Hi guys.

I have 3 partitions on my 160 GB HDD:

C: 25 GB for OS and system files
E: 40 GB for programs
F: 85 GB for games and media

I would like to reduce the partition size of C and E to about 15 GB each and reallocate the space saved to F.

I am using Windows XP 32 Bit. What is the best way of going about it?

EASUS Partition Manager (freeware)

I have used GParted to clone a Hard drive & used it to grow & shrink Partitions. I found that it was the easiest to use & would do things others could and/or would not. You can get it for free @ http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php .

Now this is not brain surgery but it is best to go slow & step by step even though it can all be done in one fell swoop. The prep work is what takes the time, not the actual shrinking & growing & you will want to do the same after the operation.

Download (SAVE) the GParted Live program & then Burn it on a CD (preferably a RW). This will create a Bootable LINUX disk with GParted on it. Run CC (Clean up the Clutter) from the 8 STEPS, then CHKDSK on all of your Partitions & then Defrag everything to get everything clean & tight before you start. GParted has some real good Tutorials & they are a pretty good bunch of guys that will come up with answers if you have any questions (kind of like the guys at TECHSPOT). Start by Shrinking what you want to Shrink, then CHKDSK & Defrag, then Grow into the freed up space, then CHKDSK & Defrag again. You will probably have to Shrink the other end of your new Partition to make room for your 3rd Partition, so just take your time & do it step by step.

While the Shrinking and/or Growing operations only take a couple of minutes the Prep work like CHKDSK will probably take a hour per operation, so it is best to reserve a Saturday or Sunday to do it & you can do other non computer things while it is cooking.

OH! Yeah! let us not forget it is best to Backup everything 1st just in case something goes wrong!!!

Happy Skies;

Chris