1 Topic by jeep_jumper

  • jeep_jumper
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2008-05-03
  • Posts: 2

Topic: Can't resize my NTFS partition that has windows

Hi,
I've been running windows and am new to linux.  I am now I'm trying to get ubuntu installed along side windows.  I currently have 2 partitions on my SATA hard drive, a 6 Gb FAT32 partition that is a backup partition and a 50 Gb NTFS partition that has windows taking up the rest of the drive.  I am trying to resize the NTFS and create new partitions to get ubuntu installed.  Gparted seems to recognize and perform operations fine on the FAT32, it can tell me how much disk space is being used and how much is free and can resize it.  But the NTFS partition has an orange triangle with an exclamation mark inside it next to its partition location.  It can't tell me how much space is being used or how much space is free, won't let me resize, and I can't create new partitions until that one is reduced.

I right click on the partition, the unmount option is unavailable; I go to information: the status says it is unmounted

I run a check and repair file system operation on that partition and it says:
An error occurred, see the details for more information

and the details just has an entry: calibrate /dev/sda1 with a green check
and then an entry: check filesystem on /dev/sda1 with a red circle with a negative sign in it

Any help would be appreciated.
I'll burn and run the live testing cd image as soon as I get some more cd's or maybe I can try the usb

It sounds like it is detecting the drive just not that partition or something.
Thanks

2 Reply by class413

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

Re: Can't resize my NTFS partition that has windows

You should shut down properly windows or it leaves the filesystem dirty.
Try to run "chkdsk /f" from the windows command prompt, or "chkdsk /p" from the recovery console.

I guess you use Gparted from the Ubuntu install cd. Try to use the latest Gparted livecd. It is the latest version available, newer than the one in Ubuntu cd.

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

3 Reply by jeep_jumper

  • jeep_jumper
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2008-05-03
  • Posts: 2

Re: Can't resize my NTFS partition that has windows

Ok, well I ran the live CD and it was still acting the same way.  Still gave me an error message, couldn't resize the NTFS and couldn't give me any information about the free or used space.  But it was able to manipulate the fat32 partition, so I finally reformatted the NTFS partition to a fat32 partition and then resized it and created new partitions for linux.

  When I went to boot windows up again I was getting errors that it couldn't find the kernel and files missing and couldn't boot.  So, to make a long story short, I had to do a system recovery a couple times to get windows working again, but it kept the partitions the way I wanted them, then I installed ubuntu a couple times and now they are both running fine.  Finally I put my documents and software back on windows from my disks I have saved.

4 Reply by jasondpals

  • jasondpals
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2008-05-28
  • Posts: 1

Re: Can't resize my NTFS partition that has windows

Had the exact same problem, what you have to do is go into windows and get a good defrag program. Windows defrag won't cut it, try searching the internet. Defrag multiple times, the first one should take longer than an hour and then get gradually slower. Then open up windows defrag and Analyze the partition, when it says that you don't need to defrag any more, you're golden.

5 Reply by class413

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

Re: Can't resize my NTFS partition that has windows

Deactivating the page file (virtual memory) often helps.

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

6 Reply by racerzx3

  • racerzx3
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 3

Re: Can't resize my NTFS partition that has windows

You Might Also Have to disable Hibernation,that worked for me.