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Repartitioning server drives

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by fvillasenor

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I am looking for advice on how to reallocate/resize the bootdrive (C:)of my server running 2000 in a raid 5 configuration without having to use third party software like Partiton magic or the like. Is this even possible?

9 replies

by rkuhn040172

You could do it in Disk Management if you had spare unallocated drive space after the C: drive.

However, there are some pretty tight restrictions on what you can and can't do with Disk Manager.

Also, while Partition Magic is a great product, I don't believe it works on most server OS's such as 2000 or 2003.

There are some 3rd party products out there that will work, however, they are somewhat pricey.

If it were me, and I did this just about 1-2 months ago, backup everything and start over. You'll save $ and time in the long run anyways.

by icb's corner

There is a little complicate because you have RAID.
Usually the server has a tool for that action. Could work under Windows 2000 or a special bootable CD. First of all you must broke the RAID and after that you can repartition next rebuild the RAID. My advice is to make a backup and proceed with caution.

by fvillasenor

Backing up and restoring would be a last resort for me considering this is my Domain Controller hosting Active Directory. Thanks for the advice.

by curlergirl

There is no native way in Win2K to extend the boot/system partition. Although Win2K allows you to extend other partitions, you can't do it with the system partition. Therefore, your only choices are 3rd party tools or the backup and restore scenario. Frankly, I haven't seen any 3rd party tools lately that will work in a server-based situation, particularly when you add RAID into the picture, except for high-priced enterprise level storage management solutions.

Sorry for the bad news!

by saraline

Windows 2000 disk management does not allow the users to extend the system partition but the more advanced operating systems, such as Vista, 2008 and the latest one Windows 7. Here is a guide if your operating system is Vista, 2008 or Windows 7 : http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/resize-a-partition-for-free-in-windows-vista/

Anyhow, some other third party software can help you to extend the system partition easily and safely even does not require you to reboot the computer. here is a guide of Partition Magic server alternative for your: http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/resize-boot-partition-2.htm

by power zhu

You may use diskpart that provided by windows to solve this problem, but there are many limitation. You cannot expand the partition if there is no unallocated space behind it, and you cannot control the operations visually.

it is not a good idea to do complex works on the server, why not use the professional repartitioning tool to do this job. I used easeus partition master, support raid and server perfectly, it can enlarge the partition without breaking the server working, say nothing of resizing partitions.
BTW, check http://www.partition-tool.com/partition-magic/resize-partition-on-windows-server.htm
http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/extend-ntfs-system-partition-without-reboot.htm

by longtail

This is a good answer, the article is very clear and helped me solve a the big problem, especially the feature, exlarged my server without downtime, thanks.

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