Posted: November 27, 2006/Under: Operating Systems/By: My Digital Life Editorial Team

In Windows Vista, it’s very easy to change the size of the partition or resize partition by using Disk Management Console, which also provides ability to change drive letters or paths. Partitions with NTFS, FAT32 or FAT file system can be resized with the Disk Management utility. And unlike Windows XP or Windows 2000, there is no third-party application program such as Partition Magic needed. Disk Management Console can resize the partitions without any data loss or the need to delete and remove the existing partition and recreate the partition with new size.

To resize partition size or change the size of partitions in Windows Vista:

  1. Click on the Start button, and then right click on Computer and select Manage.
  2. In the Computer Management console, click and expand Storage branch, and click on Disk Management to open and access Disk Management Console.
  3. Disk Management Console display the details of all available volumes and disk drives in the computer configuration in the right pane.
  4. Right click on any volume or partition that needs to resize or change the size, and select either Expand (to increase the size) or Shrink (to reduce the size) to change the size of the partition.
  5. Enter amount of space to expand or shrink in MB (cannot exceed the size of available expand or shrink space in MB).
  6. Click on Expand or Shrink button when done.
  7. Windows Vista will reduce or extend the size of the partition online immediately, without the risk of data loss.

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  • Pell

    HELP! My hard drive has 3 partitions. 2 for his and hers info and one for the OS.
    I need to take take open disk space from mine and add it too the partition for the OS.
    I can “decrees” my partition and add the amount back into it, but it won’t let me add it to the OS section. The “extend Volume” for the OS Stays the light gray Not available offer..
    So any suggestions?

  • ete

    this article is fail.

  • Furqan

    I am using windows 7 and I need to increase my C: drive capacity by reducing D: drive capacity. I have 10 GB partition C: drive and 290 GB partition D: drive. I want to make it 100 GB C: drive and rest to be allocated to D: drive. I dont want to use any third party software and format my hard disk partitions. Your expert advice is required.

  • MiniAdmin

    The shrink-function is only available on NTFS partitions! So, FAT16 or FAT32 partitions are not supported!

  • juicy

    partition magic is good, but it is not compatible with windows seven. That it the biggest problem.
    Why they stopped upgrading.
    Now, i have to find the substitube for it, fortunately, i found eaeus partition manager for my 64 bit windows7 ultimate. Thanks god.
    BTW, i also found the recommendation from microsoft

  • Nekdo

    Thanks! Fixed my prolbem :D

  • Richard

    I have the same problem as Jonathan. I have freed up over 200GB by shrinking my D drive, but I cannot now extend the C drive to use that space; the 'Extend' option is greyed out.

  • steve

    Are you SURE you can extend a FAT16 or FAT32 partition?? The Disk Manager help says NTFS only and Diskpart does not work unless it is NTFS?

  • Jean

    Good!

    Perhaps I will have a try through your tips.

    Perhaps not.

    I think choose the 3rd software can realize the operation about change or resize partition better, efficiently and safely at the same time.

    I can do this anytime if i need.

  • Khangai

    thanks. it's worked on windows 7 too.

  • Kalo di Windows7 gimana cara delete create partisi

    tolong dong …

  • Jew

    Here is a detailed solution:

    http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/resize-vis…

  • Ahmed

    thank u f downloaded

  • nolin

    can i ask.

    is it true that cannot exceed the size of available expand or shrink space in MB?

    i have 300GB of C. i want to shrink around 150GB but the max shrink is 90GB.

    can someone help?

  • Joey

    Its true?you can manage your drive without an application and any damage to your file that save on drive??how about you need to move the file of C drive to D drive?

  • David

    But what if "extend volume" or "shrink volume" are greyed out?!?!

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  • access denied on vista when I try this…any ideas?

  • boysha8

    Also, i would like preserve all the data i have on the 2 partitions.

    When i delete partition2, even though unallocated space is available, the 'extend' option on partition1 is disabled. So, if someone could give me step-by-step instructions of how to make my current partitions into the setup shown below, that would be great:

    Desired partitions

    Partition1 – 200gb: FAT32 (90gb full)

    Partition2 – 100gb: NTFS (35gb full)

  • boysha8

    i have an external hard disk with the following 3 partitions:

    Partition1 – 100gb: FAT32 (90 gb full)

    Partition2 – 100gb: NTFS (empty)

    Partition3 – 100gb NTFS (35 gb full)

    I want to remove partition2 and extend partition1 (FAT32) to 200gb. I am not able to do it, can somebody help.

    Thanks

  • Jonathan

    hi, I do not get the option to "EXTEND VOLUME" after I leave unallocated space.

    I want to extend my C: drive, but it won't let me! Why is that?!

  • Ksandr

    Thanks alot, great post!!!

  • Adnan

    To Jaxon

    go to your pc bios by pressing del or f2 when you power on yor pc. find sata hdd. change THE OPTION AHCI TO IDE OR COMPATIBILITY.THEN GO TO EXIT AND SELSECT SAVE AND EXIT AND PRESS ENTER.NOW U CAN INSTALL WINDOWS XP.

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  • jaxon

    I'm trying to install XP Pro on my Hp Compaq nx7300 Notebook, this the error message! Setup did not find hard disk drives in your computer.

    Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacture- supplied diagnostic or setup program.

    Setup cannot continue. To quit , press F3.

    But there a SATA hard disk inside….

    please help…

    Thanks

  • kardjo

    @ravi, otoniel,

    Do reversed of my tips to Ian Cuthbert.

    1. Shrink drive C: and leave space you need in Mb for next drive (partition).

    2. Do 'New Simple Voume..' when right click on that unallocated space.

  • kardjo

    @Ian Cuthbert,

    I think $22 is too expensive for me. All you have to do is:

    1. Shrink drive D: from 100Gb down to 70Gb. You will have an allocated volume about 30Gb.

    2. Extend Volume drive C:, and use maximum size available (30Gb).

    3. Done.

  • kardjo

    @kh,

    if did not find erase menu, that is 'Delete Volume…' when you right-click on drive D:

  • kardjo

    @kh,

    (CMIIW) if you are sure that D: is 100% free space, so just erase the partition on it and leave it unallocated.

    Then, right click on drive C: and do as well as in this tutorial above.

    (be careful, once you erase the partition of D:, you will have data on that drive gone. make sure no data there)

  • kh

    Actually i got 4 partitions, local disk C , D, E and F. I am uisng vista. Local disk D have 100% free space. Can you help me to combine local disk C with local disk D without affecting the data. I had failed to expand the local disk C. Thanks in advance.

  • Ian Cuthbert

    I had a problem with a 120G drive which my son had formatted as Drive C 20G and Drive D as 100G. I also found that whilst the Vista Disc Management allowed Drive D to be shrunk, it wouldn't allow me to expand Disc C into the space.

    Last night I downloaded Paragon Software Partition Manager Version 9 Personal Edition for about £22 and this afternoon resized disc C to 50G with Disc D at 70G (in round figures) with no effort on my part. I've achieved what I wanted. The proportions were my choice – Partition Manager appeared to be able to accommodate any ratio to include additional partitions but I haven't investigated the latter.

    Ian

  • Idit

    Thank you so much, your directions step by step were extremely helpful!

    Thanks again.

  • Dwindle

    Useless for me. It will only reduce my system drive to 78 GB, which is a damned waste. Also, Instead of being able to see the size of the unpartitioned space, it only lets me choose how much I take away from the old partition. Why couldn't Microsoft wasted a lousy 10 minutes making this program? Lazy bastards.

  • genazZ

    hi how can I mix two partitions in to the one partition? thanks

  • otoniel

    I have got only 1 single partition (C:) in my desktop with Windows Vista. How can I create a new partition using Disk Management Console. Please help.

  • Mikie

    much thanx

    had Partition Magic was looking to buy Partition Manager (Vista compatible)

    Excellent tip

  • Ravi

    I have got only 1 single partition (C:) in my laptop with Vista. How can I create a new partition using Disk Management Console. Please help.

    Also, Vista is very slow and is eating up 700 MB of RAM for just OS functioning. Is it normal?

  • You can also relocate your Vista hard drive to another machine (w/ an older version of Windows that has PartionMagic on it) as an add'l drive, alter the partitions however you see fit (w/o needing any reboots since you didn't boot from it), then put the drive back in your Vista box.

    Why, might you ask?

    Because Vista has a lot of constraints on repartitioning, so there are actually very few scenarios which permit repartitioning.

    For example, I just bought a loaded Dell laptop with Vista and 2 partitions on the single HDD. I could shrink the Vista partition but could not reclaim the space, merge it with another partition, or even create a new partition because I got a "not enough drive space" no matter what partition size I selected.

    Comparing Microsoft's partitioning tool to PartitionMagic is like comparing their defragger to PerfectDisk, roflmao.

    Lloyd (OEM/VAR)

  • Mohsen Zamaniii

    Thanks a bunch!

    ur article is so excellent and usefull.

  • also, you can't take some space from a logical partition and give it to the primary one

  • it only works with NTFS partitions – i had to convert it with "convert d: /FS:NTFS" before i could resize a fat32 partition.

  • abdollahi

    when i want format unalocate partiton on vista, windows massage "ther is not space"

  • Guilherme Vieira

    excellent tip!!! since I did not want to spend money on buying a software to do this, working with partitions in windows vista is quite simple with disk management… Thank you very much for your help!!!

    Gui Vieira

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