Safe version in Compatibility Mode

[Talbot]

I have a new laptop with a 320Gb SATA drive and an Intel ICH9M-E/M based SATA controller. I created the boot CD from Disk Director (trial version) and all attempts to boot from it have failed, except for the Safe version with my SATA controller set to Compatibility Mode in the bios. That setup allowed me to boot and I can see my partitions (1 small one for Toshiba's recovery software, and the other huge one for Vista). I want to shrink the Vista partition by about half so I can have a partition for data and images.

My question is: Will performing this task with my controller set to Compatibility Mode cause any problems or endanger the operation in any way? I am very concerned that this work properly, because I don't have any Vista install disks (Vista OEM came installed on the laptop) and I would have to use Toshiba's recovery software to restore the machine to its original state should anything go wrong.

And, yes, I am aware of the Shrink function in Vista's Disk Manager. But even after removing as many system files as possible (restore points, pagefile.sys, dump files, etc.) and defragging the drive, it only wanted to give up about 4Gb. That's why I'm interested in Disk Director; Vista's built in stuff is inadequate for maintaining my new Vista machines.

[K0LO]

Talbot:

There should be no problems with shrinking your Vista partition while the disk controller is in Compatibility mode. You should be able to reduce the partition size and then change the controller back to AHCI mode without issue.

Just avoid moving the partition around or changing its starting sector; doing this requires a Vista DVD to fix the Boot Configuration Database (BCD) afterward. But if you're only shrinking the size of the partition (from the right) then you should not have any problems.

The trial version of DD won't let you do anything but create a very small partition, so you will need the full version. When doing any partitioning operations, always make a full backup beforehand for insurance in case something goes wrong.