The GParted author reported the successful shrinking and moving of Vista partitions. The only problem left is that you still need the Vista DVD/CD once after that operation.
The gparted author Larry wrote a short but nice howto about the steps necessary to shrink/move a Vista partition.
All you need is the gparted live CD – and, unfortunately, the Vista DVD/CD. The reason is that Windows detects that the hardware was changed and fails to start (why is it so picky?). Therefore you have to start the repair routine of the Vista DVD/CD, but that should be no problem.
Funnily after the repair the next Windows start will fail as well – due to consistency problems of the NTFS system. I wonder why that is not repaired by the repair tool… Anyway, you are asked to run the repair tool, and you should definitely do it. Afterwards the system starts as usual and you have more space on your partition.
So now you can install Linux – but keep an eye on the boot manager difficulties.
/home/liquidat 
Hi, I have tried resizing Vista using Gparted Live and after which vista fails to Boot.
I tried inserting and booting from the Vista DVD, however after loading Windows file from the DVD, the blank screen appears and still fails to boot. Is there anyway to solve this problem. Your help and suggestion is appreciated.
Thank you
Vista is supposed to fail after boot, that’s normal.
However, the fact that Vista can’t boot from the DVD (you are supposed to boot from it, not install it again) could mean that your DVD has an error.
Anyway, please be aware that a Blog is not a good place to discuss things. The best is to ask at an appropriate forum. Additionally, you might want to be a bit more specific what you mean by “after loading Windows file”…
Hi,
You can use Parted Magic Live CD to fix the issue . I had a similar problem. My windows Vista Home will not boot after shrinking the Partition using Gparted.
I fixed the issue by running Parted Live CD , going to the terminal and running the command – ntfsfix /dev/xxxx
No hazzles of Windows Vista Repair.
I just want to add that I unsuccessfully tried the ntfsfix solution. it ran the routine, but this then caused the entire drive to fail, and i hard to start again from scratch. my advice would be not to run this command it seems to upset the vista recovery disk.
The only real problem with this method is that it won’t work if you haven’t got any discs. Most Hewlett-Packard Compaq computers do not come with installation CD’s but instead, have a separate recovery partition where all the installation files.
Whether you can make a backup of that partition (which they highly advise) and use that as a substitute for a Windows Vista installation CD is beyond me. I’ve yet to try it but I plan to now.
Zoursih, there are hardly any computers out there with a real Vista installation DVD – the method does aim at users who only have the recovery DVD. And it works. Of course you shouldn’t move or delete the backup partition – but that should not be a problem anyway because you can easily create a Full Installation DVD with the help of VLite.
Use VLite, create your Full Installation Vista DVD, and you have everything you need to simply install Vista on any given hard disk and therefore machine.
Hi
I have the same problem as Max Lee. I resized with gparted live, vista failed to boot, the recovery dvd displayed a message “loading files” and then I get the windows wallpaper and a mouse pointer but nothing else. I now have the problem that I can’t repair/reinstall vista because the recovery dvd (which has the full vista os – I looked at the disk contents from linux) doesn’t seem to present an active interface.
BTW if you haven’t got any disks, you can get a vista recovery from here:
http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/
Just thought I’d share my experience.
LF
linuxFan, it’s very unfortunate that the disk hangs at the loading files – however, that seems to be a problem on the Windows side, not due to Linux. You might want to contact your Microsoft dealer and ask him why Windows doesn’t offer any other screen.