Expand the C Drive in Win7


  1. Posts : 8
    Win 7 Home Premium
       #1

    Expand the C Drive in Win7


    Running Win7 Disk Management V1.0
    C:\ 39.06GB D:\ 127.50GB Free space 66.31GB
    C and D are both NTFS
    I'd like to give C an Additional 40 GB from the Free Space
    Can this be done with multiple steps all within Disk Management ?
    If so, how?
    Bob
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #2

    Take a read through the tutorial by Brink and see if it meets your needs.

    Partition or Volume - Extend - Windows 7 Help Forums


    Jack
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 393
    Windows 7/8.1/10 multiboot
       #3

    No, it cannot be done with Disk Management.

    To accomplish your goal, there are at least three steps that must be performed. (More sophisticated software may obfuscate what's going on, but under the hood any software must still follow these same steps.)
    Step 1a: if necessary to accomplish step 1, compact D so no "in use" sectors are in the rear 40GB of D. *

    Step 1: shrink the D partition, so you end up with C (39GB) + D (87GB) + unallocated space (40GB). **

    Step 2: slide D toward the rear of the disk, so you end up with C (39GB) + unalloc (40GB) + D (87GB).

    Step 3: expand C into the unallocated space, so you end up with C (79GB) + D (87GB).
    Disk Management is a crippled partition manager and can only perform steps 1 and 3. It can shrink and expand, but cannot slide or compact.

    However, there are several popular third-party partition managers that can perform all four tasks, as necessary. Your goal can be easily accomplished using one of those.


    Footnotes:

    * You need to clear the back 40GB of the D partition so its space can be deallocated. Compacting is different from defragging. Defragging pulls pieces of files together, but doesn't necessarily move all the files toward the front. Though they may now be one piece, files may still be strewn about the partition with interspersed free space.

    Note a partition can only shrink to its furthest "in use" sector. You cannot deallocate space from the partition if there are still stray files in the space. Compacting rewrites those stray files more toward the front of the partition so the free space is contiguous toward the back.


    ** tech aside: FWIW, note the distinction between "free" space and "unallocated" space. Free space is storage space within a partition that is currently available for file storage. Unallocated space is disk space not allocated to any partition.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 7,100
    W7 home premium 32bit/W7HP 64bit/w10 tp insider ring
       #4

    It really depends on how your disk management is setup Windows inbuilt feature requires free/unallocated space to the LEFT of the partition you want to expand

    You will be better of using
    partition wizard

    Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

    Roy
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7,351
    Windows 7 HP 64
       #5

    Do you have a data backup of D: on an external disk?

    Edit
    The easiest way:
    - Copy all disk D: to an external disk
    - Delete partition D:. You will end with C: and an un allocated partition on the right.
    - Expand C: 40G to the right.
    - Format the remaining un allocated partition and assign D letter to it.
    - Copy your data from the external disk.
    Last edited by Megahertz07; 15 Jan 2018 at 07:39.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #6

    For my own personal use I use this.

    Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

    It can be done as Megahertz07 has posted, but it's a PITA.

    Complete this tutorial by Golden so we can see what you have.

    Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

    Jack
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 124
    win7hp64
       #7

    I second Mini Tool partition as well and they do have portable version, which could be run from memory stick without installation. And I would very strongly recommend to do full back up of all data, before doing anything, to avoid data loss due to program error or user error, just in case.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 8
    Win 7 Home Premium
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Expanded C Drive MiniTool Partition Free


    Followed your excellent advice and all worked fine.
    Now all we need to do is push back the Win 7 EOL date
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #9

    srfpala said:
    Now all we need to do is push back the Win 7 EOL date
    You mean you haven't started using Linux Mint yet?
      My Computer


 

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