qtparted, cfdisk and resizing ntfs

Hello,

I'm new in the Linux world and I recently tried to non-destructively resize my single NTFS partition into 2 smaller partitions so I could install Linux and a Linux swap file. I read a bunch of different things online that said 2 different things. Some said what I tried is not possible, others said it was and without defragmenting. So, I found some instructions for qtparted and followed them using a Knoppix 3.8 live CD and it didn't work, all it did was destroy my Windows installation (luckily I backed everything up.) I then read Knoppix doesn't have a good version of qtparted and that I should use a live cd that is specific for just qtparted, I don't remember the exact name or anything though. So, can you successfully and non-destructively resize an NTFS partition using qtparted or not and will you need to defragment first? Some say you can so what did I do wrong?

Thanks

You could try GParted-LiveCD from http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php.
It's 30MB LiveCD meant for easy partition-editing, and claims to be able to resize NTFS-partitions.

I don't know if you need to defragment first or not.

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. GParted was the name of the program I couldn't think of in my earlier post. I tried it twice and both times it worked perfectly. My next question is why didn't QTParted on the Knoppix 3.8 CD work? I wonder if GParted is programmed completely different? Any ideas?

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rmart0729

GParted was the name of the program I couldn't think of in my earlier post...... My next question is why didn't QTParted on the Knoppix 3.8 CD work? I wonder if GParted is programmed completely different? Any ideas?

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gparted and qtparted are completely different things. Qtparted (and many others) are pratitioning programs that are intended to create and manage partitions on a hard disk. gparted is a recovery tool that is used to examine a disk where the partition table has beel lost, corrupted or overwritten and, by examining the contents on the rest of the disk, try to recreate the original partition table. Of course, there may be other programs on a Live CD that has been named after gparted, but that is not what you asked.

Hello,

Wow, thanks for the input. I'm glad I found this program (GParted) and I hope I have more success in learning about Linux.

Just a quick thought. You might be better off organizing partitions when installiing Windows in the first place. You can specify the size of the partition you wish to install it to and leave some space open for other use. You mentioned ruining the Windows install, so it's easy to do if you intend to re-install it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman

gparted and qtparted are completely different things. Qtparted (and many others) are pratitioning programs that are intended to create and manage partitions on a hard disk. gparted is a recovery tool that is used to examine a disk where the partition table has beel lost, corrupted or overwritten and, by examining the contents on the rest of the disk, try to recreate the original partition table. Of course, there may be other programs on a Live CD that has been named after gparted, but that is not what you asked.

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That is not correct - I think you mixed up "gpart" and "gparted".

gpart is the program to "guess PC-type hard disk partitions" http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/user/76201/gpart/
GParted is "Gnome Partition Editor" http://gparted.sourceforge.net/index.php

So GParted is similar to QtParted http://qtparted.sourceforge.net/

Both QtParted and GParted claims to be able to resize NTFS, if proper additional programs are installed.

With GParted-LiveCD http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php you can be sure that all needed programs are installed, which is why I like it.
It's also updated quite often, so likely to include newer program-versions than Knoppix.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malaire

That is not correct - I think you mixed up "gpart" and "gparted".

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Yes I did, thanks for thec correction.

another very easy way is:

get in windows, defrag the volume, grab a copy of partition manager software and use it.. it is extremely easily to use and it works with no loss of data.

Thanks, guys for the info in this thread. I recently had a NTFS resize attempt that did not work, and although I'm still not quite sure what happened, this GParted-LiveCD sounds interesting. I'm probably going to get it for the future, and, of course, try it first on a computer where there's no risk to data. If anybody feels like going to my post at http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24517, I would appreciate it. I'm only curious as to what went wrong in my case.