How to Resize Server 2003 NTFS Partition without data loss or rebooting

Comparing with FAT file system, NTFS has many advantages, so NTFS partition is widely used, especially for system partition. However, either NTFS or FAT partition will run out of space. The operating system will run much slower, even crash if there is little free space in the system partition, so you need to extend the partition as soon as possible.

As I mentioned above, NTFS is better than FAT file system and more users choose NTFS partition, so in this article, I'll introduce how to resize NTFS partition on Server 2003 without data loss.

What is NTFS File System?

NTFS (New Technology File System) is the standard file system of Windows NT, including its later versions Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

NTFS provides performance, security, reliability, and advanced features that are not found in any version of the file allocation table (FAT) file system. For example, NTFS guarantees volume consistency by using standard transaction logging and recovery techniques. If a system fails, NTFS uses its log file and checkpoint information to restore the consistency of the file system. NTFS also provides advanced features, such as file and folder permissions, encryption, disk quotas, and compression.

What is the difference between FAT and NTFS?
For more about this, please refer the difference between FAT and NTFS.

How to resize NTFS partition on Server 2003?

For most Windows Server users, resizing Windows Server partition is not an easy work to do but a hard task, which makes most of the people turn help from the professionals. In fact, it is very easy to resize NTFS partition on Server 2003. You can resize partition with Partition Magic Server software by yourself, you just need to drag and move on the disk map to resize partitions, all operations can be previewed and cancelled. The aim is to gather free space from other data partition for the system boot partition.

Which tool to resize NTFS partition on Windows Server?

Many users like to search "Partition Magic Server", as Partition Magic is so famous, people want to use Partition Magic on Windows Server, but in fact, there is no Partition Magic Server edition and Partition Magic is no longer for selling, too. Fortunately, there are Partition Magic Server alternatives, such as Partition Assistant Server. To finger out the differences, please refer to the Server partition software Comparison.

In technical forums, many professionals recommend Partition Assistant Server. Based on the enhanced data protection technology and copy wizard built in Partition Wizard Server Edition, it is highly recommended with its excellent advantages while resizing Windows server partitions. Besides, It is able to extend NTFS system partition without rebooting to maximize the server performance and minimize the downtime of the server. That is to say, if your Server system partition is NTFS, you can resize Server partition without downtime.

How to resize Server 2003 NTFS partition without rebooting?

Step 1, Launch Partition Magic Server, you'll see all disks and partitions that connected to your Server and free space, used space and other properties of each partition.

Right-click the data partition and select "Resize", in the pop-up window, drag the left border rightwards to shrink it.

There will be some Unallocated space behind the system partition.

Step 2, Right-click the system partition and select "Resize", in the pop-up window, drag the right border rightwards to hold the Unallocated space.

Click "Apply" to proceed, done.

Now you have a "new" Server that can be used for a long time again.

How to allocate free space from any data partition and add to C drive without losing data?

For enterprise users, Unlimited Edition allows unlimited usage within your company to save time and money.