man > ntfsresize(8)

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

NAME
       ntfsresize - resize an NTFS filesystem without data loss

SYNOPSIS
       ntfsresize [OPTIONS] --info(-mb-only) 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 DE‐
       VICE (usually a disk partition). The new filesystem will fit in a DEVICE whose  desired  size
       is  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 con‐
       forms 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(-mb-only) and --size are omitted then the NTFS filesystem will be enlarged to
       match 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 resiz‐
       ers,  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 be‐
       fore using ANY partitioning tools. To do so for NTFS, you could use ntfsclone(8).  Don't for‐
       get 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 another existing partition.  You may enlarge up‐
       wards (first sector unchanged) or downwards (last sector unchanged), but you may not  enlarge
       at both ends in a single step.  If you merge two NTFS partitions, only one of them can be ex‐
       panded  to  the merged partition.  After you have enlarged the partition, 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 computer 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.

       -c, --check
              By using this option ntfsresize will only check the device to ensure that it is  ready
              to  be  resized.  If  not,  it will print any errors detected.  If the device is fine,
              nothing will be printed.

       -i, --info
              By using this option without --expand, 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.

              If  used  in  association with option --expand, ntfsresize will determine the smallest
              downwards expansion size and the possible increments to the size. These are exact byte
              counts which must not be rounded.  This option may be used  after  the  partition  has
              been expanded provided the upper bound has not been changed.

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

       -m, --info-mb-only
              Like the info option, only print out the shrinkable size in MB.  Print nothing if  the
              shrink  size  is the same as the original size (in MB).  This option cannot be used in
              association with option --expand.

       -s, --size SIZE[k|M|G]
              Resize filesystem to fit in a partition whose size is SIZE[k|M|G]  bytes  by  shifting
              its end and keeping its beginning unchanged. The filesystem size is set to be at least
              one  sector  smaller than the partition.  The optional modifiers k, M, G mean the SIZE
              parameter is given in kilo-, mega- or gigabytes  respectively.   Conforming  to  stan‐
              dards,  k=10^3,  M=10^6 and G=10^9. ki=2^10, Mi=2^20 and Gi=2^30 are also allowed. Use
              this option with --no-action first.

       -x, --expand
              Expand the filesystem to the current partition size, shifting down its  beginning  and
              keeping its end unchanged. The metadata is recreated in the expanded space and no user
              data  is  relocated.  This  is incompatible with option -s (or --size) and can only be
              made if the expanded space is an exact multiple of the cluster size. It must  also  be
              large enough to hold the new metadata.

              If  the  expansion is interrupted for some reason (power outage, etc), you may restart
              the resizing, as the original data and metadata have been kept unchanged.

              Note : expanding a Windows system partition and filesystem downwards may lead  to  the
              registry  or some files not matching the new system layout, or to some important files
              being located too far from the beginning of the partition,  thus  making  Windows  not
              bootable.

       -f, --force
              Forces ntfsresize to proceed with the resize operation either without prompting for an
              explicit  acceptance, or if the filesystem is marked for consistency check. Double the
              option (-ff, --force --force) to avoid prompting even if the file system is marked for
              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  op‐
              tion.

       -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 find a bug please send an email describing the prob‐
       lem to the development team at:
       ntfs-3g-devel AT lists.net

       There  are a few very rarely met restrictions at present: filesystems having unknown bad sec‐
       tors, relocation of the first MFT extent and resizing 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 multitudinous 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 ntfsresize 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.  It was ported to ntfs-3g by Erik Larsson and Jean-Pierre Andre.

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  relocation  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 ntfs-3g package and is available from:
       https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/wiki/

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

ntfs-3g 2022.10.3                             July 2013                                NTFSRESIZE(8)