Partitioning in Windows 7

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by moonburn, Nov 5, 2009.

  1. moonburn

    moonburn MDL Member

    Jul 27, 2009
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    Hi,

    I have a harddisk of about 500Gb. Due to the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, my recovery partition (13Gb) was gone. After fiddling with the diskpart command, I managed to convert this to unallocated free space. I can create a new drive of this 13Gb, but I'm unable to add it to my C: partition or (this is what I'm planning) creating a bigger partition (around 25Gb) for an other OS. I would like to do this in Windows itself, since I'm not really good in partitioning and don't want to end up with an unusable system. So, to sum up, this is the problem.

    1) I cannot extend my C: drive with the unallocated space, also not possible when it has a drive letter assigned
    2) I cannot create a partition (let's say, D: ) of 25Gb, using the 13Gb unallocated space. When shrinking my C: partition, the unallocated space is created after the C: drive, leading to this scheme:

    Unallocated -- OS Partition (C: ) -- Unallocated

    And I can't merge them with the built-in GUI of Windows 7. Any (unrisky) suggestions?
     
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  2. genuine555

    genuine555 MDL Expert

    Oct 3, 2009
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    U could use some partitioning software, like Acronis. U can merge and split up partitions with such an application. But if you're not really familiar with partitioning, there is always some risk involved. These partitioning programs do have some sort of recovery option (usually a recovery disk), so I advise you to use that none the less. Maybe someone else has an even better solution ?
     
  3. moonburn

    moonburn MDL Member

    Jul 27, 2009
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    Yeah, I'm looking for a better solution. I'm not a noob, but partitioning just isn't my thing :p. I'm sure I'm unable to merge these two 'unallocated' parts because they are severed by the C: partition. Perhaps this was also the case in Vista/XP? I can't remember!
     
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  4. genuine555

    genuine555 MDL Expert

    Oct 3, 2009
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    U can merge it your c partition with Acronis Partition Manager. Of that I am sure. When u merge it, the task will be reserved, and Acronis will ask for a reboot. Upon reboot, the c: partition won't be mounted, and that's when the real merging is done, without data loss. I thought this was also possible in Windows, but am not certain, as I never use the built-in partitioning tool.
     
  5. dlonra

    dlonra MDL Novice

    Aug 14, 2009
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    You could use the GParted Live Cd. It can however ruin your partition table. So have some recovery tools at hand.
     
  6. moonburn

    moonburn MDL Member

    Jul 27, 2009
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    So, Windows can't probably perform this task, since the partition is active? That makes sense, I could check out some 3rd party software. Anyone has experience with a 'standard' Windows solution, perhaps with the 'diskpart' command?
     
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  7. kETE

    kETE MDL Novice

    May 3, 2009
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    i'm not pro in this things but if windows add the new partion you shrinking from c after c , why you dont merge th first unlocated partion to c and then shrinking c and then you have two unlocated partions as this:
    c 1 2
     
  8. moonburn

    moonburn MDL Member

    Jul 27, 2009
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    That's what I also thought of, but I can't merge the unallocated space to C: ....
     
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  9. swallen

    swallen MDL Novice

    Aug 3, 2009
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    everywhere you go there is acronis, there are other tools than acronis?

    Acronis is bad...
     
  10. moonburn

    moonburn MDL Member

    Jul 27, 2009
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  11. dlonra

    dlonra MDL Novice

    Aug 14, 2009
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    Yep, Easeus is great. But ... you can't change you're Windows partition when it's running (as far as I know).
     
  12. Servi

    Servi MDL Member

    Aug 12, 2009
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  13. moonburn

    moonburn MDL Member

    Jul 27, 2009
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    I can shrink it, but I can't enlarge it, that is the strange fact...
     
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  14. genuine555

    genuine555 MDL Expert

    Oct 3, 2009
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    Try partitionwizard, as Servi said. This looks pretty good to me too...
     
  15. swallen

    swallen MDL Novice

    Aug 3, 2009
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    #17 swallen, Nov 5, 2009
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2009
    that Partition Wizard sounds good...
    anything else but acronis.
     
  16. NoJuan999

    NoJuan999 Experienced SLIC Tool Operator

    Jul 31, 2009
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    #18 NoJuan999, Nov 5, 2009
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2009
    google this:
    Paragon Partition Manager v10 Server boot cd

    It should do exactly what you want with no problems.
     
  17. roirraW "edor" ehT

    roirraW "edor" ehT MDL Addicted

    Sep 1, 2007
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  18. swallen

    swallen MDL Novice

    Aug 3, 2009
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    i like the boot cd, cant wait to test it :)