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Attempt to re-size a partition caused an "Partition Overlap" error when restoring the last partition.

Scenario: Windows server 2003 R2

A RAID 5 array had 3 partitions:
1= a small utility partition 64 MB
2= the Windows C-drive 13 GB
3= an Extended partition with user data 290 GB (over 200 GB of un-used space was behind the 3rd Partition)

The second partition was too small and windows was running out of space (less than 50 MB left)

First attempt to resolve the problem:

A complete backup of ALL partitions was done, then the last partition was deleted with BIBM.
The Partition 2 was then re-sized to 107 GB (yeah), then I tried to restore partition 3.
That is when I received the "Partition Overlap message".

Second Attempt to resolve the Windows issue and avoid the Overlap:

I restored ALL partitions from the Image backup overwriting the drive and getting back to the beginning.
Then I thought I would "Slide" the last partition to make room to re-size partition 2.
After waiting more than 1 hour, the "Slide" operation was still indicating 0% and BIBM appeared to be frozen.
Since it was now past 2:00 AM and the server needed to be up and running in the morning, I aborted the operation. (pulled the power)
I then did a complete restore again from the image file so the server was back online.

I need to make my third attempt a successful one (third time is a charm!)

Questions:

Why did I get the "Partition Overlap" message?
How do I avoid a "Partition Overlap"?
Why did the Slide operation"Appear" to be frozen?
Does BIBM not update the status during the slide?
Did I just not wait long enough?
Is there a better / proper way to make partition 2 larger?

What version of Image for DOS and of BIBM?

were you restoring the volume or the extended partition itself?

It was probably either an alignment difference or didn't have enough room to
create the partition or volume (there is an option to create the extended
when selecting the target location, then the volume would go within that).

"tjames_tu" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Attempt to re-size a partition caused an "Partition Overlap" error when
restoring the last partition.

Scenario: Windows server 2003 R2

A RAID 5 array had 3 partitions:
1= a small utility partition 64 MB
2= the Windows C-drive 13 GB
3= an Extended partition with user data 290 GB (over 200 GB of un-used
space was behind the 3rd Partition)

The second partition was too small and windows was running out of space
(less than 50 MB left)

First attempt to resolve the problem:

A complete backup of ALL partitions was done, then the last partition was
deleted with BIBM.
The Partition 2 was then re-sized to 107 GB (yeah), then I tried to restore
partition 3.
That is when I received the "Partition Overlap message".

Second Attempt to resolve the Windows issue and avoid the Overlap:

I restored ALL partitions from the Image backup overwriting the drive and
getting back to the beginning.
Then I thought I would "Slide" the last partition to make room to re-size
partition 2.
After waiting more than 1 hour, the "Slide" operation was still indicating
0% and BIBM appeared to be frozen.
Since it was now past 2:00 AM and the server needed to be up and running in
the morning, I aborted the operation. (pulled the power)
I then did a complete restore again from the image file so the server was
back online.

I need to make my third attempt a successful one (third time is a charm!)

Questions:

Why did I get the "Partition Overlap" message?
How do I avoid a "Partition Overlap"?
Why did the Slide operation"Appear" to be frozen?
Does BIBM not update the status during the slide?
Did I just not wait long enough?
Is there a better / proper way to make partition 2 larger?

Just to keep the server running, clear out all the temp files locations - you could find several GB of deletable rubbish as I do on my monthly clean outs.

Sorry for the delay, work got in the way.

I am using BIBM ver 1.19 and IFL ver 2.72.

I do not think I was able to restore just the volume, I think the Extended partition is the only selection I had. ( it was in the wee hours of the day, 1:30 am, the brain was not at full strength)

There was plenty of unused space behind the D-partition. (almost 200 GB)

The plan was to move the D-Partition down 100 GB then resize the C-partition to about 100 GB by adding about 87 GB.

That would leave me with; a 64 MB utility partition, a 100 GB C-partition, a 290 GB D-partition and about 100 GB of unused space.

The issues of MBR geometry, Align MBR Ending and Align on End are confusing, but it seems like an area of interest.
I have no idea if I should or should not use them. (I am not a drive or partition expert)

Again all I want to do is make the C-partition bigger, all the other partitions can remain unchanged. (in size that is)

Should BIBM show the progress of the Slide?
Did I abort prematurely?
How long should a Slide of 290 GB take? (only about 80 GB of data)
By Sliding and resizing will I prevent the Partition Overlap issue?

So what is the best way to achieve this?

Thanks I advance for the help and suggestions.

you'd want to update to 2.82a if you were using IFL to restore....

BIBM 1.19 includes IFD 2.82a if you choose to upgrade it when creating the
boot disk.

"tjames_tu" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Sorry for the delay, work got in the way.

I am using BIBM ver 1.19 and IFL ver 2.72.

I do not think I was able to restore just the volume, I think the Extended
partition is the only selection I had. ( it was in the wee hours of the day,
1:30 am, the brain was not at full strength)

There was plenty of unused space behind the D-partition. (almost 200 GB)

The plan was to move the D-Partition down 100 GB then resize the C-partition
to about 100 GB by adding about 87 GB.

That would leave me with; a 64 MB utility partition, a 100 GB C-partition, a
290 GB D-partition and about 100 GB of unused space.

The issues of MBR geometry, Align MBR Ending and Align on End are confusing,
but it seems like an area of interest.
I have no idea if I should or should not use them. (I am not a drive or
partition expert)

Again all I want to do is make the C-partition bigger, all the other
partitions can remain unchanged. (in size that is)

Should BIBM show the progress of the Slide?
Did I abort prematurely?
How long should a Slide of 290 GB take? (only about 80 GB of data)
By Sliding and resizing will I prevent the Partition Overlap issue?

So what is the best way to achieve this?

Thanks I advance for the help and suggestions.

Okay I will get the updated version of BIBM and IFD.

Once I have that version what is the best way to proceed?

Should BIBM display the progress while sliding?
How long should a Slide of 290 GB take? (only about 80 GB of data)
By Sliding and resizing will I prevent the Partition Overlap issue?
When do you use MBR geometry, Align MBR Ending and Align on End?

The questions were at the end of my previous posts and may have been missed.

Thanks.

When you tried to restore the extended partition (volume) did you use the "Automatic" option? That will display the overlap message if it can't place the partition back into its original location. It wouldn't have been able to here since you had resized the Windows partition. You could try using the "Normal" option instead.

Progess is displayed while sliding. The time required depends on the system and the drive. You should definately see some progress and the drive activity light should be on if it's working. Do you know if there were any file system errors on the partition?

Sliding the partition won't cause any overlap messages since the partition can only be moved within the unallocated space around it.

Normally, using the default geometry settings is fine. You should be using the Global Geometry settings (in BIBM Settings) and shouldn't need to adjust them separately for the drive.