1 Topic by wiscy1

  • wiscy1
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-01-15
  • Posts: 2

Topic: Question about repartitioning dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit & 64-bit

My computer is currently partitioned into two sections, a dual boot partition with one having Windows XP 64-bit and the other having Windows XP 32-bit. The 32-bit section is running low on space, and we are not using the 64-bit partition.

What we would like to do is combine the two partitions to run under Windows XP 32 without having to format the hard drive.

Can I do this easily in Gparted?

Thanks

2 Reply by stormhead

  • stormhead
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: near Frankfurt/Main, Germany
  • Registered: 2008-07-31
  • Posts: 264

Re: Question about repartitioning dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit & 64-bit

Hi!

Yes, this is easy: After booting GParted, first delete the XP-64 partition. Then, use the "Resize/Move" dialog to grow the XP-32 partition up to the end of the hard drive.
Please note that you might have to restore the Windows boot loader on the XP-32 partition after doing this, so you better have your XP CD at hand! If the system does not boot after resizing, boot from the XP CD, start the recovery console, and issue the fixmbr and fixboot commands; this should restore the boot loader to a working configuration.

Oh, and be sure you have a recent backup of all your valuable data on the XP-32 partition (and also of the XP-64 partition, since all data stored there will be lost)!

3 Reply by wiscy1

  • wiscy1
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-01-15
  • Posts: 2

Re: Question about repartitioning dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit & 64-bit

Great! Thanks for your quick reply.

I will try it out.

4 Reply by class413

  • class413
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2007-05-25
  • Posts: 2,376

Re: Question about repartitioning dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit & 64-bit

(Topic moved to the Live Media section)

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***

5 Reply by seansich

  • seansich
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-01-22
  • Posts: 1

Re: Question about repartitioning dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit & 64-bit

Hello.  I have a problem which might be similar

I have a Windows XP SP3 PC.  I took the HD which was one and shrunk the HD to create two separate partitions.  Here are the steps I performed

1) I booted GParted's live CD
2) I shrunk my XP's HD
3) I created a new partition of the shrunken space
4) I changed the new partition to the NTFS file system in GParted.
5) I restarted the PC

Now it doesn't boot. IT says to press Ctrl - alt - delete.  I am at work, so I don't have the error message in front of me.  I did use "The Ultimate Boot CD" and saw that all of my original files are all still there (whew). My questions are

1) Should I use fixboot or fixmbr?
2) IF I use either, should I backup my files first? I have access to the files via this Ultimate Boot CD.

Thanks for your help.

6 Reply by stormhead

  • stormhead
  • Member
  • Offline
  • From: near Frankfurt/Main, Germany
  • Registered: 2008-07-31
  • Posts: 264

Re: Question about repartitioning dual-boot Windows XP 32-bit & 64-bit

Hi!

seansich wrote:

1) Should I use fixboot or fixmbr?

At least you could give it a try - if your problem is a brobemn Windows boot manager, these commands should help.

2) IF I use either, should I backup my files first? I have access to the files via this Ultimate Boot CD.

You should have backed up your data before resizing your partition - so currently, you already have an up-to-date backup! ;-)
I don't know of any case where these commands trashed data - but you never know...