is it possible to shrink an existing partition?

[minofifa]

hi
basically i have my main drive split into 2 equal sizes (40 gig each). I want to add a 3rd partition to my hard drive. is there a way that i can shrink the existing two partitions to make room for a third? I had a look in administration tools but i don't see anything that could help. I don't want to reformat the existing partitions.

thanks. oh yeah i'm using windows xp

 

[calyco]

PartitionMagic will shrink it, easy to use too.

 

[timswim78]

There is a notfree utility called "Partition Magic" that people seem to love. (I have never tried it myself.
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: deviant03
PartitionMagic will shrink it, easy to use too.

 

[pcgeek11]

Originally posted by: timswim78
There is a notfree utility called "Partition Magic" that people seem to love. (I have never tried it myself.
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

Powerquest sold all of their products to Symantec. It is now Norton Partitionmagic. It works great I have been using it since version 3, it is now at version8.X and worth every dime.

pcgeek11

 

[OffTopic1]

Yes you can as long as you have empty room on your hdd to do so.

There are several commercial partition managers that you can purchase for Windows to do the task.

Or, use a live Linux CD/DVD/USB that pack with NTFSresize (GParted/QTParted) to do the task for free (Knoppix, Ubuntu, Mepis, Mandriva, Fedora , SUSE, etc?)

Good luck!

 

[videoclone]

shrinking partitions makes baby jesus cry.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: pcgeek11

Originally posted by: timswim78
There is a notfree utility called "Partition Magic" that people seem to love. (I have never tried it myself.
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

Powerquest sold all of their products to Symantec. It is now Norton Partitionmagic. It works great I have been using it since version 3, it is now at version8.X and worth every dime.

pcgeek11

Partition magic is a awesome program, but I have lost data while moving and resizing multiple partitions.

I have not used the latest version yet.

 

[bacillus]

how come no mention of Acronis Disk Director??

 

[powerMarkymark]

Acronis software is the best for these types of operations, I have heard and experienced disaster situations with Partition Magic.

M@rc

 

[minofifa]

hmm sounds like i have some backing up before i go ahead with this partion rearranging. thanks for all of the help.

 

[spherrod]

Originally posted by: minofifa
hmm sounds like i have some backing up before i go ahead with this partion rearranging. thanks for all of the help.

Definitely back up your data before using any of the suggested software. Personally, Partition Magic has always worked well for me but I would always have a backup just in case

 

[nweaver]

back up your important data ALWAYS, but especially before doing anything like partition resizing, drive cloning to move drives, etc.

 

[minofifa]

partition magic worked exactly as i hoped it was, thanks for suggesting it.

one other thing. on this new partition i want to put on fedora core 4. in what format should i use? i think i used NTFS. i thought i read taht i should have used FAT32, but i also noticed the option to use linux x2, or linux x3 etc. does it even matter? won't the install process reformat that partition to whateve it has to be? thanks again.

 

[sourceninja]

you can also save the money on partition magic and use a knoppix boot CD with qtparted or gparted on it. They work just as well.

 

[OffTopic1]

Fedora suport ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS. And during install it will ask you what hdd for linux partition (manual/auto mode Disk Druid).

You didn't need to resize Windows NTFS partition prior to install Fedora, because Fedora come with a graphical NTFSresize (QTParted/Parted) to to the task for free.

 

[minofifa]

oh ok thanks.

well i went ahead and made a partition in NFTS format for fedora (before your kind advice so i'll just tell fedora to install and do what it wants to that partition i made.