Skip to main content

How to Shrink a Volume in Windows 2012

This might seem a bit easy for most readers, but some of you may have noticed that the new File and Storage Manager in the Widows 2012 Server Manager is missing something.

image

Notice that there is a option to extend a volume, but none to shrink on.  Not a problem.  You can still you the Diskpart to shrink a via command line.  The Disk Manager graphical tool from Windows Server 2008 is also still available. Just press the Windows key. Type Disk and click  Settings. Now, click Create and format hard disk partitions.

image

Right click the volume that you want to shrink and click Shrink Volume

image

Enter the amount of space that you want to shrink. 

image

You may or may not get the amount that you want.  For best results, defrag the volume before attempting to shrink it.

Comments

ravin said…
Thank you use full post.
Unknown said…
After attempting the steps you mentioned, I'm getting an error message stating that there isn't enough free space to complete the process. I have only 164Gb used and was attempting to shrink to 230GB. What might cause this error?
Do a defrag on the disk first. If data is in the area to be shrunk, it will not work.

Popular posts from this blog

How to list all the AD LDS instances on a server

AD LDS allows you to provide directory services to applications that are free of the confines of Active Directory.  To list all the AD LDS instances on a server, follow this procedure: Log into the server in question Open a command prompt. Type dsdbutil and press Enter Type List Instances and press Enter . You will receive a list of the instance name, both the LDAP and SSL port numbers, the location of the database, and its status.

How to run GPResult on a remote client with PowerShell

In the past, to run the GPResult command, you would need to either physically visit this client, have the user do it, or use and RDP connection.  In all cases, this will disrupt the user.  First, you need PowerShell remoting enabled on the target machine.  You can do this via Group Policy . Open PowerShell and type this command. Invoke-Command –ScriptBlock {GPResult /r} –ComputerName <ComputerName> Replace <ComputerName> with the name of the target.  Remember, the target needs to be online and accessible to you.

Where did a User’s Account Get Locked Out?

Updated: May 15, 2015 When this article was originally published, two extra carriage returns were add causing the code to malfunction.  The code below is correct.   My client for this week’s PowerShell class had a really interesting question. They needed to know where an account is being locked out at. OK, interesting. Apparently users hop around clients and forget to log off, leading to eventual lock out of their accounts. The accounts can be unlocked, but are then relocked after Active Directory replication. This problem is solved in two parts. The first one is to modify the event auditing on the network. The second part is resolved with PowerShell. The first part involves creating a group policy that will encompass your Domain Controllers. In this GPO, make these changes. Expand Computer Configuration \ Policies \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Advanced Audit Policy Configuration \ Audit Policies \ Account Management Double click User Account Management C...