How To: Repartition Your Hard Drive For Free Without Formatting or Losing Data
Posted 08/21/08 at 12:00:00 PM by Justin Kerr
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4. Launch GParted Partition Editor
Down in the lower tray you will find the various operating system functions, the one we are interested in is the GParted Partition Editor (circled in the image above). We now need to take a close look at our partition and what we can and cannot do, as well as what we should and should not do.
5.) How to Use the GParted Interface and Understand Your Drive Configuration
It’s important to understand your limitations when it comes to partitioning an active drive, especially one that contains a bootable OS. We will use examples in the above screenshot to explain these limitations. This screenshot represents an extreme scenario, a drive with 3 preexisting partitions, and two active operating systems. Before we go any further we need to understand what each section means.
1.) Hard Drive Selection - This is the Hard Drive currently selected for partitioning, which in this case is a 150 GB Western Digital Raptor. To Change to a different drive simply use the pull down menu and select the appropriate device (these can even be USB).
2.) Partition #1 - This block represents the first preexisting partition which carries the designation /dev/sda1. By looking at the table below (Item #5) we can see the file system is NTFS, the label is Windows XP, and the used/unused space. The Windows XP label was set by me when the drive was formatted. If you have not assigned these labels you will need to figure out based on the size, what each preexisting partition is. Notice the small grey block beside this partition? Grey blocks represent unpartitioned space, it cannot be used by an OS until it is properly partitioned and formatted into a volume.
3.) Partition #2 - This block represents the middle preexisting partition which carries the designation /dev/sda2. By looking at the table below (Item #5) we can see all features of this block including the label Windows Vista. It is important to note that this partition follows /dev/sda1. The importance of this will be clear by the time we finish this section.
4.) Partition #3 - This final preexisting partition carries the designation /dev/sda3 and represents the trailing sectors on the hard drive.
5.) Partition Information – This is where you will see the details of your partitions, review this information carefully to help you identify what is on each.
Lets look at bit more closely at the different scenarios you may encounter based on the above configuration. If you only have one partition on your hard drive (represented by a solid block), your task is a simple one. You will simply be breaking off a chunk from the end of your main partition and formatting it with a file system. It’s simple, and carries minimal risk. But if you have multiple partitions, with two or more bootable OS’s (such as the above scenario), the recommendations below are targeted at you.
What If I want to resize the first block /dev/sda1? – (Label: Windows XP)
When dealing with bootable partitions we will always want to protect the front sectors when resizing whenever possible. In the above scenario the first two blocks /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 represent operating system partitions, Windows XP, and Vista respectively. The third partition /dev/sda3 is a mostly empty swap volume for both operating systems. If I want to add space to the first partition it will need to come from the unallocated grey block directly to the right of it (which in this case is only 5 MB), or from the beginning of /dev/sda2 (Windows Vista). Sectors cannot be taken from /dev/sda3 (OS Shared) because it would not be contiguous.
What If I want to resize the second block /dev/sda2? – (Label = Windows Vista)
Sectors removed from the front of this partition can be added to /dev/sda1 and sectors removed from the back can be added to /dev/sda3. In either scenario, the space could also be use used to form a new partition. If we wish to add space to this partition we will first need to free up sectors from either of the other two volumes.
What if I want to resize the third block /dev/sda3? – (Label = OS Shared)
If we remove sectors from this partition, they can either be added to /dev/sda2 (Windows Vista) or formatted into a new separate partition. They cannot be added to /dev/sda1 since partitions need to be contiguous. If we wanted to add to this partition, the space could only come from /dev/sda2 (Windows Vista).
Tracking
Submitted by PhoneyVirus on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 6:54pm
I have a copy of this, every Poweruser should have a copy in his/her toolbox.
Here's a heads up to anyone
Submitted by MdX MaxX on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 2:57pm
Here's a heads up to anyone doing this. The article says GParted requires 30min for each 100GB of Hard Drive space repartitioned. I don't know where this estimate came from, because when I did this, GParted broke a 100GB chunk off my Drive and made it a new partition in less than 20 seconds. It was just as fast when I merged that chunk back with the main partition.
Submitted by Zoandar on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 10:36pm
I downloaded the version 4.3 Parted magic ISO, and used first Nero 8 and later Alcohol 120 to make discs of the software. However, the Sony notebook I am rebuilding won't boot from either of them. I can boot from other bootable CDs, like Drive Image, but not from these new Parted Magic discs. Did I miss something? What has to be done to make them bootable?
Hmmmm... I'm confused.
Submitted by yogurt80 on Tue, 04/28/2009 - 8:00am
Hmmmm... I'm confused. I used parted majic yesterday, it took all day. I have a 500 GB HD, and with 2 partitions- a 30GB for my OS, and a 470 for music and thngs. I wanted to move 20 GB from the large partiion to my OS partition. I moved 20 GB from the begining of the 2nd partition, but how do I add itto the first partition? now ha 20GB of fre space set between ttwo partins, but I don't know what to do wth it.
Submitted by alakazahm on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 10:12am
I followed the exact guidance here and it appeared to have worked perfectly, however, when I use Disk Manager in Vista to check the new partition layout: Old: 500 GB drive, three partitions, 25, 50, 325 (where Vista was using 22 of the 25 GB of the OS partition hence the need to act to increase the OS partition size), New: 50,50,295, appears perfect, right?! Maybe wrong:
When using Windows Explorer, the C: drive still shows 2.74 GB free of 25 (vice what should be 27.7 GB free). Any ideas anyone?! I need to install SP1 and don't want to act until Windows Disk Manager and Windows Explorer agree..arrgghh!
Submitted by DavidWitteried on Sun, 01/04/2009 - 1:43pm
I tried the ISO image verstion of Parted Magic but it will not see my RAID 0 array. How can I make it work with my RAID array? I am using the motherboard controller on a ASUS Striker II Formula motherboard.
David Witteried
Submitted by Christian Hart on Mon, 09/29/2008 - 1:52am
Another reason this article is so timely: while Partition Magic is still a breeze to use, last time I checked, it isn't supported in Vista. Because Symantec remains a graveyard where old, good software is purchased and then allowed to die, I'm not hopeful they'll update it.<sigh> I'm still using XP but the days seem to be numbered for at least 2 software products I've depended on for years.
Remember to back up your
Submitted by webgrunt on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 3:20pm
Remember to back up your data before doing this, in case a power outage or sudden hardware issue occurs when the partition is being changed.
Submitted by Psychotech on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 7:24pm
I,ve been using Partition Logic for a couple of years now. It looks very similar. It is also free.
Submitted by watuzi on Sun, 08/24/2008 - 7:39am
Thanks Justin, I'm gonna try this on my junk pc as an experiment. Can you do a howto on cloning your OS hard drive into a bigger, newer hard drive? My current pc is getting full and I don't want to do the reformat/reinstall thingy. It's too much of a hassle.
Submitted by frankstanley on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 4:03am
Worked perfectly, I never even knew this was possible before!
Submitted by mikepa on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 9:01am
This a great find ....
I agree that an article on keeping data in a seperate partition on Vista would be usefull. Moving My Docs to D: was easy with XP, but is nigh impossible to do perfectly in Vista (way to go MS!).
Before Partition Majic, there was....
Submitted by Talcum X on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 6:22am
FIPS partition splitter( yes, that's redundent). it was shareware, but it was also pre win95. I dont kow if it has evelved to include Fat32 or NTFS or just faded off into obscurity. But it worked just the same. Slick DOS based util. that I had in my arsinal for years.
***********
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
Submitted by Pixelated on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 6:15am
I agree that this is a great alternative and well done tutorial.
Speaking of Partition Magic, that's all PowerQuest's IP that Nortoin aquired when they bought them out. Don't be fooled Norton makes terrible products and when they run through the rest of PowerQuest's ideas it's back to making garbage products.
Great article, Justin!
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 4:15am
This is an outstanding tutorial, and especially so because it doesn't shy away from the "here's what do if things go wrong" aspect.
I used to be a big Partition Magic fan, but found myself frustrated that the program wouldn't support the biggest hard disks on the market. Do you know if Parted Magic can work with the current crop of 500GB-1TB (and climbing) drives?
I'd also like to see a follow-up discussion of how to use a second partition for data storage in Windows XP and Vista. I've been using one partition for Windows/apps and a second one for data for many years, but I suspect that some readers might not know how to do it.
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Thanks
Submitted by Justin.Kerr on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 3:24pm
And yes it works great with larger drives. Biggest I have tested it with is a 750 GB but i'm sure 1TB wouldn't be a problem.
I agree it was a great
Submitted by PhynaeusClaw on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 7:21am
I agree it was a great article. Here's one question though. (Either for Marc or Justin)
Other than organizational preferences, what is the point of partitioning a single hard drive into an OS partition and a data partition? (Assuming you are only running one OS.)
Submitted by PhynaeusClaw on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 4:04am
Thanks for the comments. I see the light now.
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 8:01pm
I've seen my share of hard disk disasters over the years, including disk crashes, corrupted file systems, and I even restored a disk image to the wrong logical drive one time. By keeping my data on a separate drive, not only am I free to fiddle around with the system drive, my data is also safe from disasters.
It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Submitted by Justin.Kerr on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 3:23pm
Yeah, if you have large files you change often (photoshop or video editing) it's good to contain that to a seperate partition to avoid fragmenting your primary windows volume. It also allows you to format and wipe out your OS but since you keep all your document, music, etc on a seperate drive it's easy to reinstall.
it makes OS defrags and
Submitted by sirphunkee on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 8:03am
it makes OS defrags and reinstalls much much easier and quicker
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