Some people ask me to write an article with detailed steps about how to shrink and extend partition with diskpart command prompt, I don't want to do that, as there are many "guides" about this topic, however, I decide to gather some resources.
Pros of diskpart
- Free
- Provides by Microsoft
- Windows built-in utility
Cons of diskpart
In Windows Server 2003
- Shrink command is unavailable
- Only NTFS partition can be extended
- Only Data drive can be extended
- The data drive with page file cannot be extended
- Only when there is free space behind, you can extend this partition.
In Windows Server 2008
- Only when there is free space behind, you can extend this partition.
- You cannot extend c drive by shrinking D.
In both Server
- Hard to use for most of the people
- Very likely to do incorrect operations
- No way to cancel or undo
Resources
- Diskpart shrink Windows 2003 partition
- Diskpart server 2003 to extend partition
- Diskpart shrink Windows 2008 partition
- Diskpart server 2008 to extend partition
Note: Diskpart in Windows XP is similar with Server 2003, Diskpart in Windows 7/Vista is similar with Server 2008.
I suggest change partition size with 3rd party partitioning utility, such as partition magic server, aomei partition assistant.