How to Partition in Windows Vista (Extend and Shrink)?
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With Windows Vista, there is no need of any other third party application such as Partition Magic, Disk Director or any other Partition Manager. Windows now has the inbuilt partition manager which is very easy to use.
Shrinking Windows Vista Partitions or partitioning:
This allows you to create a new partition or shrink any existing partition. Follow these steps.
Step 1: The options are available at ‘Disk Management’.
Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Double Click Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management.
It should look like the image below.
Step 2: Now, right click the partition you want to shrink and select the shrink option.
Step 3: In the pop-up box, Enter the amount you want to shrink the partition by (By default, the maximum is entered).
Step 4: Click Shrink and That’s it! Now you have a new partition to use. You can then right click the new partition and format it the way you want it.
You will get a new partition which is listed as unallocated as above. You can use that to create a new partition (right click and format) or use it to extend with already existing partition (Read extending windows vista partitions).
In case you are not extending and saving it as a new partition then, follow these steps.
Extending Windows Vista Partitions:
This allows you to extend a partition or merge two partitions. Follow these steps.
Step 1: The options are available at ‘Disk Management’.
Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Double Click Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management.
Step 2: Now, right click the partition you want to extend and select the extend option.
Step 3: Click Next in the Extend Volume Wizard.
Step 4: It will list all the free space available (unallocated partition) that you can add to the particular partition that you want to extend. If you don’t have any unallocated partition, see above to check how to shrink a partition to get unallocated space.
Step 5: Select the amount of amount of space that you want to extend in by.
Step 6: Click Next and Confirm and Finish. That’s it! You have extended the partition.
Notes from my experience: Both shrinking and extending was very fast. Formatting takes couple of minutes depending on how big the volume is. I shrunk my 110GB C drive in my HP Pavilion Entertainment PC to 60GB as it doesn’t allow to shrink below that and created that unallocated space to create a new partition.
If you are facing long time delay in shrinking, then it might be because of the disk is fragmented. For example, if you have a 60GB drive and you already have 45GB of data in that. These data upon daily usage after weeks, it would have evenly spread across the whole 60GB space. Now if you try to shrink that drive to 50GB and try to get 10GB unallocated space, then disk management has to find empty space between files in the 50GB space and relocate the files from the 10GB space. This is what is usually done in defragmentation and I would suggest doing that on regular basis as it improves file reading speed.
And another of my suggestion is to use NTFS. Read on to find why NTFS is better than FAT and how to convert FAT to NTFS.
Read this post, if you want to change the drive letter in Windows Vista after partitioning.
I HAVE 80 GB HARDDISK IN WHICH I HAVE 4 PARTITIONS .IN C DRIVE XP IS INSTALLED AND ON D DRIVE VISTA IS INSTALLED , I WANT TO EXTEND D DRIVE BY USING SPACE FROM F DRIVE WHICH IS OF 30 GB , HOW COULD I DO THIS??????????
Hello Mr.Byte
When I shrink my D: disk with 10gb to get unallocated
space to extend my C: disk at wich I run vista on it shows
up as free space and not unallocated and I can only extend it back to the D: disk, any idea of what I might be doing wrong I have formated the free space aswell.
Thanks in advance
/Jimmy
Hello Mr.Byte please help me as fast as u can
I have HP pavilion laptop(with windows Vista home premium and 160 gb HDD),and i followed the steps above
so i shrink C drive and I had 40 gb unallocated space but the problem is that the windows didnt allowed me to greate a new partition
WHAT CAN I DO ??????????????
Hi,
Nice post.
Inspiron 530, shrinking a 500GB disk to 450GB, starting to use this new machine so the drive should not be much fragmented at all… still it is taking over 20mins to shrink the partition.
It is definetely doing something, HDD led indicator keeps blinking.
Closed Computer Management opened it back and when trying to go to Disk Management, it is grayed out and reads “Connecting to Virtual Disk Service…” at the bottom.
Waiting 10 more mins and then shutting down, not my favorite option, but…
following the instructions for partitioning in VISTA is a waste of time and effort. Shrink worked as discribed. New simple volume wizard is not worth attempting. Used default values throughout the process. Error message micropuff delivered. “NOT ENOUGH DISK SPACE TO PERFORM THIS PROCESS”. I am forced to use micropuff. Dumping the headaches of Vista. Going back to a known evil…… XP
I have tried to shrink my C partition and got the message “NOT ENOUGH DISK SPACE TO PERFORM THIS PROCESS”. Well no I’m really stuck, because it looks like somethinggot stuck in the registry or someplace because even tuough I have over 100 GB of free space , it now swears I onlycan shrink by 8GB; man Vista REALLY wants a lot of space I did run acrosss an other fourm :
Someone had the guts to write:
> My plan was to shrink the 120 GB NTFS partition down to about half that, then
> install Solaris 10 on the other 60 GB and dual boot the laptop.
>
> When I try to resize the partition in Vista, it will allow me to shrink it by
> 17 GB. Considering there is over 70 GB of free space, I can’t see why it will
> only let me shrink it by a mere 17 GB. What about the other 53 GB?
It’s because Windows (XP and Vista) place some unmovable files in the
middle and near the end of its partition. Try a google search or MTF
files. Ordinary defrag progs can’t move those files and the shrinker
won’t let you resize the partition below the last file.
Solution:
1.) Temporarily disable and delete those files and the mechanism that
create them
2.) Use a third party defragger to move the other MTF files. The
defragger should be capacble of running ‘at boot’, that is before
windows starts to make those files unmovable. One such defragger is
Perfect Disk 8: it has a 30 days free trial and I used to shrink my
Vista partition.
As for point 1) I solved by disabling the pagefile, the hibernation
file, the shadow copy mechanism, and the boot error log. Most of these
cna be disabled via the control panel/system manger tabs. Hibernation
needs an admin prompt to issue the command powercfg -h off. (use on to
turn it on again); there must be a similar command to reduce to zero
the space for shadow copies. Google around and you’ll find the
solution.
Don’t forget to delete the hibernation and paging files under C:\ if
they’re still there.
Once you’ve done this, run the defrag program with proper settings
(defrag system files, and defrag free space so that you’ll have every
thing stuffed at the beginning of the disk).
Then you’ll be able to shrink all the free space you’d like.
cheers,
Peltio
This does not make full sense to me , Can anyone explain further?
what about xp? please tell me!!!!!!!!!!!1
Hi, Congratulations on your article…. I just want to add that I managed all my HD as long as it is not the partition with the OS. In this partition I could only shrink, but not extend. The extend volume option does not activate in this case. If you have a solution for this I will be more than grateful.
Thanks!!
Now every thing is Gooooooood 
tnx for the info.., im using an hp desktop with recovery on drive D: my question is.. if i would use the HP recover (F11) will the partition i created be deleted? Because i made a partition so that if i reformat mycomp, my important files will not be affected.. hope ul reply! thnx.. ^_^
[...] Than you need to choose a disk partition to install Ubuntu (not partitioning before install will result in deletion of current OS) For partitioning (shrinking) guide look here. [...]
hey i followed ur procedure till step 3..but it doesn’t give me d option of shrinking..why is it so?
How long does it take?
So i started this shrink thing, now i have vds.exe chewing up one of my cores doing … something.
There’s no indication of what is happening or how long there is to go. Its been going for over an hour now, is this usually a multi-hour process?
This is yet another example of Vista sucking hard, absolutely no feedback or info on long running processes (the defrag is another).
[quote]
This does not make full sense to me , Can anyone explain further?
[quote/]
and me
please HELP US??
I’ve already check your tip.
I try to shrink drive D (logical drive) & extend drive C (primary partition). After I shrink drive D, I got empty ‘free space’. Now I want to extend drice C. When I right click drive C ‘extend volume’ option is grayed out. Pls advise how to proceed?
After I check with another website, I found alternative option to use disk magament using:
Start > Run > diskpart.exe
I follow the screen & shrink drive D (logical drive) & when I extend drive C (primary partition), it says: ‘There is not enough usable free space on specified disk(s) to extend the volume’.
Pls advise how to add that free space to drive C?
I personally understand most of the problems here.
1. When shrinking a partition, it will say the free space, but it doesn’t say where the data is. You will need to defragment BEFORE trying to partition a lot of space. Partitioning in Windows does not move files, and Windows does not destroy files when shrinking/extending. Even if a 1 byte file is at the end of your drive, it WILL NOT let you shrink past that file. DEFRAGMENT TO PARTITION MORE.
2. Some people want to add space to their c: drive by shrinking a d: drive. This is not possible. When it shrinks partitions, free space is added to the END of the partition, so adding more space to c: with a partition right after is impossible, unless you go to 3.
3. Unless you can move a whole partition backwards with some other program, Windows will NOT extend a partition into data before it. My example is I made a 200 GB vista partition and a 275 GB “personal” partition. When I got the new drive I wanted to move data from c: to d: and then increase d: so my Windows partition was as small as possible to make for a simpler backup. When you decrease c:, you can’t increase the partition afterwards. I am stuck with a 200 GB system partition. The only way around this is using another hard drive. Shrink the c: drive as much as you want. Copy the d: drive to another hard drive with enough space for it. Erase the d: drive, create a new one starting at the free space you made from shrinking the c: drive. This will be bigger by however much you decreased c:. Then copy data back.
*WARNING* copying data and having only one copy is dangerous. Not only that, if you decrease c: too much, and use this method, you WILL NOT people able to extend c: unless you do the whole process over again, starting with copying d: to another drive and formatting d:.
4. There are not defragment programs to move files to the end of the drive. DO NOT ATTEMPT 3 UNLESS YOU HAVE TWO DRIVES. The reason I say this is because IF you could move the files to the end of the partition, AND you could shrink from the beginning of the partition, then create a small partition, move files, delete the original files, repeat from the “shrinking d:” step, THAT would be the only way to move the partition backwards using one hard drive, without being able to move a partition backwards in one piece.
I have windows XP on drive C and Windows Vista on Drive D. I wanted to resize my C drive and increase its size from 20 GB to 30 GB by taking this space from my F drive. So I installed partition magic on drive C and began resizing. In the middle of the resizing process, i receieved an error and partition magic closed. Then I saw that from Drive C I cannot access my drive D anymore, but my windows Vista is runnig Ok. The only problem is that I go to Drive C, I cannot find my drive D anymore. Can anyone help? Thanks.
I tried shrinking the volume but it didnt work
it has 17 GB free space but it shows that only 56 MB will be shrinked..
Please help me..
Thanks in advanced..
Cris
Hi,
Firstly your article was a great help, thankyou.
Secondly, to those who haven’t read the other posts / first post carefully please read through, the same questions get asked over and over, with the answers already looking you in the face.
For those of you who just find this entire process confusing, try having a read of the Gentux or Slackware installation guides (partitioning section), both are available online and these may aid in giving you a better understanding of how partitioning works.
Hi,
I have HP dv6913tx with 160 GB HDD. It is partitioned into two drives, c:139 GB( OS drive) and 10 GB (Recovery drive), but when I tried to shrink 100GB from C drive, it only allows me to shrink 68 GBs. How can I shrink 100 GB from C drive?
hi
i brought a new dell laptop.it has 3 drives C,D,E.C has got vista and D has got vista recovery files of 10gb. can i delete that recovery files.will it effect my o/s to run properly?i want to use the 10gb space for my personal use.please help
thanks
Hello friends,
i have bought a new HP DV4 1131 Laptop with windows vista basic… i just want to load linux OS into my system.. now i have 222gb and 20gb(c)… so hw to load??? hw to partition .. please let me know…
Hi,
thanks for your website. It really explains step by step.
I don’t know what my problem is though. I have 147 GB out but it only allows me to partition 3088 MB? that is too small! I am using Toshiba Satellite U300. Do you think it has to do with my laptop brand?
I appreciate your prompt reply on this issue. I need to install Linux to be able to do school work. But I’m stuck with this partition problem for days!
thanks for your time in advance.
there is an extra “out” on my message above! please ignore that!
the C: space to be shrinked is limited? what if i want to keep 30% of space for C: and 60% for partition, is there a way to do it? ‘cos i don use c: space much. no games nothing and i need more partition space to keep my personal stuff.
Thanks
THank you this was very useful information!!
Mr. Byte,
I don’t know if it’s me or not but everyone has been asking the same question (in a round about way). “How do I extend my C drive with the unallocated space that’s available?” I too am trying to do the same thing but so far neither you nor anyone seems to have the answer. The only conclusion that I can come to now is that you can not extend the C drive even if you have unallocated space available since it is the system drive or am I wrong?
i am having ph laptob with 250 GB hard disk, i have followed the instruction, my C drive was 220 GB when i shrink it it give 93.1 GB available for shrinking. i created new volume, but still i want to create new drive as C drive now is 129 GB. but when i tried it give zero space available for shrinking while the used space in C now is only 40 GB.
so kindly please, how i can spilit C drive again,
thanks
All of you people having problems, READ MY POST. I outline all, and the only ways you can partition a drive to get more space, or partition so you can expand the c: drive. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY THAN THE INSTRUCTIONS I GAVE.
i cannot shrink c
nice one it absolutely helps
[...] Went into my HP Vista 64 bit, and partitioned a new drive – I did this in case the Windows 7 install didn’t work, and also because I did want to have partitioned drives anyways. It’s rather simple – Read this great shrink + partition guide from LyteByte. [...]
Hello Mr.
I have HP pavilion laptop with windows Vista home premium ,and i followed the steps above
so when i tried to shrink C drive and I got a massage (access denied) the problem is that the windows didnt allowed me to greate a new partition
WHAT CAN I DO ?
@K.jalal, Make sure you have administrator account rights to perform this. Maybe these earlier posts will help you. [Login as administrator in Vista]
i tried with the administrator account but am still have the same problem when i tride to shrink the C drive (access denied)
Hello Mr. Byte,
I’m running VISTA x64. My problem is that I can only shrink my C (primary OS) drive… but I cannot extend it!
This is a problem because there is just a small amount of storage space left on it.
I’ve lots of space on my E and F drives, but even when they are shrunk to give up some unallocated space… C does does offer me the “Extend” option.
What to do?
Thanks, DAVE IN TEXAS
will this partition process will retain data or data will be lost completely
please ans me as soon as possible i really got struck in between and i will loose all my official data if not got the ans on time which could result a disaster????????????????????
How can i extend the size of my D drive in vista 64. i do not have enough space available when i transfer files from old computer to new
How do I merge my two partitions together? My computer came with 2 drives already partitioned straight from the store and I want to merge them together. I have Windows Vista Home Premium. I have followed the instructions above but when I right click the C drive, the EXTEND VOLUME is greyed out. I have 102 Gigs of Hard drive space. I shrunk partition D because I thought that, that was what I was supposed to do so know I have extra space that is unnasigned. All I want to do is merge all of my space onto C. Thanks for all of your help.
[...] similar to post where we saw how to partition in Windows Vista. Go to Start –> Type Computer Management –> Go to Disk Management. Right click the drive [...]
i have a 10 GB free volume it is not getting extended as the extend volume is greyed out please advise
thanks! really helps!
first, i thought partitioning in vista was difficult, but your tips really helps!
Can someone help me?¡ When I click on shrink volume the size of available space to shrink on my disk is 0¡¡?
thank you for your explanation i could get the impotance of what i was needing i follow up the the instructions and i performed the correct path now i know how to partition the disk when i forget on the instalation, in windows vista.
Regards
sousa
hey help me plz
i was shrink the logical drive and i get 30 GB free space
i want to add it to the primary partition with the vista operating system
i don;t have unallocated space but i have free space in the extended partitionn
what should be doo !!!
thank you very much it’s very helpful
THANK YOU, VERY HELPFUL
I had issues using Disk Partition tool to extend a partition size for dual boot of Win 7 & Vista as the free space is on the left side and this tool only allow to extend on the right side…
I found a nice free software: Easus Partition Master 4.0 Home edition.
It is so intuitive to use. You can visualize move your partition on the disk (new start point) expand or shrink with clicks… This is genious user interface and effective software… And free.
After a night of search for a solution, I got it, it worked… Ok it took 15 minutes to execute the move of the partition. but once done, you reboot and windows 7 complains a bit initially but launches as expected… Great. Microsoft should eye this company… Intuitive user interface that is great engineering!
How do I merge my two partitions together? My computer came with 2 drives already partitioned straight from the store and I want to merge them together. I have Windows Vista Home Premium. I have followed the instructions above but when I right click the C drive, the EXTEND VOLUME is greyed out. All I want to do is merge all of my space onto C. Thanks for all of your help.
*SOLUTION to merge 2 partitions w/Vista OS* First-Remove, move or backup any files you currently have in the (Extra Drive) mine was “D” make sure nothing is left in this drive. then, as stated above go once you get to disk management right click the extra drive, then delete it, it will show up as unallocated space. then high-light the C drive, right-click, then extend will be high-lighted. the wizard will walk you through the rest. I received this info from a MSI tech..