Is it possible to change partition sizes without formatting pc?

[Jetster]

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.

Use another drive not a partition. And you will still have broken programs. It make sense for Data but not system /programs. Maybe is you only have a 32Gb SSD

I use to do it years ago. As far as a separate partition for just the system

 

[Black Panther]

you might want to run Disk Cleanup first, making sure to click the button to clean up system files.

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.

Done Disk Cleanup but it only removed some 600MB.
I checked the folder sizes, my C:\Windows folder there is over 40GB

 

[Devon68]

Well my c/windows folder is 14.1 GB but there are 2 hidden files called
hiberfil.sys - 5.9GB
pagefile.sys - 7.9GB
so it's about 30 gb

 

[Bill_Bright]

See if there is a Windows.old file. If so, and you are happy with Windows right now, you can safely delete it. The Windows.old file when you upgrade from W7/W8.x to W10 and one was created when that big W10 patch came out. It is there to allow you to roll back to the previous version of Windows. It is supposed to automatically delete 30 days after upgrading, but it seems for some, that does not happen.

If it is not Windows.old, then you might try something like Folder Size, TreeSize and/or WinDirStat (my favorite) to map out your drive(s) and see where the space is being used. But I caution, do not delete anything unless sure it is not needed by your system - Google it first.

 

[Black Panther]

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.

Shrinking the larger partition was OK.
But the option to extend the smaller partition is grayed out.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Drive B:? Odd. Letters A and B typically are unavailable as a throwback being normally reserved for floppy disks.

Did that 58.59GB come from drive B:?

What happened to trying to find out where that 40GB went?

 

[Black Panther]

Drive B:? Odd. Letters A and B typically are unavailable as a throwback being normally reserved for floppy disks.

Did that 58.59GB come from drive B:?

What happened to trying to find out where that 40GB went?

It's only one HDD which I had made in 2 partitions, C for Windows and B for everything else.
I shrunk B and removed those Unallocated 58.59GB from it. But it's not permitting me to add them to drive C.

That 40GB is in C:\Windows. I have no windows.old

 

[jsfitz54]

I tried doing what you are trying on a W7 desktop that had the same issue of not allowing you to change the size of the partition.
I believe due to W10 update push that it damages the W7 install and prevents extending the volume.
I don't know which part is affected.
I tried a 3rd party to extend volume and it took forever. (All of this was when W10 was 1st released.)

I had to reinstall W7 then install W10.

You may have to do a repair to W7 first, in order to extend volume C.

 

[jsfitz54]

@Black Panther : After thinking for a while I remembered that 2 issues were present when I could not extend a partition;
1) could no longer run Windows backup.
2) The 100Mb reserved Windows partition which is normally 29.6Mb Used space (disk management, properties) was inflated to 98+ used space, nearly maxed out.
^^^This is the part that I believe W10 fouled.^^^
If you have one or both issues, try as others suggested: Back up via Clone method first, making sure it works then try the repair on the original.

Please let us know the outcome.

 

[Slizzo]

Shrinking the larger partition was OK.
But the option to extend the smaller partition is grayed out.

Right click Disk 0 > Convert to Dynamic Disk

Then you should be able to expand the partitions.

 

[Black Panther]

Right click Disk 0 > Convert to Dynamic Disk

Then you should be able to expand the partitions.

I got this warning when trying to do as you suggested, what exactly does it mean?

Would it be OK? Because I can't risk this pc not booting or anything. It's got our entire accounting and point of sales software on it, and if anything goes wrong even though I have backups I can't reinstall the main software myself for the main reason that I do not possess the disks (as a copyrighting measure by the local program creator), and he'll charge a lot of $$$ to do it himself... (sigh)...

 

[Black Panther]

Any help on the above post please?

 

[Macazine]

Disk management utility can re-partition the drive or there are third party tools available for that task. Just google it..

 

[Solaris17]

Any help on the above post please?

Dont do this.

Disk management fails at this because when free space is allocated from a partition it is always put at the end in disk management. In this case the partition you are taking space FROM is BEHIND the partition you want to give space TOO this puts a partition between where the data needs to be and where data is. Diski management cannot handle this scenario. You will need to use a program like paragon or another partition management program since those programs will actually PUSH the data to the end and free up the free space at the beginning which will put the space NEXT TO the partition that needs it.

 

[hat]

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

I'm one of those. Currently only using 16GB of C:

 

[jsfitz54]

Any help on the above post please?

Dont do this.

Solaris17 is correct.

You will kill your boot drive that you are trying to preserve.

OTHERS need to read the entire post before offering BAD suggestions.

THIS IS A BUSINESS MACHINE WITH PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE THAT MUST BE PRESERVED UNDER ITS LICENSE AGREEMENT.

 

[revin]

I had troubles with Windows Disc Mgnt. doing some of these operations from it's own limitatiions.
Download MiniTool Partition Wizard and it will move the space from the beginning of that 348Gb partition
EDIT: Bingo @Solaris17 is got it .
I've went thru this a few times and he's had TONS of valuable info to help me
EDIT2: I do still have a copy on a HDD
Extend or resize the 348 into the end 58Gb, then Move/Resize,
and can shrink down to say 1/2 of current size.
@Black Panther MAKE sure to check box :
ENHANCED DATA PROTECTION

Then you can select the C: and resize it to the beginning of that partition.

 

[johnspack]

Interesting. Just checked, didn't realize you could still use A and B for drive letters, but you can. If so, then logically B could be expanded using C, but not the other way around. Maybe add a 2nd hd, use an app like minitool to move one part at a time, resize it to larger, add the 2nd one? Basically just reproduce the partitions, but larger on the bigger target hd. Easy enough.

 

[Schmuckley]

Yes! May involve Parted Magic cd

 

[jsfitz54]

Another option to ponder and get second opinions on:

Move B drive to a completely new drive, say a 1TB drive, relatively cheap.
Clone the B partition to the new drive, then extend its partition to the full size of the new drive (if the clone software does not extend it automatically.)
Format the old B Partition.
Then extend the C drive partition to the entire size of that drive; 500GB drive if I've done my math correctly.

???Maybe a call to your software company, explaining your situation and discussing the issue and what you propose to do, they might save you a reinstall fee if you get their permission first.

What's the policy on failed hardware ( the hard drive in question) and a reinstall from your backup?

I ask because some clone software will resize the partitions larger in step with the larger drive, ie a proportionate amount larger.
This way the C drive gets an automatic size bump on the 1TB drive.
I think you can also dial in the amount as well, with certain clone software, so you can specifically size the C drive to the amount you want.

 

[Sasqui]

If you have a 120GB+ on a second HDD, create a system image... repartition the original disk to your hearts desire with the Win 7 install, and restore the image.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Hirens Boot CD 15.2

 

[silentbogo]

You only have ~46GB used on drive B, so it is actually easy to do everything without relying on third party partitioning software.
It will take some time, but overall it is quite easy.

1) Get some flashdrives or borrow an external HDD to back up your 46GB of data from drive B
2) Delete partition B: completely. This is necessary, because partitions only shrink and expand from the end (with some exceptions)
3) Expand drive C:
4) Create new partition from the remaining space. Once it is done - assign it an old letter B:, if data location is critical for your application.
5) Copy everything back.

 

[jsfitz54]

@Black Panther

Another thought:

Turn off Windows Defrag. (this must be done first)
Turn off System Restore. (This will free up some space)
Reboot.
Install Piriform Defraggler to the C drive. http://www.piriform.com/defraggler
Defraggler has an option that allows you to put / defrag large files to the end of the drive.
Select ALL the files on the B partition to move to the end of the drive.
Run program.
The objective is to free up space at the beginning of B so that you can extend C.
Try to extend C.
If successful, turn on Windows Defrag and System Restore.