I recently used boot camp to install windows on my intel iMac. It all worked great, but now I'd like to give it more hard drive space on it's partition. Is there any way to change the partition size without having to erase the partition and start over?
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Change the size of Windows partition
- Thread starter clayton620
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Nope. Clone your Windows partition to another drive, delete it and make it bigger, and then put the data back on.
Oh, and follow the forums rules, too, please.
Oh, and follow the forums rules, too, please.
You don't have to "start all over" but you will, as mentioned above, need to back up your current Boot Camp install and then use the Boot Camp Assistant to remove and recreate the partition in the new desired size.
Winclone makes this entirely painless and will allow you to restore your Boot Camp installation to the new, larger partition so you don't have to go through the hassle of reinstalling Windows again. It's fast and easy.
Winclone makes this entirely painless and will allow you to restore your Boot Camp installation to the new, larger partition so you don't have to go through the hassle of reinstalling Windows again. It's fast and easy.
How long have you had Windows installed in Bootcamp? How often do you use it?
Think of all the virii and troj-ii and malwar-ii you've got on there!
Think of that feeling, that very first feeling one has when using a new install of Windows that hasn't been connected to the internet. Then think of how surprisingly fast it feels compared to any other time you have used Windows before. You can't always judge it from the when you used Windows at your friends house who runs no anti-anything and hasn't defragged since 2003!
Now that you have remembered that feeling, REINSTALL WINDOWS!
Ohhhh it's so nice and lovely and fresh!
Think of all the virii and troj-ii and malwar-ii you've got on there!
Think of that feeling, that very first feeling one has when using a new install of Windows that hasn't been connected to the internet. Then think of how surprisingly fast it feels compared to any other time you have used Windows before. You can't always judge it from the when you used Windows at your friends house who runs no anti-anything and hasn't defragged since 2003!
Now that you have remembered that feeling, REINSTALL WINDOWS!
Ohhhh it's so nice and lovely and fresh!
I certainly personally prefer madog's solution, but if you choose SaSaSushi's method using the cool utility WinClone, keep in mind in order to restore the WinClone backup to a partition larger than the original it was cloned from, the original partition needs to be NTFS (covered in the WinClone FAQs).
If the partition the clone is made from is FAT32 at the time of cloning, when it is restored to a larger partition it will shrink that partiton back to the original size thus wasting your time!
The WinClone FAQs do have details of how to use the Windows "Convert" command to change a FAT32 partition to an NTFS partition non-destructively before cloning. I have done that and after making it NTFS, the WinClone cloning and restoration on a larger partition worked smoothly.
If the partition the clone is made from is FAT32 at the time of cloning, when it is restored to a larger partition it will shrink that partiton back to the original size thus wasting your time!
The WinClone FAQs do have details of how to use the Windows "Convert" command to change a FAT32 partition to an NTFS partition non-destructively before cloning. I have done that and after making it NTFS, the WinClone cloning and restoration on a larger partition worked smoothly.
He said he "recently installed" Windows.
I was just reading basically this same speech from you on this thread where you were advising someone to archive and install OS X. It's sort of your cause, isn't it?
And yes, sickmacdoc, thank you for pointing out that the automatic resize works only on NTFS partitions. Since Boot Camp Assistant partitions in NTFS by default I only assumed he wouldn't need this advice.
And yes, sickmacdoc, thank you for pointing out that the automatic resize works only on NTFS partitions. Since Boot Camp Assistant partitions in NTFS by default I only assumed he wouldn't need this advice.
Your note got me curious as I have always been giving the choice when installing via BootCamp, so I pulled out the good old BootCamp Installation Guide. It seems the reason I have been given the choice of either is that I have only installed XP via BootCamp (as per the screen shot in the guide attached below). I see in the guide that installing Vista automatically formats it as NTFS as you mentioned, so mystery solved in my mind!
I knew I had done a FAT32 the first time I installed XP with BootCamp, then had to convert it for WinClone!Attachments
Although I didn't see that part at first, it's still 5 minutes too old!
I was just reading basically this same speech from you on this thread where you were advising someone to archive and install OS X. It's sort of your cause, isn't it?
LOL, yeah I was kind of chuckling to myself during this post as I had posted that previous one not an hour before.
Yeah, it's my life's mission to reinstall an OS every now-and-again to keep everything clean. Kind of like how fancy people have monthly enemas, and regular people who have their daily morning coffee enemas. I like to clean out my computer after months/years of abuse.
While I am a bit too excited about my reinstalls and possibly do it too often because I have nothing better to do, most people don't do it all. Just like any car, one needs to keep there computer up-to-date and healthy and maintain it regularly rather than just waiting until it's broken to figure out how to fix it and potentially lose more time in the process. When not doing the routine oil changes, the occasional fluid-flush is done as well. While that's not the case here, it's not a completely horrible practice regardless.
On a side note, I always make it a point when referring to people's iPhone troubles as well. Other than it's bugs and flaws, I have never had such serious problems as many seem to have as I restore it for each update.
But, that's just me as I have yet to get extremely bored while watching a progress bar for 45 minutes.
I wasn't saying it as a personal attack or anything. I mean, I am a switcher of 2 years now who spent long years with PCs up until then. I know that fresh feeling of a new install and share your joy in it.
But on the other hand, there are times when using a reinstall as a "fix" for a problem are akin to using a Howitzer to kill a cockroach.
Like all the info stated above, fresh installs are the best to work with.
My method is to create a blank install, patch it up with the drivers.
switch back to OSX, make a quick WinClone (so its easier to start from there)
install all the updates, then install the apps and do a second clone (incase anything goes wrong during app install i can revert to the original clean install prior and reapply the apps) saves hassle getting all the disks out for the programs.
I usually only run;
AVG Free (essential antivirus app)
Router firewall plus built-in OS firewall
HDTach & HDTune for HardDrive perfomance monitoring (not necessary but handy)
AUSLogics Disk defragger (perfect, since you can manually manage it instead of it always running in the background)
Oh...did i mention all those are free?
Just make incremental winclone back ups and assign categories for all your files so its easier to maintain and back up.
less clutter means bette rproductivity and less issues when trying to recovery data.
BTW with WinClone its not going to clone/copy free space, so you dont really need to worry about cloned sizes.
I have a 500GB XP SP3 drive and i keep one copy of the winclones on my macosx drive (which is a 500GB drive aswell) and to a offsite back up for safe keeping.
Just thought id mention that so you dont think you need to get 2 or 3 or 4 drives just to make one clone to windows partition unless you do fill up the entire drive/partition.
My method is to create a blank install, patch it up with the drivers.
switch back to OSX, make a quick WinClone (so its easier to start from there)
install all the updates, then install the apps and do a second clone (incase anything goes wrong during app install i can revert to the original clean install prior and reapply the apps) saves hassle getting all the disks out for the programs.
I usually only run;
AVG Free (essential antivirus app)
Router firewall plus built-in OS firewall
HDTach & HDTune for HardDrive perfomance monitoring (not necessary but handy)
AUSLogics Disk defragger (perfect, since you can manually manage it instead of it always running in the background)
Oh...did i mention all those are free?
Just make incremental winclone back ups and assign categories for all your files so its easier to maintain and back up.
less clutter means bette rproductivity and less issues when trying to recovery data.
BTW with WinClone its not going to clone/copy free space, so you dont really need to worry about cloned sizes.
I have a 500GB XP SP3 drive and i keep one copy of the winclones on my macosx drive (which is a 500GB drive aswell) and to a offsite back up for safe keeping.
Just thought id mention that so you dont think you need to get 2 or 3 or 4 drives just to make one clone to windows partition unless you do fill up the entire drive/partition.