Repartition hard disk on-the-fly in Windows Vista

In Windows XP or ealier, the Disk Management console tool will only allow you to create a new partition using any unallocated, or free, space on a hard disk. If a single partition takes up the entire hard disk space then you cannot use the Disk Management tool to repartition the hard disk. To repartition the hard disk without reformating the hard disk (after FDISK in DOS), you will need to  invest in a third-party console tool such as PartitionMagic.

Luckily in Windows Vista, you can do it (repartition it) on-the-fly without investing in any other third-party software. Windows Vista’s Disk Management console tool allows you to shrink, extend, create, and format partitions without putting your data in jeopardy. However it is always advised to backup your important data before repartition you hard disk.

Disk Management console tool

To access to Disk Management console tool in Windows Vista, right-click on My Computer and select “Manage” then choose “Disk Management” under the “Storage” tree; or for quick access, simply type Diskmgmt.msc in the Run dialog box or the Start search box.

Repartion

Choose the hard disk that you want to repartion. If the hard disk does not have enough free space for new partition, right-click the hard disk and choose “Shrink Volume”. You will see a Querying Shrink Space dialog box calculation available shrink space. After the dialog box, you will be ask to key in the amount of space to shrink. Key in the amount you wish to shrink and the value in the “Total Size Before Shrink” box indicates the current size of the partition and the value in the “Size of Available Shrink Space” indicates the maximum size that you can allocate to the second partition.

When you click the Shrink button, you’ll need to wait for some time as Windows is shrinking the hard disk. When the operation is complete, the Disk Management console tool will update its display and you will see some unallocate space on the hard disk.

Create a new usable volume

Now you have created a new volume. To make the new volume usable, right-click on the partition and select the “New Simple Volume” command. Follow the “New Simple Volume Wizard” to choose a volume size, assign drive letter or path and format the partition.

Back to the Disk Management console tool or My Computer, you will see a new drive or partition is created.

Tags: Disk Management, format, repartition, shrink volume