Can I Resize A FreeBSD Partition Without losing Data?

[Jerry McAllister]

> 
> I started to play with WINE and realized I need more space on my FAT32 
> partition.  I don't want to re-install FreeBSD.  Is there a tool like 
> Partion Magic which will change the size of the FreeBSD filesystem without 
> losing data?  I dont care if it runs In Windows or FreeBSD or if it will 
> only resize the FreeBSD slice and then I have to use a second tool like 
> Partition Magic to resize the FAT32 partition.  I just don't want to 
> reinstall FreeBSD.  Is there a solution to my problem?

Not sure just what your current space is organized like.    You seem to 
be using partition and slice interchangeably, but they are different.

Your fat32 would be a slice in FreeBSD.   A partition would be a subdivision
of a slice.

Basically, though, it all depends on where you spare space on the disk
resides.  Generally, you can use Partition Magic to increase the FAT32
slice without reinstalling FreeBSD only if there is empty - unallocated 
(eg not in any slice, just ignored) - space contiguously following the
fat32 slice.   If the empty space is anywhere else or requires any moving
of the FreeBSD slice, it is not doable with current tools.

Within the FreeBSD slice, you can also possibly expand a partition into 
unallocated space - but must already be in the slice - if it is contiguous
using the growfs utility.   It doesn't sound like this is what you are
looking for, though, because it doesn't affect the fat32 slice.

I don't know quite what the objection to reinstalling FreeBSD is, but
it would seem like the easiest way to back up everything of your own
that you want to preserve and then rebuild the whole machine from scratch - 
at least the FreeBSD part.   

////jerry

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