[ginop1]

Hi. I have a PowerMac G4 500 Mhz. My hard disk is partitioned into 5 disks. One partition is 4 GB and another is 7 GB. I would like to increase the size of the 4 GB partition to a 5 GB partition thus making the 7 GB partition a 6 GB partition. I do realize that I would have to wipe the data from those two partitions first in order to do that, however is there any way I can do that without totally initializing the whole drive?
Gino J. Piazza

[Gregg]

I'd put my money on "no". I will anxiously await the experts' answers.

It might depend on the software you used to partition your hard drive. Some years back I partitioned a drive with FWB Hard Disk Toolkit and it would allow you to reallocate partition space while data was on the disk (as long as you had enough free space to make the change safely). But I switched back to Apple's Drive Setup to partition my G4 and I don't believe it will allow a simple reassignment of space without erasing data in the process.
However there is a way if you're willing to take the time. Open Drive Setup and then go into its Help window from the menu bar. Look on the index list for "partition." Under that find "resize." It explains the process. It would appear if you have enough free space to move and temporarily park data, you may be able to adjust your HD partition allocations a section at a time. It wouldn't hurt to back things up before you start the process just in case.