Resizing 2000 Server Partition

[RoadClosed]

I am messing around in the MBR right now. I have SuSE here on my desk.

//EDIT I have partition Magic 8. It will not run on a server os, I would have to figure out how to trick it. Besides, this thing was converted to a dynamic disk and Partition Magic 8 won't work on that, and I doubt SuSE will.

[Tiger Shark]

There comes a point in time, personal pride aside, where it is actually fiscally more responsible to say "screw it" and back up the data, make the appropriate notes and start from scratch with a spiffy new hard drive....

If you haven't reached this point yet you are reaching the "tipping point".....

[RoadClosed]

If this was a file server I would. But it's the domain controller they used to migrate NT about 2 years ago and it functions as the primary DNS for there internal lan and probably the FSMO. SO I set here, wonder just which would be easier... fixing this or installing a new hardrive and then fixing active directory issues for the next week.

But there comes a time when, about now. You just give up and go to the pub.

[ZT3000]

A few times I've used it for that purpose, I've successfully created and restored an image file from a Win2K Server Hardware RAID 1 drive using Acronis True Image. I think the version was 7.x. The RAID hardware couldn't even tell I had done the dirty. It has a linux based bootable recovery disk too, beside Windows support for only around $50
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1746192,00.asp

I have version 8.0 now but haven't tried creating and restoring a Win2K server drive with this version, though. The website doesn't say it can do Servers, but version 7.x did work.

As mentioned, Ghost might help ya. I've used it so many times in the past but like you don't remember what I did or didn't do with it.

Gore, using the right tools, NTFS expanding, shrinking, cutting up, splicing, has been a piece of cake. Like I said, I'm using Acronis True Image and I'm working with NTFS disks all day long. Never a problem.

If you want to convert dynamic disks to basic disks and do the NTFS dirty work, then look into Casper XP, http://www.fssdev.com/products/casperxp/
It says it can do all that and more.
It also states "Not designed for Win2x Server products", but I remember some vague reading that it does work, it's just not specifically designed for it.
If you have the time, shoot the Casper XP people an email or call them direct http://www.fssdev.com/about/contact.asp

[Casper XP excerpts]
1) Does Casper XP support Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows XP 64-bit Edition? Not officially.

2) Does Casper XP support copying of Windows Dynamic Volumes?
While Casper does support copying of Dynamic Volumes, it does not support cloning of Dynamic Disks. This means Casper will not allow you to copy an entire hard disk to or from a Dynamic Disk even if the Dynamic Disk is fully self-contained (e.g. defines a simple volume that is not striped, mirrored, or spanned across multiple disks). However, Casper does support copying of dynamic volumes to other volumes and Basic Disks where possible. When copying a dynamic volume, Casper will copy only the contents of the volume. It will not copy or recreate the actual data structures to reproduce the dynamic disk(s) by which the volume is defined. Dynamic Volumes include volume sets, stripe sets, stripe sets with parity, and partitions located on disk mirror/duplex sets configured using the Windows Disk Administrator.

Hope this helps some.

[Edited for clarity]

[RoadClosed]

Basically once you go dynamic, you are STUCK with MS products. I played around some more last night after being side tracked with explaining on a white board what a boot sector is and why hex and binary are used and why it's a good idea to learn how to convert between the two; all to my MCSE and A+ certified tech who also has a college degree in I.T.

[ZT3000]

Okay....

Here's a little ditty I created on Dynamic disks I think you should all know:

1. Dynamic disks cannot contain partitions.
2. Dynamic disks cannot contain logical drives.
3. Dynamic disks cannot be accessed using MS-DOS.
4. Dynamic disk cannot be accessed Windows operating systems other than Windows 2000 or higher.
5. Dynamic disks are not supported when using some 3rd party disk/partition software. If it doesn't specifically say, it's supported, it isn't.
6. Any disks to be upgraded must contain at least 1 megabyte (MB) of free space at the end of the disk for the upgrade to succeed.
7. You cannot upgrade a basic disk to a dynamic disk if the sector size of the disk is larger than 512 bytes.
8. You cannot mark an existing dynamic volume as active. Meaning your multi boot software won't work unless it supports dynamic volumes.
9. After you upgrade a basic disk to a dynamic disk, you cannot change the dynamic volumes back to partitions. Instead, you must delete all dynamic volumes on the disk. Reinstall all programs too.
10. Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers. If you are using a portable computer and right-click a disk in the graphical or list view in Disk Management, you will not see the option to upgrade the disk to dynamic.
11. If you're running Windows XP Home Edition the option for Dynamic disks is unavailable too.
12. They have a learning curve and the chances of screwing something up is substantially higher than working with basic disks.
13. Lots of disk backup software do not support dynamic disks.

Now ....does anyone wanna make a dynamic disk?


[Didn't know where to put this as it's not enough info for a tutorial]