Shrinking volume barrier

[Gene Hora]

Based on some good advice received here, I performed a "shrink" of my 320 GB
hard disk and divided it into 3 partitions (which includes the small
"Recovery" partition) with no trouble. The only objection I had was that
the Vista wouldn't let me shrink the C:\ volume as much as I wanted. It
would only let me shrink it to 204 GB, leaving about 140 GB free space. The
default setting for the Pagefile is a maximum of 2217 MB. The 3rd partition
(E: drive) could only be increased to about 84 GB. I'd like to enlarge this
volume.

I'd like to shrink the primary C: down to 120 GB and increase my E: drive,
but don't understand what is preventing me from doing this. In Computer
Management I got a message stating that Snapshot files or paging file could
limit the amount of shrinking the volume, but this doesn't seem plausible to
me. Admittedly, I know little about this. Is there a solution or must I be
satisfied with the current status?

 

[Don]

Based on some good advice received here, I performed a "shrink" of my
320 GB hard disk and divided it into 3 partitions (which includes the
small "Recovery" partition) with no trouble. The only objection I had
was that the Vista wouldn't let me shrink the C:\ volume as much as I
wanted. It would only let me shrink it to 204 GB, leaving about 140 GB
free space...

Assuming it's not a Vista bug, the only thing that should limit the
shrinking is the amount of free disk space on C:

My Computer should tell you the amount of used/free space on each drive.
(Each version of Windows needs more space, of course.) My C: drive has
9GB of used space. The recommended size for C: is 15GB total.

If you are downloading large files from the internet you can expect your
'temporary internet files' to be using a huge amount of temporary disk
space. Try cleaning up your temp files in IE, etc.

 

[LaRoux]

You're basically being limited by files that can't be relocated while the
system is running. The message is telling you what types of files might
cause this. You can temporarily shrink your pagefile down to the minimum (or
relocate it to a different drive) and then go in and delete your snapshot
files and restore points. This may allow you to shrink further.

 

[Richard Urban]

You will have to continue your partition work using a 3rd party Disk
Management program, one that boots from a CD to run.

I use Acronis Disk Director Suit 10.0.2160

It is 100% Vista compatible. Because I created, and then boot from the
Emergency CD, I am not bound by the limitations of locked system files.

Just make sure that you clean up your system first and then do a defrag.
This makes it easier to accomplish partition work.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User

 

[Gene Hora]

Seems a good way to go. I had been looking at the Acronis site, but
couldn't find any info about Disk Director being Vista compatible yet. I'll
look into it and try your method. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Richard Urban]

You're welcome. Let us know how it goes.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User

 

[Don]

Seems a good way to go. I had been looking at the Acronis site, but
couldn't find any info about Disk Director being Vista compatible yet.
I'll look into it and try your method. Thanks for all the responses.

Just be aware that *only* the most recent DD build (2160) is Vista
aware. If you buy DD in a store the first thing you must do is update
it (for free) from the Acronis website. They are really great about
such things.

 

[NoStop]

You're welcome. Let us know how it goes.

How what goes? What am I welcome about? Oh duh. Looks like top posting has
struck again, leaving your post making no sense at all to someone who will
come across it in the future. Some people just seem to refuse to learn how
postings should be made on UseNet. Especially those with the Most Valuable
Player title behind their names.

Cheers.


--
The "Wow" starts now.

Windows is not a virus! Viruses are small, efficient and built to get a job
done. Windows on the other hand ...

 

[Gene Hora]

I followed your advice, purchased Disk Director Suite 10.0.2160 and used the
Boot Disk scenario to re-size the hard drive partitions. That worked out
well. Thanks for the help.

 

[Richard Urban]

You're welcome Gene.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban MVP
Microsoft Windows Shell/User