1

Topic: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

Sometime in the past I resized my Windows XP partition to try to install a different os. I shrank the XP partition almost as far as I could to have the most room to work with getting the new os installed. Now I need to enlarge that partition but get an error everytime I try to enlarge it. I tried google trying to find a solution but the only results I find are people wanting to shrink the partition. I saved the error I received from trying to resize it but not sure of how to post it because there is so much text involved in it. All help is appreciated.

2 (edited by stormhead 2009-02-08 11:25:36)

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

Hi!

Just copy the text of the error message here, and put "code" tags around it. The result would then look like (the underlines "_" must not be included in your posting)

[_code_]beginning of your error message
...
...
...
end of your error message[_/code_]

Additionlally, many problems that occur when resizing NTFS partitions can be solved by
1. defragmenting the partition;
2. running chkdsk /f on that partition two or three times from the Windows command line (the system will ask if it is OK to run the test upon the bext reboot. Accept this, and reboot immediately).

3

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

I have defragmented quite a few times and have run the chkdsk once with no help, i will try running it a few more times today. Here is the error I get.

[code] GParted 0.3.5<BR><BR>
Libparted 1.7.1<BR><BR>
<TABLE border=0>
<TR>
<TD colspan=2>
<b>Grow /dev/sdb1 from 22.03 GiB to 77.70 GiB</b>

4

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

Hi!

This error log states that GParted could not access several sectors on your hard drive due to I/O errors. This could mean that
- the file system is damaged - running chkdsk /f repeatedly should fix this;
- your hard drive is bad - check it using the utilities provided by your hard drive's manufacturer (or with Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test or Seagate's SeaTools for DOS if "your" manufacturer does not offer such a tool);
- GParted has a problem with your hard drive or controller - in this case, waiting for the next GParted Live release could help, as well as trying the PartedMagic LiveCD could (PartedMagic is another project focusing on hard drive partitioning, and it also uses GParted as the main workhorse - but since the PartedMagic LiveCD is built upon a different Linux distro than the GParted LiveCD, it might work on hardware where the GParted Live media won't function properly and vice versa).

5 (edited by ShabamJenkins 2009-02-09 08:05:32)

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

I've used gparted to change the partition sizes on the hdd quite a few times now, and the last time i successfully did it was probably 3 months ago. After running multiple defrags and chkdk's I still recieve an error when trying to resize my windows partition. Here is the error, as I'm not sure it changed from the first one.
[code]GParted 0.3.5<BR><BR>
Libparted 1.7.1<BR><BR>
<TABLE border=0>
<TR>
<TD colspan=2>
<b>Grow /dev/sdb1 from 22.03 GiB to 77.70 GiB</b>

6

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

I see that you use version 0.3.5, that is somehow old. Could you try the latest livecd, please? (latest stable version is 0.4.1-2). Sometimes we have reports on bad sectors, that don't appear with newer versions of the software.

Did you use the GParted livecd or GParted from within some other cd, like any Linux install cd? (I think Ubuntu 8.04 cd contained GParted 0.3.5)

Try to resize the partition in more steps.

Sometimes a damaged data cable can cause communication problems between the hard drive and the computer.

And, of course, a hard drive problem couldn't be excluded. So backup, backup, backup wink

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

7

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

I was using a ubuntu livecd to try to do the resizing. I downloaded the latest stable version of gparted (0.4.1-2) and tried booting from it and resizing but to get the same instant error no matter how little I try to add. There is one thing that I have noticed however. The bar that is my windows partition doesn't have a brown bar across it, which I assume means how much space is already taken in the partition. Instead it is a solid white, unlike my ubuntu partition. I am guessing this means that gparted isn't recognizing what is really in that partition for some reason? If that is the case is there a possible alternative that may read the partition better? I've used gparted for all of my partition editing so far, it's strange that it would suddenly run into this problem the way it has.

8

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

GParted checks the partition first. It doesn't proceed in case of any problem detection. Problems can affect the filesystem, the disk surface, or both.

You can try another option, the command
chkdsk /f /r
It is perhaps better to run it from the safe mode. These 2 options
/f /r
force the command to check both the filesystem and the disk surface, and eventually recover lost data. It takes much longer to finish.

You could make a screenshot from the GParted screen, to show the exact partition state, and post here the output from the command
fdisk -l
(from the terminal window), that give useful details. It is possible that there is something wrong in the partition table.

Finally, if you are sure that the drive is good, you can even try ntfsresize from the command line, using parameters that ignore the check results.

(Topic moved to the live media section)

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

9

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

I ran the chkdsk /f /r which went all the way through but didn't really seem to do anything different then normal, except for the time it took and 2 extra steps.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7420/gpartedkn5.th.jpg


Here is the screenshot I took from gparted after running the fdisk -l command. I also fit in the partition table to show you what I meant about the brown bar being absent.

10

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

Hello,
due to your screenshot, you use TWO bootflags. Since only Windows depends on ONE bootflag, I would remove the second bootflag on /dev/sdb5, the Linux volume in extended partition, or, if you use a Linux Bootmanager like GRUB to start Linux AND Windows, remove both bootflags.

Furthermore, I would align the start of the extended partition to a cylinder border by shrinking it from the lower (left) border, thus adding the 7.84 MiB unallocated space inside the extended partition to the unallocated space outside.

Regards
cmdr

11

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

I removed both bootflags because I do use the grub bootmanager, however I still get an error when trying to resize the partition. The 7.84 mib doesn't want to be taken away from that partition or added into the linux part. When I try resizing it's as if that space isnt' there...

12

Re: Enlarging Windows XP Partition Error

Hello,

what did you try exactly :

1. Resizing the extended partition (/dev/sdb2; by moving its left border to the right) ?

2. Resizing the first logical volume on extended partition
(/dev/sdb5; by moving its left border to the left) ?

3. Did you mark cylinder alignment with "Gparted" ?

7.84 MiB is approx. the size of one cylinder ( 255 heads x 63 sectors x 512 Bytes/sector = 8,225,280 Bytes => 7.844 MiB). For Windows, partitions should start at a cylinder boundary. If the total size of a harddisk does not match a gapless cylinder alignment, the gap or unallocated "slack" should be at the end and outside the drives logical structure and not inbetween. "GParted" only shows such a gap, if it has nearly cylinder size.

Regards
cmdr