Partition a drive without formatting

You can do this, but not any utilites provided with Windows.

You will need to purchase a utility such as Partition Magic (now owned by Symantec)(there are similar utilities available from other publishers).

Some things to verify before purchasing ang disk partition utility:
1. Will it work on a system partition (i.e. the partition on which the OS is installed?
2. Will it work on dynamic disks? This is only important if you have converted your disk from a basic disk to a dynamic disk.

The basic process you will follow will be to shrink the C: partition and then create additional partitions from the free space created.

And the most important thing that you can ever do s Create a solid Backup of your existing data before you start anything this should include the contents of the hidden partition with your recovery files on it.

If you don't do this you run the risk of loosing everything on the computer and having no chance of recovery.

Col

You could try downloading something like the ultimate boot cd (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/)
the tool you are looking for is qparted which is a linux based clone of partion magic and hence free :)