Solved Can't resize my partition

[Nayr747]

I'm trying to resize my C: partition so that I can create a separate 160 GB partition, but all of the options on MiniTool Partition Wizard are greyed out. And Disk manager is reporting 40 GB of possible space to shrink even though there's 259 GB free. I've reinstalled Wizard, defragged, and nothing works. The computer came with a backup partition that I incorporated into a single partition a long time ago, so that's the only thing I can think of that could have screwed something up.

Here's a screenshot of Wizard and disk manager if it helps:

Thanks for any help!

 

[alphanumeric]

As far as Disk manager goes, it has to be continuous free space for it to be able to use it.
It sounds like you have [Files]{free space}[files]{free space}. The last free space being 40 GB. And depending on what the files are the standard windows defrag won't always move them. If they are in use and locked by a program it won't touch them. You'll likely have to boot up to a utility to do it and not run it from Windows. I'm not that familiar with the Mini tool so I can't tell if you are running it from Windows or bootable media.

 

[Emoclaw]

You just made a mistake, click the drive that needs extend from the list and all options should become available.
Without clicking:

As you can see all options are greyed out, but after clicking they are all available.

 

[Nayr747]

When I click the 100 MB or the C: partitions, the only options available are Delete, Copy, and Properties. The 17.7 GB partition (which now shows up as "Samsung_Rec") does have all options other than Create available though. Btw, can I get rid of this last partition, or is it necessary?

I'm not using Wizard from boot. Would that help? I used Auslogics Disk Defrag, but I didn't do the optimization option. I couldn't find any options in that programs for degrag from boot. Do you know of any good programs that can do that?

I was starting to think the problem was caused by Trucrypt, but their documentation says that you can resize a partition on an encrypted system so it shouldn't be a problem. I'll decrypt it if I have to but it will take almost a day to complete so I'd love for that to not be the problem.

 

[Emoclaw]

Have you tried to right click the drive > extend? If it's greyed out again then I would suggest that you delete the partition, extend the primary partition and re-split it
2.I got rid of the System Reserved partition and then I had to reinstall windows, I wouldn't advise you to do it.
3.I'd suggest trying out Iobit Smart Defrag it has boot time defrag for pagefile, hibernation file, MFT and system files.

 

[alphanumeric]

Booting from what ever program you want to use to resize the partition will definitely help. If windows isn't running none of the files will be in use. If they are not in use they are not locked out and can be moved. Most portioning utilities are quit capable of moving files to free up space, provided the OS doesn't have them locked out.

 

[Emoclaw]

MiniTool partition wizard asks you to restart in order to split or resize the partition, It doesn't process live, after you restart it enters a boot mode and performs the actions there, Nayr747's problem is that the options are greyed out.Unselectable.

 

[Nayr747]

Extend is greyed out. Delete the samsung_rec partition? Will that affect anything negatively?

Yeah like Emoclaw said, they're all greyed out so I can't do anything. I guess I'll give Iobit a shot and report back.

 

[Emoclaw]

I believe that partition exists incase you want to backup, if there is no data in it then no, it wont affect anything.But if there is, I'd suggest that you keep it as it may contain important data from your manufacturer.If it has data I would suggest that you use EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition.Instructions with screenshots below.

1.In EaseUS, right click the C: drive and click Resize/Move

Edit the Partition Size according to how much you want the C: drive to have remained(Example, I have 470 GB and I want to extend the second partition by 10GB, I will change the Partition Size to 460)

And click ok
Now, right click the partition you want to extend(not the unallocated) and click Move/Resize

Now set Partition Size to the max(click the top arrow next to the white box)Till the blue bar above reaches the end

And you are done.

 

[Nayr747]

Ok I just tried EaseUS and it won't let me resize either. And for some reason it's saying C: is unformatted.

 

[DocBrown]

You may want to try a Bottable Disc of Partition Wizard

:ar: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93322-partition-wizard-use-bootable-cd.html?ltr=P

 

[AddRAM]

Get rid of that garbage and make yourself a Partition Wizard Boot cd, it never fails.

Partition Wizard Bootable CD allows user to manage partition directly with partition manager bootable CD.

There are many videos to show you how to use it.

Simply right click on C: and the drop down will appear with all the options.

 

[gregrocker]

Once you have the PW Boot disk, follow these steps for Partition Wizard Resize Partition Video Help.

I would keep the Samsung Recovery partition if you are still under warranty and might need to recover a Clean Reinstall to factory condition to ship it back for repairs as they sometimes require. If not under warranty and you have no interest in the Samsung bloatware, then you can delete it. This is best done during a Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to reinstall just the OS without the crap.

 

[Nayr747]

With the bootable Partition Wizard disk I'm still only getting the Delete, Copy, and Properties options. All the other options are greyed out on all three partitions. I'll try a bootable defrag program, but is there anything else I could try? What about the rebuild MBR option?

 

[Nayr747]

I tried IObit Smart Defrag pre-boot and I still can't resize the partitions. Any other ideas?

Also just wanted to warn anyone that might be thinking of trying Smart Defrag that it installs malware no matter what you do during installation. I've been trying to get rid of it all for 2 days now and I still haven't gotten it all off. And don't download it from Cnet because that installs an adware called Coupon Companion. Will be using Softpedia from now on.

 

[gregrocker]

. The computer came with a backup partition that I incorporated into a single partition a long time ago, so that's the only thing I can think of that could have screwed something up.

Exactly what did you do with the Recovery partition? It must have messed up the partition table badly because I've never seen this type of failure before.

It's very unlikely Recovery will any longer run so I hope you made your Recovery media before ruining the partitioning. What I would do at this point is wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command to clear the partition table and boot sector of all code, then Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which is a vastly superior install to the factory preinstall which no tech enthusiast would run.

 

[AddRAM]

It installed coupon companion because you didn`t uncheck it. You need to pay more attention to what you`re doing. Slow down

 

[alphanumeric]

Trucrypt < maybe messing things up?

 

[4wd]

:warn: If not done already, 1st make sure you have a good backup (on external media) of everything important, proceed with the experiments only after that.

If Truecrypt is in use, take a look in TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source Disk Encryption Software - Documentation - Issues & Limitations

Encrypted partitions cannot be resized except partitions on an entirely encrypted system drive that are resized while the encrypted operating system is running.

 

[Nayr747]

Exactly what did you do with the Recovery partition? It must have messed up the partition table badly because I've never seen this type of failure before.

From what I remember, it was just a backup partition for Samsung Backup (or something like that), which was one of the bloadwares from the factory. Since I already backup to an external hard drive, I didn't need the backup partition taking up about half the space on my HDD. So I think I just used disk manager or one of those partition programs to delete the partiton and increase the main partition's space. Or maybe I just combined them somehow. I can't really remember.

It's very unlikely Recovery will any longer run so I hope you made your Recovery media before ruining the partitioning. What I would do at this point is wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command to clear the partition table and boot sector of all code, then Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which is a vastly superior install to the factory preinstall which no tech enthusiast would run.

I know it would be better for a lot of good reasons, but it just seems like a huge nightmare. I had to do that once on my old laptop and it took days to reinstall Windows, then try to find all the right drivers, etc., then reinstall all my many many programs, then redo all my customizations. And I'm worried that it still won't work right after all that. If I go that route, should I create a disk image in case it doesn't work?

Trucrypt < maybe messing things up?

If Truecrypt is in use, take a look in TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source Disk Encryption Software - Documentation - Issues & Limitations

Encrypted partitions cannot be resized except partitions on an entirely encrypted system drive that are resized while the encrypted operating system is running.

I do use TrueCrypt, but my entire system is encrypted rather than a particular partition so it shouldn't be a problem according to that. I would decrypt but it takes about 15 straight hours, so I'm trying to find an easier solution before I try that.