How can I expand a partition under Windows?

Problem:

I have a partition that is not using the full capacity of my physical disk. I would like to expand the partition without loosing the data. How can I do this?

Solution:

Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP have a text based tool called diskpart.exe. It should only be used by skilled users.

DiskPart.exe is a text-mode command interpreter that enables you to manage objects (disks, partitions, or volumes) by using scripts or direct input from a command prompt. Before you can use DiskPart.exe commands on a disk, partition, or volume, you must first list and then select the object to give it focus. When an object has focus, any DiskPart.exe commands that you type act on that object.

You can only give focus to a partition on the selected disk. When a partition has focus, the related volume (if any) also has focus. When a volume has focus, the related disk and partition also have focus if the volume maps to a single specific partition. If this is not the case, then focus on the disk and partition is lost.

Example to Extend a Partition:

• Type diskpart to start the utility
• Type list to get an overview over all disks and volumes
• Select the volume you want to work with i.e. select volume 2
• Now this volume is in focus you can type expand to use all available space

Note: This maybe a useful operation after expanding a RAID Array or adding additional capacity to a Windows 2003 Server Volume in an Acer Altos SAN environment. But for some reasons, you can not use this command to expand your partition, then you need a professional software to achieve your target. We strongly recommend you to use EASEUS Partition Master.

For better data security, you may also use the free backup software software - EASEUS Todo Backup, which will help you a lot. It provides easy-to-use interface to backup and restore your system, disk and partition within minutes.