Using win7 Disk manager to shrink disk... leaving partition too big

[HarryPutnam]

Running a freshly done re-install of win 7 64 bit.

I'm working on bringing the newly installed machine up to speed, and want to do it like the old OS that lasted 5 yrs was done.

That is, I broke the main OS disk into 2 pieces... so three total since the OS takes a tiny 200mb partition.

I guessed a good size would be 150 GB for the OS... 5 yrs ago. It turned out to be a bit close by the end of its career and was only 34GB shy of 150 GB.

So this time I thought I'd give it another 40GB making it around 190 GB.

So, cutting to the chase:
Using the OS tools, it appears the disk manager wants to keep around 250+ for the OS. I cannot see why this would be the case.
I have some screen grabs at the end showing the shrink dialog, and snap of the properties of the disk.

And know too that I have:
Tested and De-fragmented this disc, and it has been freshly reformatted too. All not long before starting work to shrink it.
The dialog (see image below) shows (Sz taken direct from the tool. Conversions from : Convert gigabyte to 248006 megabyte - Conversion of Measurement Units )

. . . . . size before shrink: 476838 - 465.66 GB
. . . . Shrinkable amount: 228832 - 223.47 GB
Total size after shrinking: 248006 - 242.12 GB

242 GB seems a bit hefty for the OS partition given the fact that it topped out at less than 150 GB after 5 yrs of use.

I'd really like to pare that down... but a little hesitant to get after it with Partition Wizard or the like.

So, I'm asking if I should heed this greedy estimate or go ahead and shrink it down to 180 GB, booting off Partition Wizard?

As you see from the image of disk properties, there is about 35 GB on there now, my estimate of 180 GB gives it room to grow by a of factor 500 %.

 

[dsperber]

I'd think only you can decide how much additional space you need, both for application programs you plan to install eventually as well as for any data those programs may manage, not to mention other documents and files you currently have or plan to have in the future.

I myself have three internal hard drives in my "small" machine, divided into partitions C-M. This structure has evolved for many years, and I know exactly the type of data I put on each partition. C is obviously primarily for Windows and programs, along with miscellaneous "data" that's kind of generic. Any other data that is significant in size or numbers (e.g. multi-media audio/video/pictures) go elsewhere, as does important "work related" data. I've never bothered to try and move "\My Documents" off of C, I simply SAVE data to other partitions when given the opportunity.

Anyway, I agree with you that a "minimalist C" in the real world doesn't need to be much larger than probably 75-100GB tops, assuming you have someplace else (like a second partition) to store your REAL (or really large/numerous) DATA files, and assuming you're conscientious about SAVE'ing your data to those other partitions rather than just letting the target location default to say "downloads" or "\My Documents", etc.

Here's my "small machine" setup. Note that I'm only using about 64GB of my C-partition, of which the Windows 7 Pro x64 folder itself is 29GB, and Program Files (x86 and x64) take up another 13GB. Another 7GB for PAGEFIL and HIBERFIL and 4GB for "restore points", and that means I only have about 11GB actually being used on C for data and other assorted folders/files.

And that's because all of my "real data" is NOT SAVED ON C.

Of course I have a well-planned daily/weekly/monthly backup regimen in place (for both "system image" and "data"), to an external 2TB USB 3.0 drive. Cannot afford to lose ANYTHING, and don't want to spend more than 5-30 minutes recovering from a lost/deleted file or a system integrity disaster.

 

[Ztruker]

Try Free Partition Manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard
or GParted -- A free application for graphically managing disk device partitions

Both are bootable live CD tools you can use to change partitioning on your computer.

 

[AddRAM]

I would use the Partition Wizard Boot cd

 

[lehnerus2000]

Backup HDD Image

Create a backup HDD/SSD image, BEFORE you try resizing your partitions.

GParted has always warned me that data loss may occur during disc operations (e.g. resizing).

Tutorials
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I prefer to use Macrium Reflect.