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I have 13.1 GB of unallocated space before my main partition and guess what: Windows won't allow me to expand to it. I know how most of the stuff works and it's because there are files and important boot files at the beginning of the partition.

I am willing to use Easeus Partition Master 9.0.0 Server edition to resize my main partition and gain that additional 13 GB of additional space.

Last time I did that was a few years ago and I remember the operation completed succesfully but there were problems like security permissions issues and some other small issues after booting back to my Windows installation (probbly Vista).

So: How safe is it to take that additional 13 gb of space BEFORE my partition and add it to the main partition using Easeus partition master? Will it "BLOW UP" my Windows 7 installation?

Edit: What about GUIDs and saved file locations on the partition(s)/disk(s)? Will windows complain? I remember that some Windows components index files by their location on the disk/partition or am I wrong? Won't that be a problem in Windows 7?

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3 Answers 3

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Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8 computes partition identifier as 32-bit disk signature (found in MBR) + 64-bit partition offset (in bytes, from the start of the disk).

Partition identifier of Windows System Root Partition is stored in BCD (\Boot\BCD registry hive and \Boot\BCD.LOG registry log) and also in mount manager database (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices), physically stored in \Windows\System32\Config\SYSTEM and \Windows\System32\Config\SYSTEM.LOG.

So partition identifier of disk C: will change after your manipulations. Usually Windows is able to repair itself at boot time, but if it won't, you can fix both references using Emergency Boot CD, Mount & Boot Center: http://www.prime-expert.com/ebcd/

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It's totally Safe, but before beginning the process check hard disk for any issue such as bad sector, integrity of file ,..... So run this command from elevated command prompt:

chkdsk C: /f /scan
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It should be safe to do this. You should still do a full drive back up, then it doesn't matter what happens.

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  • Yes, but why waste it? :) @Gam: It should be safe and at worst you'll need to repair the bootloader (shouldn't normally be required). A backup's always a good idea in any case.
    – Karan
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:43
  • Because it would be easier to beg the few pence it would cost to by such a trivially small HDD
    – thecoshman
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:47
  • I guess, but if I were in the OP's place it would bother me too that 13 GB of my drive was going waste. Why not utilise it all when it's already available, without having to pay to buy a new drive?
    – Karan
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:48
  • I know it's not really much to bother about
    – user144773
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:49
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    @Gam: Meh, whatever, it's up to you (you asked after all). Also, if you're gonna do it maybe you should try the free Home edition first? It works perfectly well as per my own experience.
    – Karan
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:51

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