Is it possible to Partition a hard disk that already has data on it ?

Question

I have a 150GB hard disk that is almost full with content. It suddenly dawned on me that a partition is not a bad idea. Is it too late to partition ?

Answer 1

If it's almost full of data, partitioning it will not create more space. 150 gigs is150 gigs but more than likely slightly less. Your only other option is adding a second hard drive with more storage capacity or removing some of the data you have to a removable media like DVD, CD, etc.and deleting it after it's proven to work on a removable medium like a DVD or CD. Also, as you fill a hard drive to it's maximum capacity, and if it's the only drive in your computer it will cause performance slow downs due to swap file size being decreased.

If your finances permit, buy the largest hard drive you can afford and add it as a secondary drive.

Answer 2

If your hard drive is almost full already then there is not a lot of point in partitioning it. You still won't have any more space and could quite easily lose some of your data. Why not buy a USB hard drive, a 250 gig is available if you shop around for under £60. You could then partition that and name partitions as Music Photos etc and move stuff off your internal drive onto the appropriate partition. This would also have the advantage of leaving your data available through another computer should you have a hard drive crash. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Yes, though if it's almost full, it'll get a bit involved. You need to get a copy of Partition Magic.

First, defrag the disk. After that's done, run scandisk or checkdsk to correct any file system errors. Use Partition Magic to create a new logical partition with the available space.

This is where it get complicated. If you want the new partition to be bigger then it is, you'll have to start moving data from the old partition to the new one. The fastest way to do this is borrow an external USB drive (if you don't have one) and move the necessary data to the USB drive. With the space on the old partition clear. Use Partition Magic to resize the partitions to your liking. Now just move the data from the USB drive to the new partition.

You can do the same thing without the USB drive, but you might have to resize the partition multiple times to get the data moved. An option might be to burn the data you want to move to a DVD or CD.

Bestonnet: I agree that microsoft's defrag is less then ideal. A badly frag'd drive still needs to be defragged before a partition move. I use Diskeeper. Most partition tools won't even work if the drive is really frag'd. Yes the partition program can "do this for you", though as a support person I've done this quite a few times, and I can tell you that it's slightly foolish to trust a partition program to do this. Do the defrag, and yes, get a better program then Microsoft's default defrag.

On the same subject, I forgot to mention that you should probably run a backup before doing any of this, as well. Paranoid? Yes. But then you're a novice at resizing partitions, otherwise, you wouldn't have asked the question, so paranoia is justified.

Answer 4

You can achieve what you want by using a 3rd party partition software such as Partition Magic. It would allow you to create a new partition on an existing hard disk, without causing any damage or deleting any files.

Answer 5

A gparted live CD can do that if you want to repartition the drive (and it is a free download which only requires a blank CD) though I suspect that isn't actually what you want to do.

If you're problem is that you are running out of space then you need another drive, not to play around with the partition table.

Oh and despite what some have said running Defrag is probably a waste of time. Microsoft's Defrag program has an annoying tendency of putting things where it shouldn't meaning that any software for shrinking partitions on windows systems pretty much has to do that step itself.

Answer 6

What you are attempting to do is create a virtual drive.
You can trick your computer into doing so by initiating the installation of a second copy of Windows. The install dialogue will ask where you want to install it. Just follow the instructions very carefully.
If your drive has, for instance, 20Gig left blank, create the virtual drive using ---for example 15 Gig. After you get the second copy of Windows installed, you will have a 'dual boot' dialogue choice to make when you start your computer.
THEN, open up "my computer" and check to see if your computer shows that you now have a C drive and a D drive.
The Cd burners, etc. will be automatically RE-labelled with 'F' and 'G' for instance. The 'A' floppy drive will remain "A'.

If the D drive has been created successfully, you will be able to access it from EITHER boot-up sequence. If a 'D' drive does not show up, you have not done it correctly. You can also uninstall the second copy of Windows leaving the second partition intact.
Just to be on the safe side, back up all of your data before you attempt this process.
IF it is done properly, you can then reformat your C drive if you wish, without losing the data you have on your 'virtual' or 'D' drive.

Answer 7

Yes. You can either repartiton your drive or just partition it without any data being lost using Disk Director by Acronis.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/diskdirector/

Answer 8

If your disk is almost fill, maybe you really need an additional hard drive.

You can repartition a hard drive without losing your data. Use one of the following. If you have Vista, it must be installed on the primary partition.

VistaBootPRO (free) Vista : Yes
http://www.vistabootpro.org/

Gnome Partition Editor (free) Vista?
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
Modify Your Partitions With GParted Without Losing Data
http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted

Norton Partition Magic (buy) (does not support Vista yet)
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=sp&pvid=pm80

Partition Commander (buy) Vista?
http://www.v-com.com/product/Partition_Commander_Home.html

Answer 9

in most cases partitioning your HD will cause loss of data. but there is a program out there (somewhat costly) that can partition your HD after you have files on it. just run a search in yahoo or google for HD partitioner

Answer 10

No. You'll need a program like :

Acronis Disk Director

or

Partition Magic