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Three ways to shrink partition in Windows 2008 Server

It seems not an easy task for many people to shrink partition or change partition size. In technical forums, many people asked the same questions, such as is it possible to shrink a partition in Windows 2008 Server without reformatting, which tool can be used to shrink Windows 2008 partition and how to shrink or resize partitions.

In this article, I'll introduce three ways to shrink partition on Windows 2008 Server, no data loss, easy and fast.

Way 1 - Diskpart shrink partition

Diskpart is command line runs by command prompt. This tool is also available in Windows 2008 Server, in fact, the version in 2008 Server is higher, shrink command is not available in the version of Windows 2003 Server.

  • Step 1: Press 'Windows' and 'R' key on the keyboard, type 'cmd' and click 'OK' or press 'Enter'.
  • Step 2: In the command prompt window, type diskpart and press 'Enter'.
  • Step 3: Type 'list volume' to list all disk partitions.
  • Step 4: Type 'select volume' to give focus on the partition you want to shrink.
  • Step 5: Type 'shrink' to shrink the partition.

Diskpart shrink partition

Learn more about diskpart shrink partition in Windows 2008 Server.

Way 2 - Disk management to shrink partition

Microsoft adds new 'Shrink' feature under Disk Management, with which you can shrink Windows 2008 partition, too.

Step 1: Open Disk Management. Right-click 'My Computer' > 'Manage' > 'Storage' > 'Disk Management', right-click the partition you want to shrink and select 'Shrink Volume'.

Shrink partition

Step 2: In the pop up window, enter the amoun of space to shrink. (The default value is the maximum space can be shrank)

Space to shrink

Click 'Shrink' and wait for several minutes, original partition split into a smaller partition and Unallocated space.

Partition split

Disadvantages of Disk Management and Diskpart to shrink partition

  • If page file is located, you cannot shrink much space even if there is plenty of free space in this partition.
  • The Unallocated space can only be used to create new partitions.
  • You cannot extend C: by shrinking D: with Shrink and Extend feature. Because, after shrinking partition D: the Unallocated space is behind D rather than C:. To extend C drive, the Unallocated space should be behind it.

Way 3 - Partition software to shrink partition

With third party partition software, you can shrink and extend any partition just by dragging and dropping.

Before any operations, check partition layout and other details in Disk management.

View partitions

Step 1: Launch Aomei Partition Assistant, you'll see the disk partition layout which is similar with disk management. Right-click the partition you want to shrink and select 'Split Partition'.

Select shrink partition

Step 2: In the pop up window, original partition split into two, you may change the default partition size of each partition by dragging the border or typing value directly at the bottom.

Shrink partition

Click OK and back to main window, click 'Apply' on top left to proceed.

Apply

Within several minutes, original partition C: split into smaller C and E: successfully.

Shrank successful

If you need to shrink a partition and extend another, you'd better refer how to resize partition in Windows 2008 Server.

Related Articles

  • How to reduce partition size in Windows 2008 Server?
  • How to split Server 2008 partitions?
  • How to merge Windows 2008 partitions?
  • How to extend C drive on Windows 2008?
  • Partition software for Windows 2008 Server

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