Change or Resize Partition (NTFS, FAT or FAT32) Size in Windows Vista
In Windows Vista, it’s very easy to change the size of the partition or resize partition by using Disk Management Console, which also provides ability to change drive letters or paths. Partitions with NTFS, FAT32 or FAT file system can be resized with the Disk Management utility. And unlike Windows XP or Windows 2000, there is no third-party application program such as Partition Magic needed. Disk Management Console can resize the partitions without any data loss or the need to delete and remove the existing partition and recreate the partition with new size.
To resize partition size or change the size of partitions in Windows Vista:
- Click on the Start button, and then right click on Computer and select Manage.
- In the Computer Management console, click and expand Storage branch, and click on Disk Management to open and access Disk Management Console.
- Disk Management Console display the details of all available volumes and disk drives in the computer configuration in the right pane.
- Right click on any volume or partition that needs to resize or change the size, and select either Expand (to increase the size) or Shrink (to reduce the size) to change the size of the partition.
- Enter amount of space to expand or shrink in MB (cannot exceed the size of available expand or shrink space in MB).
- Click on Expand or Shrink button when done.
- Windows Vista will reduce or extend the size of the partition online immediately, without the risk of data loss.
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Entries (RSS)
August 26th, 2008 14:02
hi, I do not get the option to “EXTEND VOLUME” after I leave unallocated space.
I want to extend my C: drive, but it won’t let me! Why is that?!
August 7th, 2008 10:55
Thanks alot, great post!!!
June 3rd, 2008 03:03
To Jaxon
go to your pc bios by pressing del or f2 when you power on yor pc. find sata hdd. change THE OPTION AHCI TO IDE OR COMPATIBILITY.THEN GO TO EXIT AND SELSECT SAVE AND EXIT AND PRESS ENTER.NOW U CAN INSTALL WINDOWS XP.
May 9th, 2008 19:56
[...] Prepare another hard disk or a drive partition (Guide: Change size of existing partition in Vista). [...]
April 11th, 2008 21:54
[...] Prepare another hard disk or a drive partition (Guide: Change size of existing partition in Vista). [...]
March 11th, 2008 21:19
[...] Prepare another hard disk or a drive partition (Guide: Change size of existing partition in Vista). [...]
February 21st, 2008 14:52
I’m trying to install XP Pro on my Hp Compaq nx7300 Notebook, this the error message! Setup did not find hard disk drives in your computer.
Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacture- supplied diagnostic or setup program.
Setup cannot continue. To quit , press F3.
But there a SATA hard disk inside….
please help…
Thanks
February 20th, 2008 00:11
@ravi, otoniel,
Do reversed of my tips to Ian Cuthbert.
1. Shrink drive C: and leave space you need in Mb for next drive (partition).
2. Do ‘New Simple Voume..’ when right click on that unallocated space.
February 20th, 2008 00:05
@Ian Cuthbert,
I think $22 is too expensive for me. All you have to do is:
1. Shrink drive D: from 100Gb down to 70Gb. You will have an allocated volume about 30Gb.
2. Extend Volume drive C:, and use maximum size available (30Gb).
3. Done.
February 20th, 2008 00:00
@kh,
if did not find erase menu, that is ‘Delete Volume…’ when you right-click on drive D:
February 19th, 2008 23:58
@kh,
(CMIIW) if you are sure that D: is 100% free space, so just erase the partition on it and leave it unallocated.
Then, right click on drive C:\ and do as well as in this tutorial above.
(be careful, once you erase the partition of D:, you will have data on that drive gone. make sure no data there)
February 13th, 2008 23:11
Actually i got 4 partitions, local disk C , D, E and F. I am uisng vista. Local disk D have 100% free space. Can you help me to combine local disk C with local disk D without affecting the data. I had failed to expand the local disk C. Thanks in advance.
January 26th, 2008 01:02
I had a problem with a 120G drive which my son had formatted as Drive C 20G and Drive D as 100G. I also found that whilst the Vista Disc Management allowed Drive D to be shrunk, it wouldn’t allow me to expand Disc C into the space.
Last night I downloaded Paragon Software Partition Manager Version 9 Personal Edition for about £22 and this afternoon resized disc C to 50G with Disc D at 70G (in round figures) with no effort on my part. I’ve achieved what I wanted. The proportions were my choice – Partition Manager appeared to be able to accommodate any ratio to include additional partitions but I haven’t investigated the latter.
Ian
January 5th, 2008 01:58
Thank you so much, your directions step by step were extremely helpful!
Thanks again.
January 3rd, 2008 10:08
Useless for me. It will only reduce my system drive to 78 GB, which is a damned waste. Also, Instead of being able to see the size of the unpartitioned space, it only lets me choose how much I take away from the old partition. Why couldn’t Microsoft wasted a lousy 10 minutes making this program? Lazy bastards.
December 30th, 2007 04:49
hi how can I mix two partitions in to the one partition? thanks
December 15th, 2007 05:51
I have got only 1 single partition (C:\) in my desktop with Windows Vista. How can I create a new partition using Disk Management Console. Please help.
December 15th, 2007 00:35
much thanx
had Partition Magic was looking to buy Partition Manager (Vista compatible)
Excellent tip
December 12th, 2007 06:13
I have got only 1 single partition (C:\) in my laptop with Vista. How can I create a new partition using Disk Management Console. Please help.
Also, Vista is very slow and is eating up 700 MB of RAM for just OS functioning. Is it normal?
October 26th, 2007 01:53
You can also relocate your Vista hard drive to another machine (w/ an older version of Windows that has PartionMagic on it) as an add’l drive, alter the partitions however you see fit (w/o needing any reboots since you didn’t boot from it), then put the drive back in your Vista box.
Why, might you ask?
Because Vista has a lot of constraints on repartitioning, so there are actually very few scenarios which permit repartitioning.
For example, I just bought a loaded Dell laptop with Vista and 2 partitions on the single HDD. I could shrink the Vista partition but could not reclaim the space, merge it with another partition, or even create a new partition because I got a “not enough drive space” no matter what partition size I selected.
Comparing Microsoft’s partitioning tool to PartitionMagic is like comparing their defragger to PerfectDisk, roflmao.
Lloyd (OEM/VAR)
August 22nd, 2007 00:14
Thanks a bunch!
ur article is so excellent and usefull.
July 14th, 2007 19:53
also, you can’t take some space from a logical partition and give it to the primary one
June 14th, 2007 12:02
it only works with NTFS partitions – i had to convert it with “convert d: /FS:NTFS” before i could resize a fat32 partition.
June 6th, 2007 17:34
when i want format unalocate partiton on vista, windows massage “ther is not space”
April 29th, 2007 03:41
excellent tip!!! since I did not want to spend money on buying a software to do this, working with partitions in windows vista is quite simple with disk management… Thank you very much for your help!!!
Gui Vieira