gig partition There
are a total of 6 shared folders that consume almost 80 gigs of space. They
are set up as shared drives.

This leaves 7.36 gigs of space.

My first question is: Can I expand the OS partition (which is down to about
200 megs).

My second question is; Can I move all of our shared folders to our SAN
system while maintaining permissions and rights and keeping the mapped drives
that our end users are mapped to?

My third questions is; If this is all possible, how do I do it?

All of this was done way before I arrived, but I am concerned that the OS
will run out of space (I am already getting disk space errors). I am also
reasonably positive that the shared drive space will run out.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am working with a computer that is running Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.
This computer was originally set up as a print server. It was then set up to
hold the shared folders for the organization.

For some unknown reason, somebody set the OS up on an 8 Gig partition There
are a total of 6 shared folders that consume almost 80 gigs of space. They
are set up as shared drives.

This leaves 7.36 gigs of space.

My first question is: Can I expand the OS partition (which is down to about
200 megs).

My second question is; Can I move all of our shared folders to our SAN
system while maintaining permissions and rights and keeping the mapped drives
that our end users are mapped to?

My third questions is; If this is all possible, how do I do it?

All of this was done way before I arrived, but I am concerned that the OS
will run out of space (I am already getting disk space errors). I am also
reasonably positive that the shared drive space will run out.

Good practice says that the operating system and all programs should
be installed on one drive (usually C and that all data should be on a
different drive. Furthermore the system drive should have at least 1 GByte
of spare space, preferably more.

If you wish to resize your partitions non-destructively then you can do
so with a partition manager such as the one from Acronis.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hello Pegasus,
Yea, 'Acronis Disk Director'
(http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/) could
increase the size of OS partition without losing any data. It's very
convenient and foolproof software.

Yes and no. While the Disk Director is a fine product, it has
its moments, same as any other partition manager. If this
was a critical installation then I would do this:
- Create an image of the system partition on a separate disk.
- Back up all shares.
- Test the system partition on the separate disk.
- If all is well, resize the system partition.

This will avoid that sinking feeling when things go bad and
you're about to say: "Oh sh...!".