Home / server / Questions / 49835
In Process
Daniel A. White
Asked: 2009-08-05 07:50:41 +0800 CST

Resizing Partitions/Volumes on Dynamic Disks (Windows Server 2003)

  • 772

What is the best way to resize partitions on a server with a Dynamic Disk? I have 4 volumes in what appears to be 2 partitions. I have ghosted each of these volumes to separate image files. I will need to have the drive letters remain the same when the server OS boots back up. I know I need to use diskpart but I do not know how to make this work. Thanks.

windows-server-2003 partition diskpart

6 Answers

  1. You cannot extend the Boot or System volumes. You can extend the rest of the partitions (if they have enough space) using DiskPart - see: http://ss64.com/nt/diskpart.html

    If this is to increase the size of the C: drive, I would suggest you review this web page for methods of reorganizing your server data - the C: drive doesn't need to be that big if the server is managed appropriately. http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/bootdrivesize.asp

    • 1

  2. I believe I extended a C: drive once using WinPE and DISKPART. Probably unsupported by Microsoft, however.

    Can you post a screenshot of your disk management? 4 volumes in 2 partitions sounds strange to me.

    • 1

  3. Here is an article about resize dynamic disk. You need to first convert dynamic disk to basic, then use some partition software to resize partition, after completing, you can again convert basic to dynamic disk.

    • 1

  4. I really liked PartitionMagic for this task.

    Also, Acronis TrueImage will allow you to back up, and then select new sizes upon restore.

    • 0

  5. I hear that many tools can resize partition, such as partition magic, GParted, disk director, easeus partition master….. As I know, partition magic doesn't support Windows Server 2003. Other tool can convert the dynamic disk to the basic disk directly, although it takes less time, but there is high risk of data loss. I would like to use easeus partition master to copy the dynamic disk to the basic disk and then resize on the basic disk, no data loss, it is very safe.

    • 0

  6. Partition Magic doesn't support Windows Server 2003. How to resize the dynamic disk? I really like easeus partition master, although it is complex, but it is safe to resize the dynamic disk, no data loss.

    • 0