How to Extend a System partition in XP 2

[olddog1956]

I bought a 500 GB hard disk to upgrade my 160 gig drive. I connected the 500 gig drive to a hard drive to USB 2.0 cable adapter. It has a connector for SATA and IDE/ATA 2.5" and 3.5"
hard disks.

1. Downloaded Easeus ToDo Backup Tools 1.0 for free.
2. Used a CD Burning software to burn an ISO copy to CD.
3. Changed my Boot sequence to CD first. You change it by entering BIOS by pressing <F2> or ESC at startup before Windows is loaded. Usually the way to enter BIOS or Setup will be displayed in the upper right hand corner.
4. Restarted my computer which booted off the CD.
5. Choose - Clone Disk option. Did an ISO copy of my C: to the 500 gig on the USB cable.
5.Went into Device Manager and right-clicked my current hard disk and choose Uninstall.
6. Swapped the hard disks.( 500gb for 160gb )
7. Started System and went to Control Panel -> Add Hardware
8. Inserted the CD that came with the hard disk
9. Chose my Hard Disk from a set and my software driver was loaded.

The Problem is Windows sees my hard disk as 160gb when it is actually 500gb.

10. I downloaded a free copy of Easeus Partition Manager 4.0
That fixed my problem
1. Select your C: from a list.
2. Choose Resize/Move.
3. Another screen appeared a bar graph showing 160gb used on the left and 300+ unallocated on the right. I grabbed the right side of the 160gb by holding down the left button and pulling the partition as far right as I could go.
4. I selected OK, a new scren came up with two buttons Apply or Cancel. Clicked Apply and it was done.

I restarted my computer to verify it rebooted and checked properties in computer managment and my disk is reported as 500gb.

 

[xit]

Easeus has a good product, does what it says

xit

 

[GabrielBL]

I’ve fought with this for way too many years, then I found

http://www.xxclone.com/idwnload.htm

- it’s free and makes a true clone from one drive to another without the trouble of resizing the partitions. I’ve moved the contents of a 40GB drive to a 250GB drive with no issues, and it’s much faster than most other programs like Ghost.

 

[BadBigBen]

In all my years with working with computers (27 yrs.), I have only used Ghost once, and tossed it out the window...

There are many free tools that do that, and one of the best out there is a Live Linux Distro called PartedMagic...

e.g. place new HD in PC, boot from CD, do your stuff with GPARTED, remove OLD HD, boot with NEW HD, DONE...



Anyways, I thank the OP for sharing with us, the way he accomplished it...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[ll60630]

I feel you have to be extra careful with open source programs that edit your partition table. I've used Norton Ghost for years and have had no issues. Although it does cost a pretty penny.

Jeff
_______________________________________
Up to 45% off PC hardware at

http://www.ShopVoyagerEnt.com

 

[Grenage]

I second gparted, It's one of my main tools.

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area" - Major Mike Shearer

 

[kjv1611]

I've used GPARTED for Linux before, but never even thought about using it for Windows. I did really like GPARTED when I used it. I probably ought to take a look at using it again.

Thanks to the OP as well for details of how fixed their particular issue. However, I'll say that the title misled me a little. I was assuming he meant expanding a partition while on the same hard drive.

Do any of you guys suggest using any FREE/Open Source programs for changing an "active" partition right on disk? Maybe use GPARTED with a bootable Linux CD? Or can that cause any issues - that anyone has noticed?

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

Nevermind... I just now read the last part of the OP's post! He WAS talking about resizing the Windows partition..

Anyway, good info all around.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

I feel you have to be extra careful with open source programs that edit your partition table.

Honestly, I don't know why it matters whether an application is open source or closed source. That shouldn't have any affect on the quality of the product.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[BadBigBen]

I don't know why it matters whether an application is open source or closed source. That shouldn't have any affect on the quality of the product.

it does, a bit that is, it speaks more for the OSS...

read the following two excerpts:

Since Open Source software is open, all of the defects and security flaws are easily found. Closed-source advocates argue that this makes it easier for a malicious person to discover security flaws. Further, that there is no incentive for an open-source product to be patched. Open-source advocates argue that this makes it easier also for a patch to be found and that the closed-source argument is security through obscurity, which this form of security will eventually fail, often without anyone knowing of the failure. Further, that just because there is not an immediate financial incentive to patch a product, does not mean there is not any incentive to patch a product. Further, if the patch is that significant to the user, having the source code, the user can technically patch the problem themselves. These arguments are hard to prove. However, most studies show that open-source software does have a higher flaw discovery, quicker flaw discovery, and quicker turn around on patches.

and here is the reason why some people are against it:

Some closed-source advocates see open source software as damaging to the market of commercial software. This is one of the many reasons, as mentioned above, that the term free software was replaced with open source — because many company executives could not believe in a product that did not participate economically in a free-market or mixed-market economy.

andSource: Wikipedia

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[cdogg]

Many hacks target memory-resident threads and processes within the OS. Here I would guess that security isn't too much of an issue with PartedMagic or other open-source utilities running outside of your operating system. I guess some ill-hearted script kiddie could manipulate the tool to wipe your hard drive or something of that nature, but it would be a serious waste of time. Just make sure you are downloading the tool from a reliable source such as the author's website.

PartedMagic is definitely a reliable tool as I've been using and recommending it for years. There were sometimes an occasional conflict where the bootable CD wouldn't work with some BIOS configurations, but with each update those occurrences are getting more and more rare.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[ll60630]

I use open-source software on occasion, however I'm not comfortable using tools designed for Linux on Windows partitions. One of my general rules is: when it runs on Windows it better be written for Windows.

Jeff
_______________________________________
Up to 45% off PC hardware at

http://www.ShopVoyagerEnt.com

 

[cdogg]

There's nothing wrong with having that opinion. In fact, it's always a good idea to be cautious with any free download. I will just say that personally I have used GParted (the tool that comes packaged in PartedMagic) on more than 30 occasions. Not once have I corrupted an NTFS partition as a result of using it. The tool is written competently in C++ and continues to gain popularity over the years for a reason. If you write an unreliable or buggy piece of software, people will stop using it.

Nevertheless, you should always have important data backed up before messing with partitions regardless of the utility being used. You can't be too careful!

 

[ll60630]

Amen to backing up your data. Thanks again for your opinion.

Jeff
_______________________________________
Up to 45% off PC hardware at

http://www.ShopVoyagerEnt.com