How to Shrink Partition in Windows 2003 Easily and Safely

Help! It is possible to shrink partition in Windows 2003?

"My PC is running Windows Server 2003 and I only have one partition C. As more and more programs are downloaded, I would like to have a separate partition for my personal data. I've run out of disk space to create a new partition, so I'm wondering if it's possible to shrink the partition and then create a new one? I don't know what to do, please help me!"

Why need to shrink partition in Windows 2003?

Windows Server 2003 is more widely used among computer users since it provides better performance than its predecessor Windows Serve 2000. During the usage of Windows Server 2003, you might need to shrink partition for the following two purposes:

✍ Extend partition: When another existing partition like C drive is in low disk space, you can shrink one big partition to create an unallocated space to extend the small one.
✍ Create partition: You can shrink a large size partition to get unallocated space. Then, use it to create one or more partitions to store different types of data.

Can I shrink partition in Windows Server 2003 with Diskpart?

To shrink partition in Windows 2003. Most users might consider using Disk Management. However, different from Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019 and 2022, there is no Shrink Volume and Extend Volume features in Disk Management of Windows Server 2003. In this case, some users switch to use Diskpart.exe tool. Unfortunately, Diskpart cannot shrink partition in Server 2003 since it does not offer shrink command, either. 

If your PC running Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019, or 2022, you can use the following commands on the Diskpart running window to shrink the partition:

● Type “list volume” and hit Enter.  Here will list all the volumes on the PC.
● Type “select volume 3” and hit Enter. Select the volume you want to shrink.
● Type “shrink desired 10240” and hit Enter. It will shrink 10240MB (10GB) for the volume.

★Warning:

If Diskpart does not allow shrinking the volume or allows only a little space. This could be because there is some disk fragment or other undeletable files on that partition like paging file, hibernation, etc., in which case you cannot shrink the volume.

The amount of shrink space available can be limited by the amount of space currently allocated on the hard disk, that is, you can only shrink a volume to a maximum of half of the available space.

Diskpart only supports shrinking partitions formatted with the NTFS file system.

If you still plan to perform Windows Server 2003 shrink partition, just keep reading! I will show you a safe and easy way to shrink partition in Windows Server 2003 with an excellent Server partition tool.

Solved: Shrink partition in Windows 2003 successfully

To shrink partition in Server 2003 successfully, the best way is to use a professional partition management tool. When you Google it, many kinds of software can be found. Indeed, each of them has its own merits, but considering the utility, integrity, security and availability, I recommend the AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. With a clear and intuitive interface, you can easily understand what you are doing in every step.

Besides shrinking a partition in Windows Server, it has many amazing functions to make managing disk partitions as simple as possible. For example, it is able to copy partition, resize partition, move partition, wipe partition, delete partition, format partition and so on.

What's more, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server can break through all the limitations of Diskpart mentioned above. Moreover, this partition manager software works well on Windows Server 2003, 2008 (R2), 2012 (R2), 2011, 2016, 2019 and 2022.

No matter you want to create a new partition or extend another partition, you can follow the steps to shrink a partition to get such space first of all.

Step 1. Install AOMEI Partition Assistant Server Edition and launch it, in the main interface right click on F drive and select "Resize/Move Partition".

Step 2. Drag the slider bar leftward or set the particular size on your own in the box below to shrink partition F like in the screenshot, then click "Ok".

Step 3. Click "Apply" on the toolbar to save your changes after previewing them.

See? Only several simple steps, you can shrink partition in Windows Server 2003 with ease. So when you cannot manage your partition as you expected in Disk Management or Diskpart in Windows Server computer, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is a great alternative that will never let you down.

Further reading: What to do after shrink partition?

If you shrink the partition to create a new partition, then you can right-click the unallocated space after getting the unallocated space, select "Create Partition", and follow the prompts.

If you shrink the partition to extend the space of another partition, then you can use the "Merge Partitions" feature to combine the unallocated space directly into the partition after you get the unallocated space.