Trying to shrink partition

whs, somewhere in that thread you referred me to it was mentioned that you can't shrink more than 50%. Is that what the problem was? Is that true?

actuially, you will find that the mft does not sit in the middle but rather more after the first third.

linda092 said:

Problem solved. I did it in steps. I used Win7 Shrink Volume to shrink as much as it would let me. Then i used PD11 offline to defrag what it would. Then i booted back into Win7, and used PD to analyze and see if those end files were gone. If they were, then I immediately went back to Win7 Shrink disk to shrink what I could.

Repeat repeat repeat. I had to do it about 4 times to get my partition down to 70GB. I plan on creating a Data partition and an Apps partition, maybe a few Linux partitions, so hopefully Win7 will have enough room with 70GB.

Thanks for the help guys, maybe this process can tell you what was hanging me up?

Glad to hear that you got the partition shrunk.

You went at it correctly, ie, shrink, defrag, shrink, defrag until you get what you want. This will work in most cases. There are a few cases where this is not sufficient but generally will solve the problem.

Yes Defrag, but using Perfect DIsk 10 trial's Offline (Boot) defragger, selecting System files.

Also first do a defrag using PD's drop-down menu choice to Consolidate Files.

There are few tools that can accomplish defragging SysFiles. Anyone know any others?

I have a new issue that may or may not be related to what I have already done, so hopefully adding to this post won't make things more confusing. But I think anyone who reads my new post is going to shake their heads at me as in, what is she doing???

I created a Data partition and an Apps partition, using Partition Wizard. Everything seemed to go well, so I moved some data from my old computer. I also installed 2 programs in Apps.

Then I decided that i didn't like how my computer assigned drive letters to 4 media drives that I don't use (and don't plan to use in the near future) so I went into Computer Mgmt and changed my drive letters. It was only a little change (shaking your head yet?) and I knew I would have to tell my new programs and shortcuts all about my changes. Well, I had trouble with the programs. Of course

But the weird thing is, it seems to be permission problems. For instance, IE has no bookmarks, can't import them, and I didn't even touch IE. I wouldn't dream of messing with any Microsoft programs. Honest!

I guess my question is, if I delete and recreate those partitions, can I safely change my drive letters before adding any stuff to the new partitions? Do new partitions have different permission settings than the c:/ partition?

And is there a way to tell IE that it's allowed to create bookmarks again? That might be a seperate issue but I really don't know why it's not letting me now...

Linda,

I always move my dvd drive out of the way by changing its drive letter to M:

I also do that before I install programs, if possible. In XP I would encounter problems but with Win 7, the programs seem to be more intelligent.

If you can, uninstall the apps in the APPS partition.
With Disk Management, an not any 3rd party software, delete the partitions you created, APPS and DATA.

Forget about an APPS partition. Theoretically a separate partition for Program Files is a great idea. In reality, this produces problems. Always let a program install in the location suggested by its installer.
This will nearly always be a folder under C:\Program Files.

Your plan of attack is:
1. uninstall the apps in APPS
2. Delete the DATA and APPS partitions using DISK MANAGEMENT
3. Assign the dvd/cd drives the letters you would like for them to have.
4. Using DISK MANAGEMENT, create the partitions you want.
5. Install the apps you uninstalled, but this time accept the default location suggested by the installer.

Is it OK to Shrink Windows Reserve Partition to 100MB like Pre SP1 Windows?

Could it harm anything?

Thanks, Donald

To get more hard drive space. Besides, it's dumb to use too much space for nothing.