Disk Partitioning Software For Vista?

[M8triX]

anyone know?

 

[corkyg]

Not needed. It is built in.

 

[Ryland]

There are cases where the built in software is not sufficient. I could also use partition software better than what is built in.

 

[M8triX]

how do u redistribute free space

 

[M8triX]

im using the disk management util in vista

 

[Nothinman]

You can't move partitions with the built-in tool, you need something like gparted or Partition Magic to do that.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
You can't move partitions with the built-in tool, you need something like gparted or Partition Magic to do that.

I seem to remember reading on a few forums that resizing/moving around Vista partitions with gparted can screw some stuff up, and you'll need the OS CD when the system does a disc check.

 

[Nothinman]

Doing anything like that always has the potential for problems, but AFAIK there's nothing special about partitions or NTFS filesystems created in Vista that makes them more apt to problems.

 

[MadScientist]

I use Acronis Disk Director Suite. Free trial download: Link

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
Doing anything like that always has the potential for problems, but AFAIK there's nothing special about partitions or NTFS filesystems created in Vista that makes them more apt to problems.

here and here are what I remember reading over at gparted's forums.

From what people said, it seems it might mess with the boot sector or partition tables or something. Having the OS disc allows for a repair on the first boot and then all is well.

 

[Nothinman]

The second link isn't Vista specific at all, hell the instructions don't even include anything for gparted. The first link just says "after some steps" without detailing what he did from the Vista DVD.

From what people said, it seems it might mess with the boot sector or partition tables or something.

Duh, it's a partitioning tool so you're specifically asking for it to mess with them.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
The second link isn't Vista specific at all, hell the instructions don't even include anything for gparted. The first link just says "after some steps" without detailing what he did from the Vista DVD.

The context of the thread in the 2nd link is in regards to peoples' experience with gparted and vista. People pretty much just reiterate that they need the OS disk down the thread.

From what people said, it seems it might mess with the boot sector or partition tables or something.

Duh, it's a partitioning tool so you're specifically asking for it to mess with them.

Indeed. Just offering information and links for people who might not know.
here's a better link/tutorial.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Unfortunately Vista's utility simply would NOT let me reduce the size of my C: partition anywhere near what I wanted. But I really wanted to separate my OS from my data, so I had to use Gparted. Here was my own experience using Gparted and Vista last night:

400GB HDD layout

[Front HDD]---(C: = Boot w/ Vista OS - ~391GB )---(D: = HP Recovery Partition - ~9GB)---[End HDD]

1) Stop system restore
2) Move pertinent data to another HDD in order to backup and free up space
3) Boot using UBCD4Win (Ultimate Boot CD for Windows)
4) Backup C: using DriveImage XML
5) Defrag C: using DirMS. Default option: analyze, defrag, move files to front of HDD
6) Check with regular XP Disk Defrag, look at graph and defrag C: for good measure
7) Defrag C: again with DirMS, same default settings for good measure -- Files should damn well all be moved to the front of the HDD
8) I then rebooted back to Vista and attempted to resize using the built-in utility. I had 97% free space and all files had been move to the front of the drive, yet it would only allow a 27GB reduction to the C: partition.
9) Boot into Gparted LiveCD
10) Make note of original partition layout and sector locations (start/end points)
11) Set the new drive layout to:

[Front HDD]---(C:{/dev/sda1} = Boot w/ Vista OS - ~100GB )---(E:{/dev/sda3} = New NTFS Partition ~291GB )---(D:{/dev/sda2} = HP Recovery Partition - ~9GB)---[End HDD]

*I simply resized C: and made a new primary partition for E:. No moving and nothing fancy.

12) Apply drive changes, then exit and shutdown Gparted
13) Reboot.

Vista booted, did a disk consistency check on C:, and completed booting into Vista without a hitch. No OS disc needed. All works as normal and now I've been able to move my data to a different partition and move/symlink the user and public folders.

So I hope this might help anyone looking to do the same thing.

 

[Nothinman]

But I really wanted to separate my OS from my data,

So buy a second physical disk, it's a lot safer that way anyway.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

But I really wanted to separate my OS from my data,

So buy a second physical disk, it's a lot safer that way anyway.

I have a second physical disk. It's full. I have no extra space inside my case for another HDD. Stop being such a dick on this topic. I'm just trying to help people who might want to accomplish the same thing.

 

[Nothinman]

I have a second physical disk. It's full. I have no extra space inside my case for another HDD. Stop being such a dick on this topic. I'm just trying to help people who might want to accomplish the same thing.

I'm not being a dick, a second disk is many magnitudes safer than a second partition. A single error could wipe out both partitons but the same error is a lot less likely to affect a completely seperate disk.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

I have a second physical disk. It's full. I have no extra space inside my case for another HDD. Stop being such a dick on this topic. I'm just trying to help people who might want to accomplish the same thing.

I'm not being a dick, a second disk is many magnitudes safer than a second partition. A single error could wipe out both partitons but the same error is a lot less likely to affect a completely seperate disk.

I apologize. The tones of your posts have seemed combative to me. I certainly don't argue the merits of an additional HDD.