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Stephvdw · Jul 16, 2006, 12:14 AM

Does anyone know if there is a way to increase the size of a windows partition on an Imac once its been made and windows installed or do I need to do a full uninstall and start all over again. How big should I make the partition if I want to run photoshop, illustrator and a few other programs on windows?

stefanicotine · Jul 16, 2006, 03:43 AM

I'd like to know as well. I made my Windows partition too big o.O;;

ghporter · Jul 16, 2006, 05:54 AM

Let's take this to the Alternative Operating System forum, where it belongs, eh?

kaido · Jul 16, 2006, 11:31 AM

You can back up the XP partition, delete it in OS X using the Boot Camp assistant program, then create a new, larger partition and restore your backup to it. Follow my instructions here:

http://forum.onmac.net/showpost.php?p=8837&postcount=8

You can only use this method to restore to an equal or larger partition; it will not work if the partition is smaller.

stefanicotine · Jul 16, 2006, 01:37 PM

Ok cool. But say I didn't care too much about backing up Windows. If I did a fresh install then I could make it smaller couldn't I? I'd love to have my Windows partition fat32

mduell · Jul 16, 2006, 03:28 PM

The best way is probably to blow it away in Boot Camp and recreate it.

ghporter · Jul 16, 2006, 08:19 PM

I agree with mduell. There are ways to change partition sizes with a variety of tools, but since the ones I know that handle Windows partitions don't understand Mac partitions, that means problems. Start over and you'll probably be better off.

Following kaido's instructions should be worthwhile-it's a little complex, but it should allow you to image your current stuff without having to buy any software. Bart's is good stuff, and if you follow instructions, you'll be successful. Of course if you discovered your Windows partition was too small the first time you used it, just go to the part about deleting it and starting over.

foo2 · Jul 27, 2006, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by kaido

You can back up the XP partition, delete it in OS X using the Boot Camp assistant program, then create a new, larger partition and restore your backup to it. Follow my instructions here:

http://forum.onmac.net/showpost.php?p=8837&postcount=8

You can only use this method to restore to an equal or larger partition; it will not work if the partition is smaller.

I enjoyed your post. Note that BartPE can format hard drives too, so going thru the step of booting into the XP install routine to format the drive first, prior to the restore, shouldn't be necessary - just boot from the BartPE CD and format away...

There is also a Ghost32 plugin available, for those lucky folks with Ghost 8 CDs, so that you can go from larger partition size to smaller partition size.

ChrisDaMacMan · Aug 23, 2006, 05:14 PM

Could somebody post those insturctions again cos that link doesnt work?
thanks

ghporter · Aug 23, 2006, 05:42 PM

Looks like that site isn't working...

MikeD · Aug 24, 2006, 12:18 AM

Just out of curiosity, what's a 'good' size for windows... (I definitely don't want to give it too much!) So far, all I'll need to do is run my simple ole gradebook program and maybe once in awhile update the firmware on my cellphones.

Mike

stefanicotine · Aug 24, 2006, 02:55 AM

I'd give it under 30 gigs if I were you. For just grading, I'd say 10-15 gigs. That way you can format it as Fat32, allowing you to read and write from your Mac OS.

ChrisDaMacMan · Aug 24, 2006, 03:02 AM

And keeping the thread on topic....anyone know how to change the size of the partition without having to reinstall windows, instructions would be most appreciated.

ghporter · Aug 24, 2006, 09:53 AM

I was going to say "a third party utility like PartitionMagic will do it" but only if you're going to reduce the size-it doesn't support HFS+ so it can't change the Mac partition size. As for a free option, I don't have any idea. I'm not entirely sure I'd trust a free utility to mess with my partitions unless it came from one of the "Known And Trusted" companies like Symantec (which now owns the PowerQuest products like PartitionMagic).

Moose · Aug 24, 2006, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

I was going to say "a third party utility like PartitionMagic will do it" but only if you're going to reduce the size-it doesn't support HFS+ so it can't change the Mac partition size. As for a free option, I don't have any idea. I'm not entirely sure I'd trust a free utility to mess with my partitions unless it came from one of the "Known And Trusted" companies like Symantec (which now owns the PowerQuest products like PartitionMagic).

Does PartitionMagic even support GPT yet? I don't think it does.

If it did, though, you could probably just shrink the Mac partition with diskutil and then grow the Windows partition with PartitionMagic.

ghporter · Aug 24, 2006, 08:29 PM

The latest version supports Windows and Linux partitions, but NOT Mac partitions. I don't know if Symantec is thinking about expanding the product's capabilities, but now would be a perfect time to do so.

Moose · Aug 24, 2006, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

The latest version supports Windows and Linux partitions, but NOT Mac partitions. I don't know if Symantec is thinking about expanding the product's capabilities, but now would be a perfect time to do so.

It doesn't have to "support" HFS+ partitions. It just has to avoid touching them.

If, however, it doesn't support GUID Partition Table (as opposed to MBR), well, that's game over.