increase bootcamp partition size without reinstall windows?
My bootcamp partition has run out of space. So I want to spare some more free space to it. Disk Utility doesn't let me increase the partition space. If I re run boot camp then I'll have to reinstall vista again. Can someone tell me a better way to do this?
Neerav
MacBook 7,1,
Mac OS X (10.6.6),
iPhone 3G - iOS 4.2.1
Hi Ace,
the best(?) there is now is "Paragon Partition Manager™ 11 SE".
This is what I have now.
It is a windows application (.exe) so it has to be done when in Windows.
(But this is a commercial program - maybe you can use it just to test it - {it's around $70 I think}).
Well, I have done some playing with CloneZilla lately. It will allow you to clone your BootCamp partition. I have not gotten to the point of cloning from one partition size to another, but according to the documentation, as long as the destination partition is not smaller than the source, you can make the clone. I have tested cloning my full internal drive, and that has worked flawlessly for me, so I have high confidence that it will allow the cloning from a smaller BootCamp partition onto a larger one.
Prior to using CloneZilla I used WinClone. It still works for me, but some people have had problems using it with Windows 7, and its author is no longer supporting it. I was thinking about testing the commercial Paragon package the previous poster mentioned, but since ClonZilla is free, I am only out a little time to test it out. If it doesn't work, I can still try the Paragon package.
As for what is better, I might even consider saying that re-installing Windows from scratch is better than trying to clone it, but that is a matter of opinion. Each option has its own pluses and minuses. It's all up to you to determine which one outweighs the others.
1. make image of the vista partiton to an external drive using disk image.
2. use boot camp to resize the partiton.
3. boot into the partion using windows vista dvd and format it to NTFS.
4. remove dvd without installing windows on it.
6. boot into mac, fire up disk utility, restore vista image from external drive to new partiton.
I had the same problem on my system. After looking into possible options, I bought CampTune from Paragon ($19.95) this afternoon. I was able to use it to make my BootCamp partition bigger with no trouble whatsoever. I downloaded the manual first to get familiar with it, and it's very easy to use. If you are still looking for a solution, I recommend CampTune.
I don't think you have been looking or reading in the right places, but you can't use Disk Utility, and Boot Camp doesn't resize, it creates or removes only. CampTune resizes. And Paragon has clone OS and backup tools for Windows and Windows on Mac (aka Boot Camp).
Vista might make a system image but AppleHFS interferes with Windows backup and restore 😟
There are dozens of threads all looking for resizing as well as moving Windows to a new drive and what utilities will work.
