Repartition query

[formerprof]

I have Vista Ultimate installed on a 300 gb hard disk. About 65 gb are used
and the remainder is free. Is there any reason why I can't boot Acronis
Disk Director from CD and take, say, 80 or 100 gb for a second partition?

In the alternative I could "Ghost" the existing partition with True Image 10
and then repartition the drive 200/100. I know that Acronis claims to be
able to shrink an imaged partition into a smaller space on restoration.

I'd like to do this and avoid the necessity of doing a complete fresh
install. All assistance gratefully received.


formerprof

PS Everything is backed up, my license is legit, I love/hate Windows/Linux,
think that Bill Gates should be jailed/decorated and brushed my teeth this
morning.

 

[Michael Jennings]

It would be sensible to image the drive before you play with it.
Colin Barnhorst recommends an external sata drive. Your 65
Gigs of stuff will take a while to compress, image and verify.

 

[Richard Urban]

It is always better to keep your personal files (photos, music, letters
etc.) on a different partition than the system drive/partition.

1. Defrag your system partition

2. Image your system partition to an external drive

3. Shrink the system partition

4. Create one, or more new partitions in the unallocated space you free up
by shrinking the system partition.

5. Move all of your personal files to partition D:, or whatever partition
you just created. Empty the recycle bin.

6. Defrag the system partition again. Remember, you just copied, and then
deleted, your personal files from the system partition - leaving a lot of
holes.

7. Create a new image (and verify same) of the system partition and save the
image (temporarily) on one of your new partitions.

8. Once satisfied that the new image is competent, you can now delete the
original image from your external drive

9. Create a new image (without your personal files) of the system partition
on your external drive

10. Now you can delete the temporary image you have stored on your newly
created partition

For the record, I archive all of my images on an external drive. I keep the
last known good working image on an internal hard drive. I update this image
constantly, when the system is in a known good condition. I then copy the
image to the external drive so as to have the latest image in two different
locations, one for convenience - one for safety.


--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You will get better performance if the data is on a second drive rather than
a second partition on the system drive.

 

[mikeyhsd]

Vista Disk Manager is supposed to be able to add/delete/adjust disk partitions.
have NEVER tried it yet.




(e-mail address removed)



I have Vista Ultimate installed on a 300 gb hard disk. About 65 gb are used
and the remainder is free. Is there any reason why I can't boot Acronis
Disk Director from CD and take, say, 80 or 100 gb for a second partition?

In the alternative I could "Ghost" the existing partition with True Image 10
and then repartition the drive 200/100. I know that Acronis claims to be
able to shrink an imaged partition into a smaller space on restoration.

I'd like to do this and avoid the necessity of doing a complete fresh
install. All assistance gratefully received.


formerprof

PS Everything is backed up, my license is legit, I love/hate Windows/Linux,
think that Bill Gates should be jailed/decorated and brushed my teeth this
morning.

 

[William]

How do you change the location of User files in Vista?


You will get better performance if the data is on a second drive rather than
a second partition on the system drive.

 

[David A. Lessnau]

Since you have Vista Ultimate, take a look in its Backup and Restore Center
(you can just type Backup in the search bar under Start to get there fast).
It does full disk imagining. I don't know if it's flexible enough for your
needs, but you might as well try it out and see if it works.

 

[David A. Lessnau]

If the folder allows it, you can right-click on it, select Properties, and go to the Location tab. Then hit the Move button at the bottom, select the location where you want it moved, and Apply it. I've moved most of my user folders around. I'd like to move my whole user profile, but Application Data stores all kinds of system data (primarily cache data) that I don't want stored with my data. So, I just get by with moving individual folders.
How do you change the location of User files in Vista?


You will get better performance if the data is on a second drive rather than
a second partition on the system drive.

 

[formerprof]

Wow! Thanks so much to you all. The job is done with no discernible ill
effects. I sure appreciate the help.

I hope the New Year rewards you even before January 30 . . .

formerprof


P.S. Colin, thanks for the data disk suggestion. I've been doing that for
many years, and I suspect that a lot of time & occasional real harm would be
avoided if many others did the same.

 

[formerprof]

Dear Richard,

Thanks so much for these detailed instructions. I thought maybe they'd be
overkill, but I felt secure throughout and they worked properly which is the
great criterion.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

formerprof

 

[William]

Thanks for the information.

If the folder allows it, you can right-click on it, select Properties, and go to the Location tab. Then hit the Move button at the bottom, select the location where you want it moved, and Apply it. I've moved most of my user folders around. I'd like to move my whole user profile, but Application Data stores all kinds of system data (primarily cache data) that I don't want stored with my data. So, I just get by with moving individual folders.
How do you change the location of User files in Vista?


You will get better performance if the data is on a second drive rather than
a second partition on the system drive.