how do I solve this partition problem in vista?

[bitt3n]

I just installed Vista (64-bit) on a 640 gig drive and then I decided I wanted to put Vista in a 50 gig partition, which means I want to create a 550 gig partition on the drive (~600 gigs total useable space). However, the smallest partition Disk Management will let me make is about 300 gigs (ie, half the useable space).

I searched around and it seems like this is a known problem, involving Vista putting some file in the middle of the drive that cannot be moved when it formats the drive.

Is there some way to fix this?

 

[Fardringle]

If you have installed programs/files/etc., make a backup of the drive with a disk imaging program, delete the partitions and reformat with the new partition sizes you want, then restore Vista back to the drive.

If you have not installed anything except Vista yet, simply wipe the drive and start over with the correct partition size, then install Vista on the new 50GB partition.

 

[bitt3n]

There appears to be no option to partition drives during Vista install. I can only format the drives. So it seems that I cannot create the correct partition size before installing, and then once I have installed it, I cannot create the correct partition size because of the bizarre way Vista formats the drive.

Any further advice would be appreciated.

 

[bitt3n]

Update: this appears to be a common problem, and some people have suggested using diskpart.exe to do the partitions rather than Vista's disk management program, but I have the same problem with diskpart.exe, namely, the size of the partition I can create appears to be limited to ~ half the space on the drive. It seems odd that there could be no solution to this. Is there any third-party program I can use that will allow me to make larger partitions?

 

[techs]

Couldn't you just use a WinXP disk to make the partitions?

 

[bitt3n]

yeah I ended up using bootitng to do it. it just seemed ridiculous that vista would be so useless

 

[RebateMonger]

Did you try the "Drive Options (advanced)" option when installing Vista from the Install DVD? It allows you to create, extend, delete, and format partitions.

From inside Vista, you can also shrink your existing partition.

 

[bitt3n]

hm.. clicked on that during both installs and saw only the format option for some reason.. the vista partitioner works except you can only shrink a volume up to half its total size

 

[lucky9]

GParted, PartedMagic and several others are available online as bootable ISO images. They have no restrictions and are easy and straightforward to use. Usually 30 to 50MB in size.