NTFSRESIZE(8) NTFSRESIZE(8) NAME ntfsresize - resize an NTFS filesystem without data loss SYNOPSIS ntfsresize [OPTIONS] --info device ntfsresize [OPTIONS] [--size size[k|M|G]] device DESCRIPTION The ntfsresize program non-destructively resizes Windows XP/2000/NT4, Windows Server 2003 or Longhorn Beta NTFS filesystems. It can be used to shrink or enlarge any NTFS filesystem located on an unmounted device (usually a disk partition). The new filesystem will have size bytes. The size parameter may have one of the optional modifiers k, M, G, which means the size parameter is given in kilo-, mega- or gigabytes respectively. ntfsresize conforms to the SI, ATA, IEEE standards and the disk manufacturers by using k=10^3, M=10^6 and G=10^9. If both --info and --size are omitted then the NTFS filesystem will be enlarged to the underlying device size. The ntfsresize program doesn't manipulate the size of par- titions. To do that you have to use a disk partitioning tool, for example fdisk(8). IMPORTANT! Generally it's a good practice making regular backups of your valuable data, especially before using any partitioning tools. To do so for NTFS, you could use ntfs- clone(8). It's also included in the ntfsprogs(8) package. SHRINKAGE If you wish to shrink an NTFS partition, first use ntfsre- size to shrink the size of the filesystem. Then you may use fdisk(8) to shrink the size of the partition by delet- ing the partition and recreating it with the smaller size. But be careful, do not make the partition smaller than the new size of the NTFS filesystem otherwise you won't be able to boot and you might lose your data. ENLARGEMENT To enlarge an NTFS filesystem, first you must enlarge the size of the underlying partition. This can be done using fdisk(8) by deleting the partition and recreating it with a larger size. Make sure it will not overlap with an other existing partition. Then you may use ntfsresize to enlarge the size of the filesystem. PARTITIONING When recreating the partition by a disk partitioning tool, make sure you create it with the same starting disk cylin- der (sector) and partition type as before. Otherwise you may lose your entire filesystem. ntfsprogs version 1.9.1 Mar 2004 1 NTFSRESIZE(8) NTFSRESIZE(8) Also make sure you set the bootable flag for the partition if it existed before. Failing to do so you might not be able to boot your computer from the disk. OPTIONS Below is a summary of all the options that ntfsresize accepts. All options have two equivalent names. The short name is preceded by - and the long name is preceded by --. Any single letter options, that don't take an argument, can be combined into a single command, e.g. -fi is equiv- alent to -f -i. -i, --info By using this option ntfsresize will determine the theoretically smallest shrunken filesystem size supported. Most of the time the result is the space already used on the filesystem. Ntfsresize will refuse shrinking to a smaller size than what you got by this option and depending on several factors it might be unable to shrink very close to this theoretical size. Although the integrity of your data should be never in risk, it's still strongly recommended to make a test run by using the --no- action option before real resizing. Practically the smallest shrunken size generally is at around "used space" + (20-200 MB). Please also take into account that Windows might need about 50-100 MB free space left to boot safely. This option never causes any changes to the filesystem, the partition is opened read-only. -s, --size size[k|M|G] Resize filesystem to size[k|M|G] bytes. The optional modifiers k, M, G mean the size parameter is given in kilo-, mega- or gigabytes respectively. Conforming to standards, k=10^3, M=10^6 and G=10^9. Use this option with --no-action first. -f, --force Forces ntfsresize to proceed with the resize opera- tion if the filesystem is marked "dirty" for con- sistency check. Please note, ntfsresize always marks the filesystem "dirty" before a real resize operation and it leaves that way for extra safety. Thus if NTFS was marked by ntfsresize then it's safe to use this option. If you need to resize several times without booting into Windows between each resizing steps then you must use this option. ntfsprogs version 1.9.1 Mar 2004 2 NTFSRESIZE(8) NTFSRESIZE(8) -n, --no-action Use this option to make a test run before doing the real resize operation. Volume will be opened read- only and ntfsresize displays what it would do if it were to resize the filesystem. Continue with the real resizing only if the test run passed. -P, --no-progress-bar Don't show progress bars. -v, --verbose More output. -h, --help Display help and exit. EXIT CODES The exit code is 0 on success, non-zero otherwise. KNOWN ISSUES No reliability problems are known or has been reported. If you need help please try the ntfsresize FAQ first (see below) and if you don't find your answer then send your question, comment or bug report to . No subscription is needed but the mailing list is moderated and it can take some time to approve your post. There are some very rarely met limitations at present: filesystems having bad sectors, highly fragmented Master File Table (MFT), relocation of the first MFT extent and resizing in the middle of some metadata in some cases aren't supported yet. These cases are detected and resiz- ing is refused, restricted to a safe size or the closest safe size is displayed. ntfsresize schedules an NTFS consistency check and after the first boot into Windows you must see chkdsk running on a blue background. This is intentional. Windows may force a quick reboot after the consistency check. Moreover after repartitioning your disk and depending on the hard- ware configuration, the Windows message System Settings Change may also appear. Just acknowledge it and reboot again. AUTHOR ntfsresize has been written by Szabolcs Szakacsits . ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Many thanks to Anton Altaparmakov and Richard Russon for libntfs, the excellent documentation and comments, to Gergely Madarasz, Dewey M. Sasser and Miguel Lastra and his colleagues at the University of Granada for their ntfsprogs version 1.9.1 Mar 2004 3 NTFSRESIZE(8) NTFSRESIZE(8) continuous and highly valuable help, furthermore to Erik Meade, Martin Fick, Sandro Hawke, Dave Croal, Lorrin Nel- son, Geert Hendrickx, Robert Bjorkman and Richard Burdick for beta testing and to Theodore Ts'o whose resize2fs(8) man page formed the basis of this page. AVAILABILITY ntfsresize is part of the ntfsprogs(8) package and is available from http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/ as source and precompiled binary. ntfsresize related news, example of usage, troubleshooting, statically linked binary and FAQ (frequently asked questions) is maintained at http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html SEE ALSO fdisk(8), cfdisk(8), sfdisk(8), parted(8), mkntfs(8), ntf- sclone(8), ntfsprogs(8) ntfsprogs version 1.9.1 Mar 2004 4