Is it possible to change partition sizes without formatting pc?

[Black Panther]

So I have this weird problem. It is on our main pc at work so I can't experiment.

When I first assembled it and installed Windows 7, I had made a 65GB partition for Windows.
In the other much larger partition there is our accounting program.
There is no junk on this pc, and nothing gets saved in the 65GB partition, we only use it for our accounting program where everything gets saved to the ''B'' partition.
The OS is still Windows 7 to date.

The problem is that now the smaller partition dedicated to the OS is nearly full... (I had thought 65GB was more than enough for the OS?) I remember reading (when I built this pc around 2 years ago) that 20GB was sufficient for an OS partition, and to be on the safe side I made it 3 times larger! So I can't figure out how this happened.

But most importantly, is there a way I can re-partition the drive, say increase the OS one by 40 GB which I remove from the ''B'' partition?

Formatting the pc is not an option, because probably then our accounting program won't work - and I can't reinstall the accounting program myself because one of the conditions of our contract is that installations are always done by our supplier against a (rather hefty) fee...

 

[dorsetknob]

Partition magic i believe can do what you want "on the fly"
check it out or other partition managing software

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Disk management or a 3rd party tool will do this easily for you, I'd say look and see if you have the Windows 10 update files downloaded as they are about 10-15GB and clean out all your temp files, windows updates etc

 

[Disparia]

If you've never run Disk Cleanup on that machine, it's time to do so

Also, user profiles are also stored there so without regular cleanup they'll grow as well. Especially if Outlook or another mail app is being used (opposed to web-only service).

Disabling hibernation is good way to free 4 or more GB (depends on how much RAM you have). https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/920730

Not saying you shouldn't expand your partition, it's built-in and easy like NdMk2o1o said, just that it may only put off the problem for another year or two.

 

[jboydgolfer]

If I were You, I would use disc-wizard from seagate, or acronis to make a "dynamic" backup , or clone of the small partition, then move it over to the larger drive, where before Moving you could either create another partition, or just not create the partition, and then copy the back-up, or clone to the new partition. Re-boot with the newly placed OS, and then erase the old , small partition.

 

[cadaveca]

you can use the disk management tool in Windows to do this. You simply shrink the larger partition first, then add it to the smaller one. takes just a couple of minutes to do.

 

[Strontium_dog]

I've found Paragon Hard Disk Manager to be very good to resize partitions, super easy to use too

 

[Deeveo]

Just make backups of any important data before doing anything that touches partitions. Just in case.

 

[qubit]

Disc cleanup would free up a lot of space on C, but ultimately it's still a small partition for your OS so you should enlarge it to about 128GB or so.

Get Paragon's Hard Disc Manager which will resize your partitions very easily and with little fuss, which is what I use. Given the importance of your data, you *must* first image that HDD onto another, check it boots and that all data is readable as an insurance policy before modifying the original.

 

[Black Panther]

Thanks, I'll see if I can do it with the disk management tool in Windows as Dave said. I never resized partitions on a working pc before so I wanted to make sure.
Regards cleaning up, I regularly run ccleaner to remove all junk.

 

[cdawall]

Yep disk management should do the job just fine.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I've used EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition dozens of times and not once had any problems. So I highly recommend it. I note it is free for home/personal use.

 

[newtekie1]

Disk Management can do this, but I've had bad experiences with it in the past when doing this type of operation. Mainly it required me to change the disk to a dynamic disk to do it and I didn't like that.

I prefer to use Acronis Disk Director now, I bought a copy a long while ago and it is so nice to use.

Also, where is that guy that said Windows never grows and putting Windows on a 60GB SSD is fine?

But yes, Windows does grow due to updates, which is why I just stopped partitioning hard drives all together a long time ago. And I won't install Windows on anything less than 120GB.

And like others have said, you might want to run Disk Cleanup first, making sure to click the button to clean up system files.

Regards cleaning up, I regularly run ccleaner to remove all junk.

CCleaner doesn't do the same thing as Disk Cleanup. CCleaner touches some of the same things as Disk Cleanup(emptying out temp directories and internet cache) but it doesn't touch the old system files left over from windows update and things like that.

 

[Deeveo]

I've used EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition dozens of times and not once had any problems. So I highly recommend it. I note it is free for home/personal use.

It's good software, I just don't like the crapware it wants to install with the free version

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Partition Magic FTW (the bootable version)

Maybe sure you have got time will take awhile and on a UPS incase of power outage

 

[Bill_Bright]

CCleaner doesn't do the same thing as Disk Cleanup. CCleaner touches some of the same things as Disk Cleanup(emptying out temp directories and internet cache) but it doesn't touch the old system files left over from windows update and things like that.

True but I note CCleaner is one of my favorite tools I use regularly and recommend often. And I like and recommend it often just because it is not overly aggressive.

For example, if you run Disk Cleanup (which is a great tool too) it will delete all your cookies. With CCleaner, you can tell it leave specific cookies. So, for example, I have it set to save my TPU cookies so after running CCleaner, I don't have to re-enter my login credentials to post in this forum. And because it is not overly aggressive, it is the ONLY registry cleaner I recommend and use too.

It's good software, I just don't like the crapware it wants to install with the free version

I don't like it either - but I don't have a problem with it because it is easy to opt out of all that junk. We, as users, must always - as in EVERY SINGLE TIME - use the custom installation option when installing ANY software or software updates. Otherwise we will just be accepting the defaults which include default installation locations and potential toolbars, search engines, auto-updaters and more.

And note I don't have a problem with these extras (again, if allowed to opt out of them) that come with free programs because I respect the fact these developers need to feed and shelter their families too.

Maybe sure you have got time will take awhile and on a UPS incase of power outage

Excellent point. A power outage in the middle of manipulating partitions (or flashing a BIOS too!) could be catastrophic. All my computers are on a "good" UPS with AVR and have been for years so I forget to mention that when posting. Again, excellent point, SnakeDoctor.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Partition magic i believe can do what you want "on the fly"
check it out or other partition managing software

+1

 

[phoebeli]

One of the option is an open source program called GParted. You can create a Bootable GParted Live CD that will allow you to boot the computer, repartition and resize the drive, and reboot all without reformatting the computer and losing data.

However, I have had a few errors with GParted in the past. When GParted would not work for me, I would get a very nondescript error - failed. That's it, no explanation, just failed! For these reasons, I have been using another program for the last few years to change the size of a partition. That program is EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition. Best of all, the home edition is free.

 

[R-T-B]

PartitionMagic has been discontinued for some time people, like 2004:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PartitionMagic

 

[Jetster]

Because the program is written to the partition directly after the OS disk management may not work. Third party program will do it. However if its critical stuff I would buy a new OS drive and clone the OS to it and see if it will boot and then add the drive back as a second. Then you will not have to bother the program or partition at all. Of course back everything up. Just another way to do it.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Seriously no need to keep making it more complicated than it is.... Disk management will do this without any 3rd party software, freeware, discontinuedware, using a boot CD etc etc I've done it many many times, it would be good however if the OP could update us if she has managed to do it as of yet.

 

[Frick]

Why did you split it up to begin with?

 

[NdMk2o1o]

Why did you split it up to begin with?

I never quite understand this myself tbh, I think if you only have the one drive then having a partition solely for Windows, if Windows ever takes a dump and goes wrong and you need to reinstall it's not going to take your data with it on the other partition(s). I guess this makes sense though if the data on other partitions is that sensitive you should have another drive/NAS or whatever to back it up to anyway cause this method is null and void in the event the HDD craps it.

personally I don't really like the idea as there are going to be times when the read/write head is all over the place if your accessing data on the other partitions within Windows and doing other stuff...

 

[Devon68]

I never quite understand this myself tbh

Tbh I don't understand why wouldn't you do it. This way when reinstalling windows the data on the other partition stays untouched. Lets say if windows gets corrupted or breaks I can reinstall it without loosing my data.

Since the first Pc I got in 2004 I always had 2 partitions 1 for data and 1 for windows. That's just how I'm used to.

I guess this makes sense though if the data on other partitions is that sensitive you should have another drive/NAS or whatever to back it up to anyway

That is a great idea.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I never quite understand this myself tbh, I think if you only have the one drive then having a partition solely for Windows, if Windows ever takes a dump and goes wrong and you need to reinstall it's not going to take your data with it on the other partition(s) personall I don't really like the idea as there are going to be times when the read/write head is all over the place if your accessing data on the other partitions within Windows and doing other stuff...

Tbh I don't understand why wouldn't you do it. This way when reinstalling windows the data on the other partition stays untouched. Lets say if windows gets corrupted or breaks I can reinstall it without loosing my data.

Since the first Pc I got in 2004 I always had 2 partitions 1 for data and 1 for windows. That's just how I'm used to.

That is a great idea.

Cause I have an SSD for my OS and a HDD for my data. As I said if your data isn't backed up you risk losing it all if the drive not just the C: partition dies on you. It was more popular back in the XP days maybe when SSD's weren't about and HDD's were quite expensive though I haven't felt the need to do this for years and you really should back your stuff up not have a seperate partition for Windows and data should Windows break.... nevermind that, what if your drive breaks... and if you have a backup there's no need for seperate paritions in the first place.