Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man ntfsresize

System Administration Commands                     ntfsresize(1M)



NAME
     ntfsresize - resize an NTFS file system 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  used  by
     32-bit and 64-bit Windows "operating systems" are supported.
     Defragmentation is not required prior to  resizing,  because
     ntfsresize  can relocate any data if needed, without risking
     data integrity.


     ntfsresize can be used to shrink or enlarge  any  NTFS  file
     system located on an unmounted device (usually a disk parti-
     tion). The new  file  system  will  have  a  size  that  you
     specify.  The  size  parameter  can have one of the optional
     modifiers k, M, G, denoting, respectively, kilobytes,  mega-
     bytes,  or gigabytes. ntfsresize conforms to the SI, ATA, an
     IEEE standards and  the  disk  manufacturers  by  supporting
     k=10^3, M=10^6 and G=10^9.


     If both ---info and ---size options  are  omitted  then  the
     NTFS  file  system will be enlarged to the underlying device
     size.


     To resize a file system on a partition, you must resize both
     the  file system and the partition, by editing the partition
     table on the disk. Similarly to other command-line file sys-
     tem resizers, ntfsresize does not manipulate the size of the
     partitions. To do that you must  use  a  disk   partitioning
     tool, such as fdisk(1M). Alternatively, you could use one of
     the many user friendly partitioners  that  uses   ntfsresize
     internally.   Such   partitioners   include,  among  others,
     Mandriva's DiskDrake, QTParted,  SUSE/Novell's  YaST  Parti-
     tioner, IBM's EVMS, GParted, or Debian/Ubuntu's Partman.


     Back up your data and your partition table before using  any
     partitioning  tool.  For  an  NTFS  file system, you can use
     ntfsclone(1M) as a means of backup.





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System Administration Commands                     ntfsresize(1M)



     To shrink an NTFS partition, first use ntfsresize to  shrink
     the  size  of  the  file  system. Then use a utility such as
     fdisk(1M) 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 will not be able to boot from that partition.
     If you mistakenly made a too-small partition, you would have
     to recreate the partition to be as large as newly sized NTFS
     file system.


     To enlarge an NTFS file system, you must first  enlarge  the
     size  of  the underlying partition. You can use fdisk(1M) to
     delete the partition and recreate it  with  a  larger  size.
     Make  sure  the  newly sized partition does not overlap with
     any other partition. Then use ntfsresize to enlarge the file
     system.


     When recreating a partition, make sure you create it at  the
     same starting sector and with the same partition type as was
     used in the partition you are replacing. Otherwise, you will
     not be able to access your file system. Use the fdisk u com-
     mand to switch from the default cylinder unit to  the  reli-
     able  sector unit. Also, if the bootable flag was set in the
     old partition, make sure to set it in the  recreated  parti-
     ton.  Otherwise,  you might not be able to boot from the new
     partition.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
     There are a handful of very rarely met restrictions  in  the
     use  of  ntfsresize. An example of such a restriction occurs
     with a file system stored on a disk having unknown bad  sec-
     tors.  Relocation  of the first MFT extent and resizing into
     the middle of a $MFTMirr extent  are  not  supported.  These
     cases are detected and resizing is restricted to a safe size
     or the closest safe size is displayed.


     Upon completion of a resizing, ntfsresize schedules an  NTFS
     consistency  check.  In  Windows, this check is performed by
     chkdsk. Upon the first subsequent reboot into  Windows,  you
     will  note chkdsk running in a blue background. This is nor-
     mal. Windows might force  a  quick  reboot  after  the  con-
     sistency  check.  Depending  on your hardware configuration,
     Windows might alert you to  a  systems  setting  change  and
     recommend  or  require a reboot. Acknowledge the message and
     reboot a second time.

OPTIONS
     Supported options are listed below. Most options  have  both
     single-letter  and  full-name  forms. Multiple single-letter



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System Administration Commands                     ntfsresize(1M)



     options that do not take an argument can  be  combined.  For
     example,  -fv is the equivalent of -f -v. A full-name option
     can be abbreviated to a unique prefix of its name.

     -b, --bad-sectors

         By default, ntfsresize exits upon encountering bad  sec-
         tors. This option allows the utility to proceed in spite
         of such sectors.

         Prior using this option, it is strongly recommended that
         you use ntfsclone(1M) with the --rescue option to make a
         backup, then, in Windows, run chkdsk /f /r volume:  from
         the  command  line.  If  the  disk guarantee displays as
         valid, then replace it, as it is defective. Note that no
         software can repair bad sector errors. The most that can
         be done is to work around these defects.

         This option has no effect if a disk has no bad sectors.


     -f, --force

         ntfsresize always marks a file  system  for  consistency
         check  before  a  real  (not  using  --no-action) resize
         operation and it leaves that way for extra safety. Thus,
         if  an  NTFS file system was marked by ntfsresize, it is
         safe to use this option. You must use  this  option,  if
         you  need  to  resize several times without booting into
         Windows between each resizing step.


     -h, --help

         Display usage information and exit.


     -i, --info

         Used when you want  to  shrink  a  file  system.  Causes
         ntfsresize  to determine the smallest shrunken file sys-
         tem size supported. Most of the time the  smallest  size
         is the space already used on the file system. ntfsresize
         does not shrink a file system to  a  smaller  size  than
         what  is  returned  by this option. Depending on several
         factors, it might be unable to shrink to this  theoreti-
         cal  size. Although the integrity of your data should be
         never at risk, it is nevertheless  strongly  recommended
         to  make  a  test  run  by  using the --no-action option
         before actual resizing.

         Based  on  testing,  the  smallest  attainable  size  is



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System Administration Commands                     ntfsresize(1M)



         approximately  space used in the file system plus 20-200
         MB. Note also that  Windows  might  need  an  additional
         50-100 MB to boot safely.

         This option never causes any changes to the file system;
         the partition is opened read-only.


     -n, --no-action

         Use this option to make a  test  run  before  doing  the
         resize  operation.  Volume  will be opened read-only and
         ntfsresize displays what it  would  do  if  it  were  to
         resize the file system. Proceed with the actual resizing
         only if the test run passed.


     -P, --no-progress-bar

         Do not display progress bars  during  ntfsresize  opera-
         tion.


     -s, --size size[k|M|G]]

         Resize file system to size bytes. The  new  file  system
         will  have  a  size that you specify. The size parameter
         can have one of the optional modifiers k, M,  G,  denot-
         ing,  respectively,  kilobytes, megabytes, or gigabytes.
         ntfsresize conforms to the SI, ATA,  an  IEEE  standards
         and  the disk manufacturers by supporting k=10^3, M=10^6
         and G=10^9. Before performing an  actual  resizing,  run
         ntfsresize  with the --no-action option, along with this
         option, first.


     -v, --verbose

         Display copious output.


     -V, --version

         Display the version number of ntfsresize.


EXIT STATUS
     Display zero on success, non-zero otherwise.

ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:



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System Administration Commands                     ntfsresize(1M)



     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | system/file-system/ntfsprogs|
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Uncommitted                 |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO
     fdisk(1M), ntfsclone(1M), parted(1M), attributes(5)


     http://wiki.linux-ntfs.org

NOTES
     In Linux version 2.6, with partitions that have been manipu-
     lated  by  parted(1M), use of ntfsresize preceded corruption
     of partition tables, which resulted  in  unbootable  Windows
     systems. This occurred even if the NTFS file system was con-
     sistent. This problem is  independent  of  NTFS  and,  thus,
     ntfsresize. Moreover, ntfsresize never touches the partition
     table. Under the conditions just described, you can, in  the
     BIOS,  change  Disk Access Mode to LBA to regain the ability
     to boot. For further discussion of this  condition  see  the
     ntfsresize                      FAQ                      at:
     http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html.

AUTHORS
     ntfsresize was written by Szabolcs Szakacsits, with  contri-
     butions from Anton Altaparmakov and Richard Russon.
























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