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Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old sz. (Read 6293 times)

pkoteras

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Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old sz.
Jul 28^th, 2006 at 9:33pm

My Dell box came with an 80 GB drive, but it was partitioned into a 51 GB (C) and a 19 GB (D) with two misc Dell partitions. The "D" drive was listed as backup, to use with Norton's product, however I didn't need or want it because my system has hardware RAIDed drives. I used ptedit32 (which was included on the drive in Symantec's program folder) to resize the D to nothing and resize the C to take the available space. It worked beautifully, however windows explorer and My Computer still see the C drive's original size, even though Disk Manager sees the correct size. How do I get Windows XP to put the correct size in?

Thanks,

Paul

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Dan Goodell

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Re: Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old
Reply #1 - Jul 28^th, 2006 at 10:04pm

Ptedit does not resize partitions. It only edits the partition table, it does not adjust the partition itself. To properly resize a partition requires adjustments to the drive parameter block in the partition boot sector, as well as adjustments to the FAT or MFT. NTFS partitions also need to relocate the backup boot sector, which lives in the last sector of the partition.

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pkoteras

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	Re: Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old Reply #2 - Jul 29^th, 2006 at 11:40pm So since this was the suggestion of Dell and Symantec, what is my resolution to complete the task and resolve the issue? The drive is an NTFS drive. Also, why does Disk Manager see it as a 70GB, just out of curiosity?
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Dan Goodell

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Re: Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old
Reply #3 - Jul 30^th, 2006 at 10:51am

"this was the suggestion of Dell and Symantec..."

Seriously??! Wow. The proper way is to boot into the Dell/Symantec Recovery Environment (press Ctrl+F11 at boot time). There is a menu selection specifically to delete the 'Backup' partition and merge its disk space into the preceding partition.

"what is my resolution to complete the task and resolve the issue?"

Can you use ptedit32 to put things back to the way they were? If you can, then you can use the DSRE function.

Otherwise, use Partition Magic to see if it can repair the partition.

If you don't have PM, you might try XP's Check Disk tool, but do not let it "automatically fix errors". Let it check and prompt you for the go-ahead, and only give it the OK if it looks like it's fixing what we expect to be wrong. In 'My Computer', right-click on the C: drive and choose Properties. Do the used/free figures look okay? If so, that would suggest an XP repair will work okay.

"why does Disk Manager see it as a 70GB, just out of curiosity?"

Disk Manager gets its information from the partition table--which incidentally is why it can tell you the sizes of the "Unknown" partitions Dell adds.

BTW, if you're curious what's in the drive parameter block of the partition boot record, launch ptedit32, click in any field of the XP partition descriptor to highlight that partition, then click the 'Boot Record' button. I'm guessing that the NTFS size there is not consistent with the size in the partition table descriptor.

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pkoteras

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Re: Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old
Reply #4 - Jul 31^st, 2006 at 9:31am

Great information Dan. I put the partitions back they way they started with ptedit32 (what good is this util if you can only modify the table, but not the actual partition?). I had used PTinfo to save a copy of my information prior to changing it, just in case, so it was relatively easy. Once it was back to normal, I used the Dell utility (ctrl+11) and it was just as you said. I was able to delete the partition and add it my C drive. Much easier than the mess I was trying before. If only I could get back the 3 hours I wasted originally!

Thanks for the help!

PK

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Dan Goodell

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Re: Used Ptedit32 to resize partition, XP sees old
Reply #5 - Jul 31^st, 2006 at 4:21pm

"...ptedit32 (what good is this util if you can only modify the table, but not the actual partition?)."

It's not a repartitioning utility, it's a diagnostic and repair tool.

For example, it shows you the order of the entries in the partition table, which may not always correspond with the order of the physical partitions themselves. If you're doing surgery on your boot.ini file, the partition parameter in the ARCpath follows the partition table order, not the actual order of the partitions on the disk. A diagnostic tool like ptedit (DOS) or ptedit32 (Win) can help you get your boot.ini right.

For several other examples of how ptedit/ptedit32 can be useful, see my websites:
Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition
Inside the Dell Utility Partition
Understanding Multibooting

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