How to merge 2 ext HDD into one partition?

i have 2 external HDD each one of 300GB i wanted to merge them into one partition equivalent to approx 500GB(not less). i am using win7 and when attempt to do it with diskmgmt.msc tool:

Drive A = 300GB NTFS format
Drive B = 300 GB raw format (since already deleted volume)

when choose extend volume option for drive A and choose unallocated volume (drive B) got an error object is missing cant perform function

when try to create span volume got similar error.

any suggestions?

Have you tried create spanned volume from the B drive?

Let's see what disk management looks like,

Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

Main diskmgt.msc screen shot





when i del both volumes (raw format) of ExtHDD and try to create a span vol from either of one got below error:






when one volume in raw format and other in NTFS, tried to extend NTFS vol and selected raw got below error:





not getting any option when selected raw vol:

Why is all of Disk 0 Dynamic? That shouldn't be like that.

ouch it seems it is not a right configuration; well i dont know i just installed windows and let windows to create partitions and assigned everything :)

It looks like you actually converted DISK0 to Dynamic which is only meant to span a single partition across multiple HD's. You'll need to convert it back before Win7 stops booting. Back up your files first, Use Option 1 here to avoid having to wipe out your Win7 install: Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk

After conversion I'd also convert D to a Logical data partition so you can add as many adjacent Logical partitions as you want: How to set partition as Primary or Logical with Partition Wizard

As to the externals, I don't think a spanned volume can or should be on removable drives because they are less stable than internal drives, hence you would be risking your data in case one would die or have its file system messed up. If you need a huge storage partition for video files, etc, then look into a larger internal HD for more stablity.

I notice you say you reinstalled Win7 but also kept the HP Tools partition. Is this because you confirmed the hardware diagnostics will still boot from F9 Boot menu, the only purpose for keeping that partition? See the Special Note for HP Owners at the end of Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

actually i am in mid of data recovery process lost 1TB bitlocker encrypted HDD passwords, long story short trying to recover one of the partition of 1TB HDD and need 500GB free space. at this moment i dont want to reformat either my main drive (Disk 0) however will definitely go through all the tutorials and set everything in proper format later. thanks for the support anyways.

If you're inclined to experiment then be sure to always have your data backed up, and not to a dodgy spanned pair of externals.

From a previous post by the OP Jack,

teky said:

i encrypted my 1TB External HDD took backup of my laptop on it (including recovery keys backup files). formated my laptop reinstalled windows and now forgot the password for External HDD.

Any suggestions in recovering the key which is already backed up in the encrypted HDD.

thinking to format HDD and than attempt data recovery but not sure if i will be able to recover all or nothing.

It's only Disk 0 that is Dynamic, the other two in the screenshots are the externals they are trying to combine to be able to move 500GB of data from the 1TB drive mentioned in the previous post.

I don't remember all drives being Dynamic, just the system drive Disk 0.