Out of 150GB free space only 66MB available for partition ?

seavixen32 said:

hkuenph, thank you for providing the screenshots of your disk layout.

The reason you cannot shrink your C drive any further is because the partition is badly fragmented.

You have 154Gb of free space on the drive in question that is available to use, but because the drive is badly fragmented you can only SHRINK it by a further 66Mb.

The text at the bottom of your fourth screenshot translates as follows:

You cannot shrink a volume beyond a point where any unmovable files are located. See the "Defrag" event in the application log for detailed information about the operation when it has completed.

You need to defragment the drive first, and then go back into Disk Management to see whether the shrink space has increased. If it hasn't it means you can't shrink that partition any further.

Mr. Seavixen32

Thank you!

My first reflect was defragmentation when the 66MB poked my eyes.
So, the partition was defragmented.
Actually, this was not needed because defragmentation was set to carry out
automatically ar certain time intervals.
But I manually did one more time anyway, just to be sure.
Then, the estimation reported 66MB still.

Then, I suspected the software that had been installed.
So, they were removed and so also their hidden files and folders.
Still, the estimation showed 66MB after all of the removals and deletions.

And I did the same thing with the partition containing Windows 7 Pro.
The result was the same.

The screenshots above were taken at this stage.

Articles sharing their successful experiences of the same operation are not rare.
But why my experience is quite different from theirs.
Beats me.

Really appreciate your goodwill!

theog said:

AS you upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, the Acer Recovery Partition is unusable.

Did you make your Recovery disks?

Why do you need a 4th partition?

Mr. Theog

Thank you!

I did not upgrade Vista to Win 7.
Win 7 is installed on partion D.
And Vista is still in use on C.

Why do I need it? For handy and slightly safe storage, safe against my mistakes.

Thanks for your concerns.

If you want more storage space your best bet is to invest in an external hard drive.

Also, is there any particular reason why you're still using Windows Vista? You'd make life a lot easier if you were to wipe your hard drive and just install Windows 7.

OakenG said:

You need to defragment the drive first, and then go back into Disk Management to see whether the shrink space has increased. If it hasn't it means you can't shrink that partition any further.

Often people struggle with achieving their partitioning aims with Windows 7's own utilities. The chief cause being that Windows has placed a system file at/near the end of the disk/volume which hinders the anticipated outcome, even after performing a Windows defrag.

To get around this you can either use a third party partitioning solution, or you will need to perform a number of boot time defrags, shrinks and/or expands, plus restarts (usually 2-4 cycles in my experience). This option also requires a third party solution that offers boot time defrag (be sure to check how any such software handles Windows shadow copies/restore points for this type of operation), whereby the system files can be moved whilst Windows is offline. I have used PerfeckDisk for the purpose on a number of machines and without any problems.

Typically;

Shrink and/or expand > restart > boot time defrag > restart > shrink and/or expand > restart > normal defrag > restart > shrink and/or expand

Hope this helps.

Mr. OakenG

Thank you very much for sharing.

Very appreciate your help.

The following is not to argue with you but express
my inability to comprehend the issue.

Yes, I have read an article saying the same thing as you do, a file or folder placed at or near the end of the partition, and this limits the availability of the free space on the partion.

I have also read several articles telling their successful experiences of adding a partition to the existing partition C by applying only the built in tools of Vista and Win 7, i.e., simply compressing the existing partition C for an unallocated free space. And there is no trace or hint of any difficulties or any file/folder blocking the estimation or any third party applications involved.
Roughly, estimate>set capacity of the intended
additional partition>compress>an unallocated partition appears.

Are these write ups advertisements?
Different OEM products make defferences?
Their HDD's and/or partitions are different?

Really like a puzzle or riddle.
How to put the pieces together or find the answer?

Thank you very much, Mr. OakenG!

seavixen32 said:

If you want more storage space your best bet is to invest in an external hard drive.

Also, is there any particular reason why you're still using Windows Vista? You'd make life a lot easier if you were to wipe your hard drive and just install Windows 7.

Mr. Seavixen32

Do I want more storage space?
Not really.
Just to practice how the Vista & Win 7 built in function works.

Why do I still use Vista?
I am asociated with people who still use Vista & XP.
So, XP & Vista & Win7 all installed for their convenience when we exchange information.

Thanks.

Hi hkuenph,

Probably some of those factors make a difference, which is not surprising given the myriad of variables involved. I don't know why some people have this difficulty shrinking/expanding, and others do not. Perhaps somebody in the know can tell us why? Conversely there are other issues, which going by the forums, many users have suffered and yet I and others have not.

I can say for the half-a-dozen or so instances I've come across, when it is not desirable to use any partitioning tools, the solution I mentioned has worked. There is one freeware defrag software I know of, Puran Defrag Free Edition, that offers boot time defragmentation. I stopped using Puran some time ago as every now and then it would wipe all of the shadow copies, though I believe support for this has now been improved? As suggested previously- check the developers documentation support information.

Provided you have a solid system recovery plan, it may be worth the effort to go down this route to get the job done?

At least you are enjoying the puzzle, rather than becoming agitated by it!

All the best.

hkuenph said:

seavixen32 said:

If you want more storage space your best bet is to invest in an external hard drive.

Also, is there any particular reason why you're still using Windows Vista? You'd make life a lot easier if you were to wipe your hard drive and just install Windows 7.

Mr. Seavixen32

Do I want more storage space?
Not really.
Just to practice how the Vista & Win 7 built in function works.

Why do I still use Vista?
I am asociated with people who still use Vista & XP.
So, XP & Vista & Win7 all installed for their convenience when we exchange information.

Thanks.

Well, I can't argue with that and nor would I want to.

The important thing is that we have managed to answer your original query we hope.

seavixen32 said:

hkuenph said:

seavixen32 said:

If you want more storage space your best bet is to invest in an external hard drive.

Also, is there any particular reason why you're still using Windows Vista? You'd make life a lot easier if you were to wipe your hard drive and just install Windows 7.

Mr. Seavixen32

Do I want more storage space?
Not really.
Just to practice how the Vista & Win 7 built in function works.

Why do I still use Vista?
I am asociated with people who still use Vista & XP.
So, XP & Vista & Win7 all installed for their convenience when we exchange information.

Thanks.

Well, I can't argue with that and nor would I want to.


The important thing is that we have managed to answer your original query we hope.

Mr. Seavixen32

Thank you very much!

All of you have tried to help, THANK YOU!

It has been a very good discussion. All the participants are very informative.
The problem is clarified even though it is remaining still.
This is what life really is.

Appreciate very much!

Hkuenph