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I am running a dual-boot system with Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.10. Initially I allocated about 20GB for my Ubuntu partition; however, I quickly ran out of that space and am now looking to expand my partition. Currently my NTFS partition (450GB) has about 130GB of free space. I tried using GParted to shrink the partition but encountered the following error. I booted into windows so I could run chkdsk but the countdown freezes at 1 upon reboot. I tried multiple methods to resolve that issue but nothing seems to work. Finally I gave up, and now I just want to know what is the best way for me to force GParted to shrink the partition regardless of the errors. I don't really have anything important and I don't mind risking the data. I just don't want to wipe the entire NTFS partition because I don't have a Windows install CD and might require Windows later on for some programs. I tried using sudo ntfsresize but that spews out the same error as GParted... Any ideas?

Check and repair file system (ntfs) on /dev/sda2  00:00:09    ( ERROR )

calibrate /dev/sda2  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )

path: /dev/sda2
start: 36944325
end: 976771119
size: 939826795 (448.14 GiB)
check file system on /dev/sda2 for errors and (if possible) fix them  00:00:09    ( ERROR )

ntfsresize -P -i -f -v /dev/sda2

ntfsresize v2.0.0 (libntfs 10:0:0)
Device name : /dev/sda2
NTFS volume version: 3.1
Cluster size : 4096 bytes
Current volume size: 481191318016 bytes (481192 MB)
Current device size: 481191319040 bytes (481192 MB)
Checking for bad sectors ...
Checking filesystem consistency ...
Cluster 63468 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 63469 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 63465 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 63466 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 63467 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 165621 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 165622 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 165623 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 165624 is referenced multiple times!
ERROR: Filesystem check failed!
ERROR: 9 clusters are referenced multiply times.
NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE!
The usage of the /f parameter is very IMPORTANT! No modification was
and will be made to NTFS by this software until it gets repaired.
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    Why do you insist on using Gparted to resize a W7 partition, instead of the W7's own partition manager? Jun 24, 2011 at 1:30
  • because resizing the active filesystem in NTFS or any system is generally bad, and Windows doesn't like doing it :P
    – Thomas Ward
    Aug 1, 2011 at 18:48
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    I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you want to shrink a Windows partition ALWAYS defrag first - Windows has always thrown a fit for me if I've done it any other way and rendered the Windows install unbootable. The partition tool built into Windows is generally the best to resize a Windows partition - Gparted for anything else IMO. Sep 1, 2011 at 12:21
  • @LordofTime What do you mean by the "active filesystem"? In Windows Vista and later (including Windows 7), diskmgmt.msc will schedule dynamic changes to partitions that are in-use when it runs, so they occur safely at shutdown (when the partition is "dismounted," to use the Windows term). Aug 7, 2012 at 19:06

2 Answers 2

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As far as I know, the linux-based NTFS tools will refuse to touch a NTFS filesystem unless it is already perfectly consistent, so as to minimize the chance of data loss. Are you completely unable to boot into Windows?

If you really really don't mind losing the data, you can delete the NTFS partition completely, and grow your linux partition to take up the extra space. I recommend doing this from a Live CD.

I vaguely remember the NTFS mount program providing the option to mount a damaged filesystem as read-only so that you could recover data off of it, but I could be wrong.

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Try this application on Windows: http://partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
It can actually work with ext too.

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