I'd like anyone's opinion about the following suggested steps in extending the System/Boot Partition on a Windows 2000 Standard Server...
Goal:
Increase the C: partition from 4GB to 36GB.
The Problem:
Diskpart.exe can't extend a boot partition or system partition of an OS...
"Only the extension of data volumes is supported. System or boot volumes may be blocked from being extended, and you may receive the following error:
Diskpart failed to extend the volume. Please make sure the volume is valid for extending"
The following steps would bypass both such the boot and the system partition. There are a few files that are touched by any OS on the first HDs's first partition (i.e. boot partition). If the machine boots from a floppy then the boot files located on the "RAID drive's C: partition" -i.e. boot files- are never used.
Workaround:
Current Server configuration (SERVERA):
HP Proliant DL370 G2
OS: Windows 2000 Standard Server SP4
2 SCSI Controllers: Onboard & SmartArray 532
3x18.2GB SCSI drives in a single RAID5 array (C: 4GB and E: 32GB)
************************************************************
0. Migrate E: to a new server. Not a problem with robocopy.exe and a few changes to user's login scripts.
1. Backup the entire server SERVERA (Just in case.)
2. Insert a empty drive (18+GB) into SERVERA (Set it as a single drive/not part of any array.)
2A> Edit original boot.ini and add a comment as to which OS was "original"
3. Install W2K onto this new drive (SERVERA_Backup) + basic hardware drivers (Smartstart PSP pack) + SP4 + W2K resource kit (Dual boot)
- May have to specify SmartStart Drivers manually at install.
4. Create a Windows 2000 boot disk (ntldr, boot.ini etc.) the boot.ini
5. Boot using the floppy disk into this 2nd installed OS.
6. Use diskpart to extend the REAL SERVERA's C: partition
7. Reboot into the real SERVERA's OS newly extended C: drive...
8. Removed spare drive... fix up boot.ini to show only the original OS.
Goal:
Increase the C: partition from 4GB to 36GB.
The Problem:
Diskpart.exe can't extend a boot partition or system partition of an OS...
"Only the extension of data volumes is supported. System or boot volumes may be blocked from being extended, and you may receive the following error:
Diskpart failed to extend the volume. Please make sure the volume is valid for extending"
The following steps would bypass both such the boot and the system partition. There are a few files that are touched by any OS on the first HDs's first partition (i.e. boot partition). If the machine boots from a floppy then the boot files located on the "RAID drive's C: partition" -i.e. boot files- are never used.
Workaround:
Current Server configuration (SERVERA):
HP Proliant DL370 G2
OS: Windows 2000 Standard Server SP4
2 SCSI Controllers: Onboard & SmartArray 532
3x18.2GB SCSI drives in a single RAID5 array (C: 4GB and E: 32GB)
************************************************************
0. Migrate E: to a new server. Not a problem with robocopy.exe and a few changes to user's login scripts.
1. Backup the entire server SERVERA (Just in case.)
2. Insert a empty drive (18+GB) into SERVERA (Set it as a single drive/not part of any array.)
2A> Edit original boot.ini and add a comment as to which OS was "original"
3. Install W2K onto this new drive (SERVERA_Backup) + basic hardware drivers (Smartstart PSP pack) + SP4 + W2K resource kit (Dual boot)
- May have to specify SmartStart Drivers manually at install.
4. Create a Windows 2000 boot disk (ntldr, boot.ini etc.) the boot.ini
5. Boot using the floppy disk into this 2nd installed OS.
6. Use diskpart to extend the REAL SERVERA's C: partition
7. Reboot into the real SERVERA's OS newly extended C: drive...
8. Removed spare drive... fix up boot.ini to show only the original OS.
