mvvinod
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Resize partition on Windows 2003 server
Hi all,
I'm looking for software like partition magic which i can use to resize partition on Windows 2003 server. Partition magic doesnt support 2003 OS. Basiclly i have 2 partitions on RAID 5. C: is only 6GB which is already running out of space and D: is 24GB out of which atleast 60% is FREE.
I have a single domain controller on this network and dont want to take the risk of backing up and reinstalling windows after repartitioning....
So i'm looking for software which can hot resize windows 2003 partition and split the available space equally.....
I thought acronis has a software that support 2003 but now when i look at their site, windows 2003 is not listed as supported OS.
Any suggestions as to what software can reliably do this is recommended....I'm not looking to pay $1000 for this...I'm looking for software around $100....
Thank you all,
Vinod.
I'm looking for software like partition magic which i can use to resize partition on Windows 2003 server. Partition magic doesnt support 2003 OS. Basiclly i have 2 partitions on RAID 5. C: is only 6GB which is already running out of space and D: is 24GB out of which atleast 60% is FREE.
I have a single domain controller on this network and dont want to take the risk of backing up and reinstalling windows after repartitioning....
So i'm looking for software which can hot resize windows 2003 partition and split the available space equally.....
I thought acronis has a software that support 2003 but now when i look at their site, windows 2003 is not listed as supported OS.
Any suggestions as to what software can reliably do this is recommended....I'm not looking to pay $1000 for this...I'm looking for software around $100....
Thank you all,
Vinod.
Ghost has to be able to recognize the RAID or it won't help anything
ASKER
I do not want to do it offline.... because i dont trust it 100% since i've had several problems with it... And if i have to take a backup and then also ghost it and attempt it, its 2 much time for the customer to pay me...
Its also a old server, and the client doesnt have much money right now to spend. So doing this for 8 hours is not an option...
I'm looking for a hot resize solution where i start it, log in after 3-4 hours and check and see if its done....
Thank you,
Vinod.
Its also a old server, and the client doesnt have much money right now to spend. So doing this for 8 hours is not an option...
I'm looking for a hot resize solution where i start it, log in after 3-4 hours and check and see if its done....
Thank you,
Vinod.
I would like to point you to this link
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21730995/Resize-partition-on-Windows-2003-server.html
which appears slightly higher up in the page under 'time tested solutions'
richard
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21730995/Resize-partition-on-Windows-2003-server.html
which appears slightly higher up in the page under 'time tested solutions'
richard
ASKER
You link points back to my question itself..
Vinod.
Vinod.
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Among these software that i've selected, do you which is more reliable and worked?? Coz my server is my DC also....
Partition Manager 7 Professional
Partition Commander
BootIT.
Also in Partition Manager it says it supports hot resize (upwards). What does that mean???? Can i not reduce the size of a parition if i have free space??
Vinod.
Partition Manager 7 Professional
Partition Commander
BootIT.
Also in Partition Manager it says it supports hot resize (upwards). What does that mean???? Can i not reduce the size of a parition if i have free space??
Vinod.
Sorry was just reading the post earlier, thought it would be good for you.
I haven't had any experience with any of them just thought that it would be a handy link as someone else has already done a load of leg work in it.
I was looking at volume manager by powerquest/symantec earlier on this week but that says windows 2000 not windows 2003, but does all on the fly. Not sure whether it is readily available or supported for 2003, but may be worth a phone call. It is however quite an expensive product I think.
Richard
I haven't had any experience with any of them just thought that it would be a handy link as someone else has already done a load of leg work in it.
I was looking at volume manager by powerquest/symantec earlier on this week but that says windows 2000 not windows 2003, but does all on the fly. Not sure whether it is readily available or supported for 2003, but may be worth a phone call. It is however quite an expensive product I think.
Richard
ASKER
I dont think i have any bad sectors on the current disk. But do i have to run a diskcheck before doing the resizing or it shouldnt be a problem ??
Vinod.
Vinod.
I've used Paragon's Partition Manager more than a few times without a problem on my 2003 Raided Servers. You might take a look at that.
Ghost has never failed to see a RAID array for me. Adaptec, Dell Perc and HP Netraid have all worked, leew.
Vinod, if you are serious about this you won't do it on a production server while it's online. There are too many risks.
Laz's suggestion may work, and it should come in under your budget, but I'd only do that after taking a ghost image anyway. I'm just scared of trashing the whole thing, I guess. I've never had a screwup with Ghost...
Vinod, if you are serious about this you won't do it on a production server while it's online. There are too many risks.
Laz's suggestion may work, and it should come in under your budget, but I'd only do that after taking a ghost image anyway. I'm just scared of trashing the whole thing, I guess. I've never had a screwup with Ghost...
ASKER
Harley,
I checked Norton ghost specs and it does not have Windows server 2003 as supported OS....
Also i am going to take a backup of the server before resizing and i'm going to do it in the weekend and for this customer entire weekend downtime is acceptable...
Vinod.
I checked Norton ghost specs and it does not have Windows server 2003 as supported OS....
Also i am going to take a backup of the server before resizing and i'm going to do it in the weekend and for this customer entire weekend downtime is acceptable...
Vinod.
Ghost 7.5 works, and is supported by Win2000 and WinXp.
I don't think you will find anything that Officially supports Win2003 Server in your price range, as it is a licensing issue - everyone wants you to pay more for "enterprise" products.
That's why all those things you looked at say they don't support it - not because they can't but because they want more money from you. They might disable the functionality but there would be no technical reason it doesn't work, fundamentally there is no major difference between an XP NTFS partition and a Win2003 NTFS partition.
I don't think you will find anything that Officially supports Win2003 Server in your price range, as it is a licensing issue - everyone wants you to pay more for "enterprise" products.
That's why all those things you looked at say they don't support it - not because they can't but because they want more money from you. They might disable the functionality but there would be no technical reason it doesn't work, fundamentally there is no major difference between an XP NTFS partition and a Win2003 NTFS partition.
ASKER
I've tried installing one of the ghost version (cant remember which), but it just would say its not compatible and quit...
Partition Manager says they officially support 2003...
Although i know that its NTFS parition no matter what the operating system is, i would still be comfortable using product that says it supports 2003 rather than the one that does not say it supports it..
Vinod
Partition Manager says they officially support 2003...
Although i know that its NTFS parition no matter what the operating system is, i would still be comfortable using product that says it supports 2003 rather than the one that does not say it supports it..
Vinod
I have used Symantec VolumeManager (Well it is just the server verion partition magic). I think it suits your situation.
You may also try diskpart which is a free tool from MS. It is built on every XP machine. You may try and familiar with the function and syntax on a PC first.
You may also try diskpart which is a free tool from MS. It is built on every XP machine. You may try and familiar with the function and syntax on a PC first.
ASKER
tatw,
Symantec Volume manager doesnt seem to be a current product and does not show up in symantec's website. The old version 2.0 i found on google seems to be supported for NT/2000.
Also dispart doesnt seem to have the capability to perform hot resize and non-destructive resize. I current dont have any unpartitioned disk space. I need to share the free space between the partitions...
Vinod.
Symantec Volume manager doesnt seem to be a current product and does not show up in symantec's website. The old version 2.0 i found on google seems to be supported for NT/2000.
Also dispart doesnt seem to have the capability to perform hot resize and non-destructive resize. I current dont have any unpartitioned disk space. I need to share the free space between the partitions...
Vinod.
Have used Volume Manager on Windows 2003 before. I am remembering it being the Symantec product, but will check as there seems to be more than one vendor calling their product Volume Manager. I would try it though.
Other option, would be to move part of pagefile to D: drive if the one on C: is fairly large. This will free up some space. Can also check for any memory dump files and clear them off then change the startup and recovery options to create memory dump files on d: instead of the default location in system root of c:.
Good luck.
Other option, would be to move part of pagefile to D: drive if the one on C: is fairly large. This will free up some space. Can also check for any memory dump files and clear them off then change the startup and recovery options to create memory dump files on d: instead of the default location in system root of c:.
Good luck.
ASKER
lazarus98,
Have you used the professional version or the server version ???
Vinod.
Have you used the professional version or the server version ???
Vinod.
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Oh ok. Thats what i thought. I sent them an e-mail and i havent got a response yet. So you have successfully used server version and performed hot resize without any problems ????
Have you used any of these ??
Partition Commander
BootIT.
Thank you for your help...
Vinod.
Have you used any of these ??
Partition Commander
BootIT.
Thank you for your help...
Vinod.
Here's a link to the Paragon site: http://www.partition-manager.com/corporate/server/
I have not used Patition Commander or BootIT, but I have HOT resized partition several times with no problem. It will rezise upward, I don't know it it will rezise down though. I have not tried that.
ASKER
Well in that case, if you are resizing one partition upwards, other partition has to be resized downwards right ????
How does it work then ???
Vinod.
How does it work then ???
Vinod.
It can handle that easily enough. It has the Redistribution Wizard that will make it easy enough for you. Remember though... Partition Manager can change partitions on Basic Disks only. In case your hard disk(s) were modified to Dynamic Disk(s), use the "Convert to Basic Disk" function first.
ASKER
If it has a redistribution wizard, then where would the "upward" only be applicable ????
Vinod.
Vinod.
Sorry, was in meetings ealier. You can HOT resize upward only. To change the rest you are going to have to reboot at some point into the BLUE work screen. There is just no way around that. The HOT Resize is just going to help you buy some time during your busy time, untill you can reboot. Other than that, you'll have to ask Paragon for more or better info. I'm just a lowly user. But it's really about the best one out there form the ones i have used.
ASKER
Thanks for all your help... I will try it this weekend hopefully and post back results...
Vinod.
Vinod.
For a really good time - get the eval version of Microsoft Virtual PC (90 days I think), and run wup W2k3 on it. Then you can mess with HDD resizing safely.
We have the Action Pack (A Microsoft Partner package) that gives us 10 copies of vPC, so we can do testing without interfereing with other stuff.
We have the Action Pack (A Microsoft Partner package) that gives us 10 copies of vPC, so we can do testing without interfereing with other stuff.
Ghost doesn't support Dynamic disks - that just means that it will turn your dynamic disks back into basic disks, and your simple volumes back into primary partitions.