NTFSRESIZE(8)						      System Manager's Manual						     NTFSRESIZE(8)

NAME

       ntfsresize - resize an NTFS filesystem without data loss

SYNOPSIS

       ntfsresize [OPTIONS] --info DEVICE
       ntfsresize [OPTIONS] [--size SIZE[k|M|G]] DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

       The ntfsresize program safely resizes Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows NT4 and Longhorn NTFS filesystems without data
       loss. All NTFS versions are supported, used by 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.  Defragmentation is NOT required prior to  resizing  because  the
       program can relocate any data if needed, without risking data integrity.

       Ntfsresize can be used to shrink or enlarge any NTFS filesystem located on an unmounted DEVICE (usually a disk partition). The new filesys-
       tem will have SIZE bytes.  The SIZE parameter may have one of the optional modifiers k, M, G, which means the SIZE parameter  is  given	in
       kilo-,  mega-  or  gigabytes  respectively.  Ntfsresize conforms to the SI, ATA, IEEE standards and the disk manufacturers by using k=10^3,
       M=10^6 and G=10^9.

       If both --info and --size are omitted then the NTFS filesystem will be enlarged to the underlying DEVICE size.

       To resize a filesystem on a partition, you must resize BOTH the filesystem and the partition by editing the partition table  on	the  disk.
       Similarly  to  other  command line filesystem resizers, ntfsresize doesn't manipulate the size of the partitions, hence to do that you must
       use a disk partitioning tool as well, for example fdisk(8).  Alternatively you could use one of the many user  friendly	partitioners  that
       uses  ntfsresize  internally,  like  Mandriva's DiskDrake, QTParted, SUSE/Novell's YaST Partitioner, IBM's EVMS, GParted or Debian/Ubuntu's
       Partman.

       IMPORTANT!  It's a good practice making REGULAR BACKUPS of your valuable data, especially before using ANY partitioning tools. To do so for
       NTFS, you could use ntfsclone(8).  Don't forget to save the partition table as well!

   Shrinkage
       If  you	wish to shrink an NTFS partition, first use ntfsresize to shrink the size of the filesystem. Then you could use fdisk(8) to shrink
       the size of the partition by deleting the partition and recreating it with the smaller size.  Do not make the partition	smaller  than  the
       new  size  of  NTFS  otherwise  you won't be able to boot. If you did so notwithstanding then just recreate the partition to be as large as
       NTFS.

   Enlargement
       To enlarge an NTFS filesystem, first you must enlarge the size of the underlying partition. This can be done using fdisk(8) by deleting the
       partition and recreating it with a larger size.	Make sure it will not overlap with an other existing partition.  Then  you may use ntfsre-
       size to enlarge the size of the filesystem.

   Partitioning
       When recreating the partition by a disk partitioning tool, make sure you create it at the same starting sector and with the same  partition
       type  as  before.   Otherwise  you won't be able to access your filesystem. Use the 'u' fdisk command to switch to the reliable sector unit
       from the default cylinder one.

       Also make sure you set the bootable flag for the partition if it existed before. Failing to do so you might not be able to boot	your  com-
       puter from the disk.

OPTIONS

       Below  is  a summary of all the options that ntfsresize accepts.  Nearly all options have two equivalent names.	The short name is preceded
       by - and the long name is preceded by --.  Any single letter options, that don't take an argument, can be combined into a  single  command,
       e.g.  -fv is equivalent to -f -v.  Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique prefix of their name.

       -i, --info
	      By  using  this option ntfsresize will determine the theoretically smallest shrunken filesystem size supported. Most of the time the
	      result is the space already used on the filesystem. Ntfsresize will refuse shrinking to a smaller size than what	you  got  by  this
	      option  and depending on several factors it might be unable to shrink very close to this theoretical size. Although the integrity of
	      your data should be never in risk, it's still strongly recommended to make a test run by using the --no-action  option  before  real
	      resizing.

	      Practically the smallest shrunken size generally is at around "used space" + (20-200 MB). Please also take into account that Windows
	      might need about 50-100 MB free space left to boot safely.

	      This option never causes any changes to the filesystem, the partition is opened read-only.

       -s, --size SIZE[k|M|G]
	      Resize filesystem to SIZE[k|M|G] bytes.  The optional modifiers k, M, G mean the SIZE parameter is given in kilo-,  mega-  or  giga-
	      bytes respectively.  Conforming to standards, k=10^3, M=10^6 and G=10^9. Use this option with --no-action first.

       -f, --force
	      Forces ntfsresize to proceed with the resize operation even if the filesystem is marked for consistency check.

	      Please  note, ntfsresize always marks the filesystem for consistency check before a real resize operation and it leaves that way for
	      extra safety. Thus if NTFS was marked by ntfsresize then it's safe to use this option. If you need to resize several  times  without
	      booting into Windows between each resizing steps then you must use this option.

       -n, --no-action
	      Use  this option to make a test run before doing the real resize operation.  Volume will be opened read-only and ntfsresize displays
	      what it would do if it were to resize the filesystem.  Continue with the real resizing only if the test run passed.

       -b, --bad-sectors
	      Support disks having hardware errors, bad sectors with those ntfsresize would refuse to work by default.

	      Prior using this option, it's strongly recommended to make a backup by ntfsclone(8) using the --rescue option, then running  'chkdsk
	      /f  /r  volume:' on Windows from the command line. If the disk guarantee is still valid then replace it.	It's defected. Please also
	      note, that no software can repair these type of hardware errors. The most what they can do is to work around the permanent defects.

	      This option doesn't have any effect if the disk is flawless.

       -P, --no-progress-bar
	      Don't show progress bars.

       -v, --verbose
	      More output.

       -V, --version
	      Print the version number of ntfsresize and exit.

       -h, --help
	      Display help and exit.

EXIT CODES

       The exit code is 0 on success, non-zero otherwise.

KNOWN ISSUES

       No reliability problem is known. If you need help please try the Ntfsresize FAQ first (see below) and if you don't find	your  answer  then
       send your question, comment or bug report to the development team:
       linux-ntfs-dev@lists.sourceforge.net

       There are a few very rarely met restrictions at present: filesystems having unknown bad sectors, relocation of the first MFT extent and re-
       sizing into the middle of a $MFTMirr extent aren't supported yet. These cases are detected and resizing is restricted to a safe size or the
       closest safe size is displayed.

       Ntfsresize schedules an NTFS consistency check and after the first boot into Windows you must see chkdsk running on a blue background. This
       is intentional and no need to worry about it.  Windows may force a quick reboot after the consistency check.  Moreover after repartitioning
       your  disk and depending on the hardware configuration, the Windows message System Settings Change may also appear. Just acknowledge it and
       reboot again.

       The disk geometry handling semantic (HDIO_GETGEO ioctl) has changed in an incompatible way in Linux 2.6 kernels and this  triggered  multi-
       tudinous  partition  table  corruptions	resulting in unbootable Windows systems, even if NTFS was consistent, if parted(8) was involved in
       some way. This problem was often attributed to ntfsresize but in fact it's completely independent of NTFS thus ntfsresize. Moreover ntfsre-
       size  never touches the partition table at all. By changing the 'Disk Access Mode' to LBA in the BIOS makes booting work again, most of the
       time. You can find more information about this issue in the Troubleshooting section of the below referred Ntfsresize FAQ.

AUTHORS

       ntfsresize was written by Szabolcs Szakacsits, with contributions from Anton Altaparmakov and Richard Russon.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

       Many thanks to Anton Altaparmakov and Richard Russon for libntfs, the excellent documentation and comments, to Gergely Madarasz,  Dewey	M.
       Sasser and Miguel Lastra and his colleagues at the University of Granada for their continuous and highly valuable help, furthermore to Erik
       Meade, Martin Fick, Sandro Hawke, Dave Croal, Lorrin Nelson, Geert Hendrickx, Robert Bjorkman and Richard Burdick for beta testing the  re-
       location  support,  to  Florian Eyben, Fritz Oppliger, Richard Ebling, Sid-Ahmed Touati, Jan Kiszka, Benjamin Redelings, Christopher Haney,
       Ryan Durk, Ralf Beyer, Scott Hansen, Alan Evans for the valued contributions and to Theodore Ts'o whose resize2fs(8)  man  page	originally
       formed the basis of this page.

AVAILABILITY

       ntfsresize is part of the ntfsprogs package and is available from:
       http://www.linux-ntfs.org/content/view/19/37

       The manual pages are available online at:
       http://man.linux-ntfs.org/

       Ntfsresize  related  news,  example of usage, troubleshooting, statically linked binary and FAQ (frequently asked questions) are maintained
       at:
       http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html

SEE ALSO

       fdisk(8), cfdisk(8), sfdisk(8), parted(8), evms(8), ntfsclone(8), mkntfs(8), ntfsprogs(8)

ntfsprogs 1.13.1						   February 2006						     NTFSRESIZE(8)