How to Resize XP Partitions With GParted

Windows XP installs onto a single hard disk partition by default.

GParted is a graphical partition editor for Linux. You can run GParted from a Linux system installed on your computer, a Linux live CD such as Ubuntu or GParted's own live CD. GParted can resize Windows XP partitions that use the NTFS file system, making them smaller or larger. This is particularly convenient because you can't resize a Windows XP partition from Windows XP itself while it's running. Windows XP checks for errors on the resized partition and fixes them the next time it boots.

Instructions

1. Click the drop-down box at the top-right corner of the GParted window and click the hard disk containing Windows XP.

2. Click the Windows XP partition in the GParted window. This partition has "NTFS" in its file system column.

3. Click the "Partition" menu at the top of the GParted window and click "Resize/Move."

4. Select a new size for the Windows XP partition in the Resize window. Click and drag one of the handles at the right or left side of the bar or type a number into the "New Size" or "Free Space Following" boxes.

5. Click the "Resize" button.

6. Click the "Apply" button on the GParted toolbar and click "Apply" to confirm.

7. Click "Close" after the operation completes.

8. Restart the computer and boot into Windows. If you're running GParted from a live CD, remove the disc from the computer's disc drive. If you're running GParted from a Linux distribution installed on the hard drive, select the "Windows XP" option in the menu that appears when you boot the computer and press "Enter."

9. Wait for Windows XP to check the file system and repair errors. Windows XP will automatically restart after it finishes checking for errors. Do not turn off or restart the computer while Windows XP is checking for errors.

Tips & Warnings

• Back up the data on the Windows XP partition before resizing it. Any partition resizing operation has the potential to damage the partition, corrupting data or rendering Windows XP unbootable

• Boot into Windows XP immediately after the resize operation completes, before performing any other operations on the partition.

References

• GParted: How to Resize Partition