Resize/create windows partitions safely

You are running windows, and you have one or few partitions.
Sometime back, you feel that your "C" drive is running out of space or your "F" drive has simply too much space.
To put it simple, you want to partition your harddisk which is running windows.

Well, there are many free and commercial tools out there which might help your cause. Spell partition and immediately "Partition Magic" will come into your mind. I've used Partition Magic and I must admit that it's a very good tool. It helps you to safely create new partitions, resize existing partitions, delete unwanted partitions etc.

But Partition Magic is an expensive tool which most of us cannot afford. (Atleast for personal use). Is there any alternative for Partition Magic which can safely do all the jobs or atleast some of the jobs that that Partition Magic do?

Well, you need to meet a friend here from unexpected quarters. Yes, it's linux. You might think, "How can linux help me in anyway to partition my hard disk?. I use windows and I don't want to install linux".

The answer is, you can partition your hard disk without disturbing windows and without installing linux.


And your companion here is Ubuntu linux. However you have two options before proceeding further:
- get free ubuntu livecd from ubuntu site
- if you are impatient, download ubuntu for free from ubuntu site and burn it to a cd yourself. (Please follow the instructions about how to write ubuntu "iso" image to a cd from ubuntu website)

Once you have the "live cd" in your hands, partitioning your hard disk is just a matter of inserting the "live cd" into your cd drive!!!

Step 1:
Ubuntu "Live CD" is nothing but a "real" operating system in a cd rom. To use it, you must configure your "boot sequence" (normally by pressing "F2" key when you machine starts). Configure your "boot sequence", so that your system attempts to "boot from cd" first, if there is any bootable cd in your cd drive.

Once you did this, insert the Ubuntu "Live CD" into your cd rom and start your machine. Ubuntu "Live CD" will not boot and will show you a startup screen with some options. Don't worry, select the option "Install Ubuntu in safe graphics mode" and press "enter".

Now you can see a "live" ubuntu desktop. (This might take some time, so please wait.)

Step 2:
Click the menu "System -> Administration -> Partition Editor" from the top most taskbar. This will open the ubuntu partion editor application. Some of you might find it similar to Partition Magic.