Resize FAT32 Partition in Windows Vista

J

Juan

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if Windows Vista can resize a FAT32 partition?
I have a HD with 2 partitions (the 1st one is a FAT32 and the 2nd is a
NTFS), and the expand / shrink options are only available for the NTFS
partition (for the FAT32 partition the options appear in the menu but are not
available).

Thanks,
Juan
 
R

Rick Rogers

Hi Juan,

You already have the answer in front of you. The volume is selected but the
options you want are not available. So, no, Vista's disk manager cannot
resize a FAT32 volume.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
R

ray

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if Windows Vista can resize a FAT32 partition? I have a
HD with 2 partitions (the 1st one is a FAT32 and the 2nd is a NTFS), and
the expand / shrink options are only available for the NTFS partition
(for the FAT32 partition the options appear in the menu but are not
available).

Thanks,
Juan
Click to expand...

So, try a Linux Live CD, like the Gparted CD.
 
J

Juan

Thanks for your answer. I had read that it could so I had to ask (I thought
that maybe I had some specific problem with my disk). So, the only solution
to resize it would be a third party software, right?
 
P

Paul Randall

Juan has an answer in front of him, but not necessarily THE answer. There
might be some system setting that can easily be changed to make that option
available. A broken system can't be trusted to tell you the truth about
what it can or can't do.

Having a Microsoft KB article that spells it out would be sufficient to make
one realize it can't be done.

-Paul Randall
 
P

Paul Randall

Rick Rogers said:
Hi,

This line is from the Help files for Disk Manager:

"You can only shrink basic volumes that have no file system or use the
NTFS file system."
Click to expand...

Thanks. Now we know for sure.

-Paul Randall
 
J

Juan

Thanks for your answers.

Is it possible to convert a FAT32 disk into NTFS, shrink it, and then
convert it back to FAT32?
 
R

Rick Rogers

Hi Juan,

Not with the file tools in Vista. You can convert from NTFS to FAT32, but
not the other way around. If you just want to shrink/alter a FAT32 volume,
there are plenty of third party drive tools that will do this like BootIT NG
and Paragon.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
J

Juan

Thanks Rick. I think that closes the issue. Just one comment, i think you
meant "You can convert from FAT32 to NTFS, but not the other way around"
 
G

Gene E. Bloch

Thanks Rick. I think that closes the issue. Just one comment, i think you
meant "You can convert from FAT32 to NTFS, but not the other way around"
Click to expand...

Let's hope so.

I'm not sure of all that GPEdit can do, but it might be a handy tool to
download and burn to a boot disk. I just used it with OK results for some
formatting and partitioning problems that Vista & OS X couldn't handle.

Google for Gnome Partition Editor if GPEdit doesn't work.

No, this is better: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/index.php

For one thing, it seems to be called GParted, not GPEdit...

You download an ISO file and burn it to CD. Boot from it and be careful :)
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Fat32 XP can read vista ntfs partition 6
Vista question, Dual Boot and FAT32 Support 4
Partition Size Limit for Fat32 14
SATA can exFAT and Not FAT32 8
Install Vista on a FAT32 Partition 2
Re-size partition 3
Partition Vista Hard Drive 11
Resize partition in my T61 notebook 2

Top