Windows Server 2003: how to resize partition?

[UNCjigga]

Okay, I've got a Win 2k3 Server machine here at work, and when we did the automated Dell install (off the PowerEdge Server CD/BIOS) it allocated 4GB for the primary boot partition (C drive) and the rest of the 80GB for an extended partition (E drive.) I guess this is standard protocol, and didn't think much of it. However, we've now run into a situation on the machine where we would like to resize the primary to 8GB.

On any standard OS, PartitionMagic would be the answer, but the box of the latest 8.0 in the store didn't mention support for Windows Server 2003. A call to sales confirmed that PartitionMagic won't work on any MS Server OS. He didn't go into details and couldn't offer a solution.

Is there any partition management product that can resize a Windows 2003 Server NTFS partition??

 

[spyordie007]

I'll bet a set of partition magic boot disks would do the trick, they dont care what OS is on the partitions they move. He probable just means you cant install the application under the server OS's.

-Spy

 

[UNCjigga]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
I'll bet a set of partition magic boot disks would do the trick, they dont care what OS is on the partitions they move. He probable just means you cant install the application under the server OS's.

-Spy

I think its a bit more complicated than that--sure the boot-loaded PM would run fine, but after I resized partitions I am likely to get a STOP error like 'inaccessible_boot_device'. I would like to know everything beforehand, since there is no 'Undo' button!

 

[spyordie007]

the start sector of the boot partition would remain where it currently is so I think it would work just fine. I understand your desire to not break it so I would reccomend testing it before doing it to your production server (as always). And even if it is known to work I wouldnt attempt it until I had thouroughly backed up the data + planned enough time to work out any potential problems.

If you like I should have enough free time this evening to try on one of my test servers, I'm also curious as to whether or not it will work.

 

[Smilin]

Is it a dynamic or basic partition? If it's basic you can fix it pretty easily.

 

[CQuinn]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
I'll bet a set of partition magic boot disks would do the trick,

No they won't. AFAIR.

they dont care what OS is on the partitions they move.

Yes they do (at least to my experience). Server versions of the OS write addtional meta-data to the
drive signature that the single user versions of partition magic were not designed to deal with. And
Partition Magic will check for that information and refuse to run if it thinks the system is setup as
a server.

You need to either check what thier server class product is now... (it used to be Partition Magic Pro, then
changed to Server Magic, and now is probably called somthing else) .

Or you need to find the time to:

Backup the 80GB partition
Backup or make an image of the 4GB system partition (an image would probably be better)
(Imaging programs may still work because they don't modify the area where that meta-data is stored).

Delete the partitions
Create a 8GB partition to restore the image to, or let the imaging program restore and create its own
partition as it goes. (Actually, you might want to make a larger than 8GB partition to insure future growth).

Recreate the remaining partition
Restore the data.

 

[Twista]

i use Acronis Partition Expert 2003 its trail but it woudlnt create and resize w/o buying so GL ;p it may work.


Acronis Partition Expert 2003 allows you to resize, copy, and move partitions without losing data, optimize your hard disk drive work-space, and perform many other partitioning tasks. Acronis' exclusive file system support includes Windows FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Linux Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, and Linux Swap.

You've purchased a PC with the only one partition but wish to have additional partitions for your system, applications, data, pictures and movies files. Acronis Partition Expert 2003 will help you to resize your existing partition and create as many partitions as you wish without data loss.

Increase partition free space
Your disk C: is full, but you have space on another partitions. With Acronis Partition Expert 2003 you can easily redistribute free space between partitions.

Install and boot multiple operating systems
Do you want to install another operating system (OS)? Create space for a new OS with Acronis Partition Expert 2003 and use Acronis OS Selector for painless installation and booting multiple operating systems on your PC.

Backup your data
Need to create a backup partition or copy partition for backup purposes? Just reduce your existing partition and create a new one for backup. You can even hide a partition for extra security.

Optimize your system performance and hard disk space usage
Acronis Partition Expert 2003 checks partitions for errors, converts file systems and automatically adjusts cluster size, thus increasing your system performance and giving you more disk space.
And best of all, the unique Acronis Partition Expert 2003 interfaces are designed to allows you to perform everything automatically with just a few mouse clicks making partitioning available for both beginners and PC experts
Requirements: Pentium CPU, 32MB RAM, floppy or CD-ROM


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[Kinesis]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
I'll bet a set of partition magic boot disks would do the trick, they dont care what OS is on the partitions they move. He probable just means you cant install the application under the server OS's.

-Spy

Acutally they do, or at least for me they do. If I try to run PM using the boot disks with 2000 or 2003 server installed, it will state "PM cannot run in a server environment" or something like that.

:-(

 

[blcjr]

However, we've now run into a situation on the machine where we would like to resize the primary to 8GB.

I'm curious about a situation where you need a system partition this large. Is it not possible to move whatever requires a larger system partition to another partition?

Could you possibly take advantage of a volume mount? If there isn't much on the extended partition, I would back it up, delete it, convert the disk to a dynamic disk. You may not be able to extend the size of the system partition, but you could create a volume mount point off of it if you have a need for more logical space on the C: drive. Of course, without knowing why you need a larger system partition, I don't know if this is a solution or not.