HOW TO RESIZE PARTITION
Please, first have a look at "introduction", from the General documentation

Running GParted from a Linux system is the same as running it from the livecd, BUT  the livecd doesn't mount any drive ! If you run GParted from a running system, you can't work on THIS system.

In this doc we will see :

1. How to resize a partition
2. What happens with NTFS file system
3. Resize an extended partition

-1- How to resize a partition

a) At the top right-end of the screen there is a drop-down box
where you can choose the hard disk you want to work on,
if you have several hard drives on the PC/machine. Remember
that this will only become operational after the scan is completed.

b) To select a partition click on it : here it is /dev/hda1.
With the mouse click onto the Partition menu
and choose Resize-Move.

c) So you choose to resize the /dev/hda1, which is a NTFS partition.

As you can see, the actual size is 9421 MB. To change the size, you can use the arrows, to grow up or reduce the partition.

The mouse can also be used to move the black bold arrow to the left or to the right ( inside the blue circle).

d) In this case you decide to grow the ntfs partition up :

The new size is now 10001 MB.

e) After the Resize command has been given, click on Apply.
No operations are given to the hard disk untill you click Apply.

With the mouse click Apply button.


A new window appears, recommending you to backup data before performing the changes !


Then just click Apply once more.

f) Okay : now the fun begins :)







You may get more details about the running operations
by clicking on the blue arrows circles...

You may have a look on the running operations...














...By clicking on the Detail button. You will recieve more information as to, where & how the changes are being made...

g) The duration of the operations depends on the new size of the Partition.



When clicking on "Save Details", you are asked to where to save the file :

"All operations successfully completed" ensures that everything worked perfectly.



If something goes wrong, you can save the process output, by clicking on "Save Details"...

Just close the window.

 h) As there have been some changes to the partitions,
Gparted again starts a new scan of the devices...

The process is running !

i) You are back to the first screen,
with the enlarged ntfs partition on /dev/hda1

j) Before leaving Gparted make sure to close the window :)


 

Close gparted, by clicking on the cross (X) on the top extreme right onthe screen.

-2- What happens with NTFSD file system

(Screenshots have been built with QEMU)

NTFS partition specification

Resizing NTFS partition impose you to reboot the system !
DON'T DO any other operations on this partition before the reboot,
otherwise you will get errors. After the boot-up Windows logo,
the system will show a special screen, and a message
asking about drive consistency : Checking file system on c :



Let the AUTOCHK run : NT needs to check its file system
after the resize operation.




At the end of the process, the computer will automaticaly restart
for the second time. This ensures that things run perfectly.



After restart, Windows XP will be okay, but you must
let the system finish the boot and wait for the login screen !

-3- How to resize Extended partition 

    This is a commun question and it seems to be less easy that i could guess, for some users.