| There are times when a user of Microsoft Windows | | | | some cases the partition modification process either |
| 7 and Microsoft Windows Vista may need to expand | | | | gets interrupted or does not start and you face an |
| or shrink his hard drive partitions. It can be used to | | | | error message similar to the following one: |
| fulfill large space requirements and use the unused | | | | "Disk 1 (size, number of clusters, and number of |
| hard drive space. It is possible to expand or shrink | | | | sectors) appears to have partitions created using a |
| Windows Vista and Windows 7 hard drive partitions | | | | different drive geometry (disk geometry information). |
| easily using an in-built tool, known as Disk | | | | This serious problem can lead to data loss. |
| Management. You do not require any third-party tool | | | | No partition manipulations should be made to this disk |
| for this purpose. However, in some cases, the | | | | using this product or the operating system's products. |
| expand and shrink operation may stop halfway and | | | | You should back up the data on this disk, delete all |
| cause serious problem. After such incidents, all your | | | | partitions, create new partitions under the new drive |
| critical files may become inaccessible and you may | | | | geometry, and then restore your data using the |
| face file loss. In such cases, File Recovery Software | | | | backup." |
| is the only way to go for. | | | | Interruption of the expansion and shrinking process |
| How to use Disk Management in Windows 7 and | | | | makes the partition inaccessible and causes severe |
| Vista: | | | | file loss. In such events, you need to restore lost files |
| You can open and use this utility as follows: | | | | from the most recent backup. However, if the |
| - Open Control Panel of your Windows computer. | | | | backup is not available or updated, Windows File |
| - Type 'partition' in search box and press enter. | | | | Recovery is required. |
| - It displays the list of all the hard drive partitions, | | | | You can easily and safely recover lost Windows files |
| their size, file system and other related information. | | | | using Deleted File Recovery software. They use |
| - Right-click on the partition you want to modify. | | | | high-end scanning techniques to systematically scan |
| - Select the appropriate option and follow on-screen | | | | the whole hard drive and extract all lost files. The File |
| instructions. | | | | Recovery tools are capable of handling all types of |
| Although, Disk Management is a very useful utility, in | | | | file loss situations. |