Windows 7 - Change Unallocated to useable space

I just received a Lenovo 160GB warranty replacement drive, installed the drive and restored my most current Acronis image. The drive that was replaced was 100GB, thus the restored Acronis image was ~96GB C drive.

The attached Acronis Disk Director screen shot shows the difference between the restored C area versus the available drive space as unallocated.

From previous conversations on the forum I have a boot CD burned with Magic Partition Manager (not used thus far).

Before I boot the computer with the MPM CD would someone give me a bit of reassurance that there will be a clear MPM option to convert the currently unallocated space to allocated and then either merge the two spaces or have the currently active space increase in size subsuming that space which is currently unallocated?

Thanks,

Mark

mark, are you able to successfully boot into windows? maybe reboot a couple of times to check? If yes, you can definitely format the unallocated space to create a new partition or extend the existing C: partition to use that space. Just remember you have some unallocated space to the left of C: as well - to extend C: into that you'll need a 3rd party partition manager (windows cant do it natively). I don't know about MPM but if that doesn't work you can always use Partition wizard.

Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD

I would stay away from the MPM. Use Disk Management. It is a lot safer. Just right click on the C partition and "Extend". Or right click on the unallocated space and create a partition.

If you want to recover the bit of space in front of C:, follow the advice of Bill2 - but I think it is not worth the risk of making a mistake for such an itty bitty amount of space.

Not sure how I have the CD labeled Magic Partition Manager by Mini Tool but it is Partition Wizard. After reading your message, for some reason, I decided creating a partition from the unallocated space would be a good idea and then would go on to merge the two partitions. The free PW would not do that. I then deleted the newly created partition and was able to drag the size of C to cover the entire area absent the tiny area at the left. For now I'll leave the area to left and relish my newly enlarged C.

I'm also uninstalling Acronis' Disk Director.

Thanks--

Mark

So I went back and tried to clean up the tiny unallocated space (attachment) with Partition Wizard.

Whereas the day before yesterday I was able to drag the primary partition C to the right to include and eliminate the large unallocated space resulting from a new drive (see earlier in this thread), I cannot drag the resulting C to the left to eliminate (include) the remaining, tiny space.

Since the free version of Partition Wizard does not allow one to merge, any suggestions on a method of subsuming the tiny space within C?

Mark

The free EASEUS Partition Master is capable of extending your C: partition in both directions to fill up all available disk space.

You can do this from within Windows and it will prompt you to reboot, perform the partition resize, then reboot again and have you back in Windows. No need for a CD to boot from - done this a couple of times without a problem

Download it here: EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Prior to any attempt moving C: to the left I would make sure you have an image of C: in case the operation fails. I'd do it as well for "neatness" but it will probably involves physical file movements.

Thanks for the software recommendation.

However, to merge (using Easeus) I first have to create a partition out of the tiny unallocated space. When attempting to do so, the software says that the space is too small to create a partition.

I guess I'll just leave well enough alone.

Mark

There is no need to create a new partition and then merge. Simply extend your existing partition into the free space. This will work even if that space is very small - I've done it.

Leaving well enough alone is an excellent idea.