Partition or Volume - Shrink

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  1. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits
       #160

    Hi,

    I'd like to shrink my C:/ on a HP laptop from 447 Go down to 70 Go. diskmgmt.msc only allowed me to shrink it down to 234 Go.

    Based on what they said there, I:
    didn't run the Disk Cleanup Wizard, making sure to remove the hibernation file and all restore points > there was nothing to remove
    didn't remove the hibernation file > didn't know how/why/if dangerous
    didn't remove all restore points > didn't want to!
    didn't disable System Restore > same
    did disable the pagefile
    did change the Write debugging information drop-down to “None” to disable the kernel memory dump in the same Advanced Settings, go to Startup and Recovery \ Settings
    didn't disable Hibernation mode in the power options \ advanced power options screen > couldn't find it
    didn't delete the c:\pagefile.sys file after rebooting > got some message along the lines of "The file is open in another program"

    So basically I didn't do much of it... Anyway, I then installed Auslogics, ticked "Move the system files to the beginning of the disk", ran it, but it didn't seem to work... There are still many huge files in C:\System Volume Information at the end of the volume, plus bits and pieces here and there... And I'm not sure what to do! Not sure at all.

    What would you recommand?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #161

    Hello Annaa,

    Please go ahead and post back with a screenshot of your Disk Management window showing the full layout of your hard drive first to help make sure that we can give the proper advice. :)
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #162

    Annaa said:

    What would you recommand?
    The preferred tool for the job is Partition Wizard bootable disk, the bottom choice at this link:

    Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online

    Post the screen shot per Brink's post.

    In the meantime, I'd download PW and burn it to a disk.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits
       #163

    Thanks for the answers!

    Okay, I posted some screencaps and burnt the Partition Wizard bootable disk.

    Some context: Where you see unallocated space, there used to be Recovery (D: ). I deleted it to install Linux and have a separate partition for my data.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Partition or Volume - Shrink-diskmgmt20120907.png   Partition or Volume - Shrink-auslogics20120907.png  
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #164

    Annaa,

    From what I can tell, it appears that you will be unable to shrink C any further. Even though is says you still have 188.13 Go of free space (espace libre), it has been allocated to be used by the hiberfil.sys file (hibernate), system protection (restore points and shadow copies), etc... as in your first post, and will not allow the size to be reduced in case you need it for these system items.

    You might consider to get a second internal HDD to use to install Linux and a data partition on instead.

    If not, then you would need to either turn off or reduce the max usage size of system protection, and/or disable hibernate to free up some more space after restarting the computer to possible shrink C some more.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits
       #165

    Brink said:
    Even though is says you still have 188.13 Go of free space (espace libre), it has been allocated
    No, on the Auslogics Disk Defrag screencap I provided, the pale gray squares are supposed to be free space, and the darker gray ones are "MFT" or "Unmoveable files". See http://www.auslogics.com/en/software...solidation.png.

    I personnally couldn't see the difference between the two shades of darker gray... But, it turns out:
    1) the MFT was supposed to be in purple, but that wasn't displayed at that point
    2) I had not used the right option to achieve the result I wanted!

    I'd used "Defrag"; that took only two minutes, and had not moved the unmoveable files. The first screengrab here, "20h35", was after disabling hibernate: some unmoveable files ended up in the middle of the partition!

    Then I noticed the option labelled "Defragment & Optimize", and ran it; I had to do it twice.

    The first time took almost an hour, moved pretty much everything (that's why all the "squares" - sorry, are they supposed to be representing clusters? sectors? - on "21h44" are blue), but not the unmoveable files.

    The second time took less than a minute, and honestly, it felt like a bit of a miracle! - EDIT a few minutes later (see post below): Or it felt über-fishy... You decide!
    That's when it moved the files from the middle and the end of the partition to the beginning - or deleted those files, maybe?
    And now, there are three non-contiguous purple squares that host the MFT (see "21h46"). I guess before, they were gray because they were hosting the MFT plus some other stuff.

    Anyway, after moving those files, I was able to shrink C: down to 70 Go! (It allowed me to shrink it up to 50.)

    I'm happy! - Not so much anymore...
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Partition or Volume - Shrink-auslogics20120907_20h35.png   Partition or Volume - Shrink-auslogics20120907_21h44.png   Partition or Volume - Shrink-auslogics20120907_21h46.png  
    Last edited by Annaa; 08 Sep 2012 at 04:09.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #166

    That's great news Annaa. I'm happy to hear that you got it sorted. :)
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits
       #167

    Arrgggghhhhh... I was talking about being happy a few minutes ago, and now, looking back at my screencaps, I realize that at 21h44 (or 9:44 pm in my timezone if you prefer ), the free disk space was 193,23 Go... Then at 21h46, it was 201,33 Go!

    Thing is, I didn't do anything between those two screencaps, other that run "Defragment & Optimize" again! I did nothing else, I can guarantee it! This has me worried now...

    I did a CHKDSK before shrinking C:, and it went fine...

    What could have happened?? Do you think the defragmenter took the liberty to get rid of some stuff? Say, the files in C:\System Volume Information at the end of the partition? As for the files in the middle of the partition, I didn't even take the time to look at what they were, and now it's too late...

    ETA: so... What's the worst-case scenario here??

      My Computer


  9. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits
       #168

    A little help please... I'm freaking out here!

    Could someone make an educated guess of what might have been lost, and how bad it would be for each item?

    Also, what tests can I conduct to check if everything is still in working order?
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #169

    Annaa,

    It may have just freed up some allocated space when you defragged and optimized it.

    Have you noticed anything missing while going through your files, partitions, etc...?
      My Computer


 
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