1 Topic by Knoobquest

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Topic: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

Hi,I have a somewhat complex resizing question concerning a single hard drive that is partitioned into multiple drives with Win XP and Linux both installed on it.First,the windows partitions,C: drive is the primary partition formatted in FAT 32,not ntfs.The next partitions are logical drives in the extended partition.The D: drive is in FAT 32,E: drive is in FAT32,F: drive is in FAT32,and G: drive is in FAT 32.

Everything after the C: drive is in the extended partition.I also have Kubuntu 7.04 in a linux partition divided as root 9.5 GB,/media/home 22 GB,swap 1 GB.

I made my C: primary partition way too small,4GB and have run out of room even though I try to install programs to the other partitions.I have plenty of room to resize D:  (29 GB) to lend C: (4GB) more room,but I don't know if I can do that because D: is a logical drive in the extended partition.D: has some data that can be copied,E: has video games that can be re-installed,F: has music that could be reinstalled,but G: has a backup of another hard drive that I don't want to lose if possible.

Can Gparted help me to resize D: (even if I have to delete the data on it) AND be able to make the extra space available to the C: drive,without destroying any of the other partitions and most importantly the Linux install?

Basically,I need to borrow room from an extended partition and give the space to a primary partition without killing anything else on the drive.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

2 Reply by class413

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

You can resize all these partitions, primary, extended and logical, with the Gparted Livecd.

It is good to have backups, not just for the resizing. The main risk in resizing operations is any power failure or hardware failure, not the resizing operation itself. In general, to grow the primary system partition you need to shrink the extended one. To do this, you have to shrink (or move) logical partitions.

*Don't* use the Gparted version in 7.04 (it is very old and can cause errors). Nevertheless you could use it to see the partitions on the disk and take a sceenshot, for further advice.
You can download the livecd ISO and make a livecd (Image ISO, not data cd). Then you can boot from it. Read the documentation before using the livecd and before doing any operation on the partitions.
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/documentation.php

(Topic moved to the live media section)

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

3 Reply by Knoobquest

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

Ok,I found an example that describes exactly what I want to do with the only exception being the file system is in FAT32 not ntfs.  http://gparted.sourceforge.net/larry/tips/gfs.htm   I want to take space from my D: drive that exist in the extended partition,shrink D:, move the space to the front of the extended partition,then use it to grow my C: drive in the primary partition.If this will work in FAT32,I can do what I need.

Can I download the Live CD files on a windows machine,copy them to my Win XP/Linux box and burn the cd in Kubuntu?It would be easier to be able to burn the ISO in Windows but I'm not sure the ISO files are able to be opened in FAT 32 or ntfs.

4 Reply by class413

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

The work is very similar to that you mention. You can see the documentation "The GParted LiveCD NEW RELEASE", for the newer look of the screen.

The steps you can follow are:
1. Shrink the logical partition, moving the start point to the right (rather than shrinking first the end point and then moving the entire partition).
2. Shrink the extended partition to leave the unallocated space outside.
3. Extend the primary partition.

I did never resize myself a mswindows system partition on fat32 filesystem (they are usually ntfs since long), but I would suggest to boot into windows after each step and check if it goes as expected. Perhaps the consistence check isn't needed in the case of fat32.
Doing a defrag on these partitions before resizing could be helpful (nevertheless not mandatory).

You can download the ISO file from windows too, and read it easily by Kubuntu, because Kubuntu can mount and read fat32 as well as ntfs. You can burn the ISO in windows as well (most people burned his first linux cd from windows).

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

5 Reply by Knoobquest

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

Hi,I downloaded the newest version of Gparted and loaded the Live cd.Every thing went ok until the Forceware drivers crashed back to the bash screen.Do I just load the VESA drivers instead?Even if the screen resolution is bad I can work with it.I just need to be able to get into the Gparted program so I can resized my hard drive.Any advice would really help me out.

6 Reply by class413

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

VESA isn't bad at all. A resolution of 1024x768 is very good to work with Gparted, perhaps the best. You don't need any accelerated video graphics or billions of colours to resize partitions. Even 800x600, can work on small monitors.

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

7 Reply by Knoobquest (edited by Knoobquest 2008-03-26 19:28:00)

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

Ok,I was able to use forcewear to open the nv driver that I needed.Used 800x600 to get into the GUI.So far so good.If I need anything more I'll check back but thanks for now.I can check the online demos for most of what I need.Keeping my fingers crossed.Thanks for all the help.

8 Reply by Knoobquest (edited by Knoobquest 2008-03-26 20:59:50)

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Re: [SOLVED]Complex resizing question

I have finished resizing my hard drive and booted into WinXP and Kubuntu.Both are working perfectly!This is the BEST program ever for someone like me,who makes lots of adjustments to partitions.Thanks for everything!