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I have a 1TB hard disk with windows 8.1 running on it. I want to create a partition(preferably of the size around 20 GB) from my C drive to install a linux Operating System along with windows(Dual boot). It says it has 56.2 GB in the computer window. But when I go to the hard disk partition wizard, I am only able to shrink 801MB max. I already went through the defragmentation process with no help. If this question is a duplicate then please redirect it.

goodbytes
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If @Ramhounds approach does not work, you could use Linux for this.

A tool to use would be the Gparted live CD (it can also be used as a usb stick).

Please be aware that you should reboot Windows twice after resizing.

PS: all these operations can damage your data, which should be backed up before

serv-inc
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The reason why it doesn't allow you to shrink more than 800MB is because on Windows you have mandatory file lock. I.e. you can't move/delete a file on the disk when it's opened.

So if any of the system files (which are loaded when Windows runs) happens to be at the end of your partition, it will prevent shrinking beyond that part because Windows will be unable to move it somewhere else because it's being accessed and thus locked.

And that's why you can still do the shrink from a Live CD, because those files will not be loaded because Windows won't be running. As the others suggested, grab GPparted Live, it works pretty well and has a nice, intuitive interface.

bviktor
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