Missing Partition and Unallocated Space (Can't Create New Partition)

[Helios Latio]

Hey there guys. Can you please help me solved this problem. sorry for my bad english.

I'm using Compaq Presario CQ40-627TU

My Laptop Spec

Intel Dual Core Processor T4400 (2.2GHz, 80Mhz FSB,1 MB L2 Cache)

- 2048MB 800MHz DDR2 Memory
- 320GB 7200rpm Hard Disk Drive
- 14.1' TFT WXGA High-Definition widescreen LCD panel with brightview
technology

and i'm using windows 7 Ultimate on boot system partition C, dual boot with linux mint. which mean i got four partition. one for linux mint. one for its swap space. one for windows 7. one for my data storage (movies,drivers,mp3,picture and etc).

last few days i try to resize my C partition (120gb) to make it smaller to gain some unallocated spaces and resize the D partition because my D (almost 100gb) (ntfs/primary/data storage) almost full. i use easeus partition master v5.01.

After done resizing and restart i can't see any D partition. so i was worried that my data will disappeared. i try to look for it but there is no Drive D even on the easeus or diskpart. the only drive appears was C Drive.

i remove my Linux Mint and its swap (60gb) and thinking that i could get some more free space and do some cmd prompt windows 7 repair fixmbr thing to remove the grub. then i use partition recovery to transfer those missing data from partition D to C Drive. (appears as unformatted)

i try to use partition wizard home to resize it back to 300gb. and it works. but i cant make a partition. it will disappear just like that.i also try to use diskpart,command prompt diskpard, and paragon. but also not working. the C drive was shrink but theres no unallocated space and no D drive (the new create partition). i try logical partition,primary,ntfs and fat but also not working. even the unallocated space also gone. i use almost 4 3rd party partitioning software but still got no luck with it.

example:i divide 300gb into 2 partition which exist the C partition 150Gb but the other one gone. i wish theres other way than format. i also done many time. doing check disk, partition table doctor, searching for bad sector. but no errors with my hdd.

Can you help me. sorry for my bad english.Wonders if formatting could help. Thanks.

 

[gregrocker]

Are you still trying to recovery your deleted partition or data? The tool for this is Paragon Rescue CD. Rescue Kit Free Edition | PARAGON Software Group - free partition software, hard disk partitioning

The tool to use for cleaning HD then partitioning is free Partition Wizard bootable CD. Back up your files, Boot CD, select 1 for screen res, on Disk tab choose Wipe Disk and apply zeroes to HD to wipe the GRUB which will interfere with Win7 install.

Then use PW CD to Create new partitions, Primary for OS and Logical for Data. Install Linux last following this tutorial to Dual Boot with Windows: http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/83923-where-install-ubuntu-my-system.html#post733626

 

[Helios Latio]

no pal. sorry. i already done delete those linux grub. everything works fine now. but i cant create any partition using 3rd party partitioning software or even diskpart.

the problem now i cant create partition. even logical. when i did that. the partition gone. even when i shrink my C Drive. the unallocated space doesnt appear on diskpart or partitioning software.

now i only have C drive (ntfs/system/boot) only can resize it back to full hdd capacity 298GB.

i cant create one more partition to keep my data files like movies etc. it will disappear when i did so.

thanks.

 

[gregrocker]

I would run maker's HD diagnostics/repair full CD scan: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

Have you tried the best Partition Manager for WIn7: free Partition Wizard bootable CD?

 

[Helios Latio]

i will try the free Partition Wizard bootable CD later because i dont have dvd-rw with me right now. btw my hard disk description WDC WD3200BEKT-60F3T1 ATA Device. Western Digital Brand and i cant see any diagnostics tool for it. It only have Data Lifeguard software.

 

[Helios Latio]

Btw can i use this to make a diagnostic on HDD? Ultimate Boot CD v5.0

 

[gregrocker]

For Western Digital, run the Data Lifeguard full scan from CD.

I use GWScan which is Data Lifeguard adapted to work on most makes: GWSCAN 5.12 Unzips to c:cabs where you can burn the ISO to CD.

 

[Helios Latio]

already done that. quick test and extend test passed. btw i download the ultimate boot cd v5.0 and burn the iso to a disc. i try to create a partition and its work. but when restart i had to wait for checkdisk for unconsistence drive. still wonder why 3rd party partitioning software and diskpart not working lately. anyway, i guess my problem solved. thanks gregrocker. rep up again for you.

 

[gregrocker]

There is a whole new generation of tools for Win7.

The partitioning manager which works perfectly with Win7 is free Partition Wizard bootable CD.

I would run the System File checker and HD surface test from it first.

Then Wipe Disk with a set of zeros for deepest possible clean.

Then you can Create and format Primary partition(s) for your OS(s), Logical for your data.

 

[Helios Latio]

gonna try that later. i got no extra data storage to keep my importanat data files for now. thanks pal. you helped me a lot.

 

[NotaMidget]

DiskPart and You, a Guide for Happy Partition Puppies.

As I am not entirely sure why you could not find a solution using DISKPART, I will attempt to inform you on the process. Windows 7 hides inactive partitions of a disk, especially when not formatted to any particular FileSystem such as FAT32 and NTFS; in order to find our unallocated space, we RUN CMD(Command Prompt) - DISKPART - LIST DISK.

LIST DISK will give us a list of all the disks and their respective properties, such as the size on the disk, amount of available free space, and weather the disk uses the Master Boot Record or GUID Partition Table. When marked with an asterisk, it has focus.

When we find which disk we want to focus upon, in our case that is the one with our extra inactive unallocated space, we will SELECT that disk.

SELECT DISK will select the disk and shift focus to it. (Duh!)

If the space I want to partition and format is located on Disk 0, then I must
SELECT Disk 0.

"Disk 0 is now the selected disk."

In my case, I have 465gb on DISK 0 with 400gb of free unallocated space (no FileSystem applied), so we'll have to partition some of that space into another drive with a FileSystem attached (FAT/FAT32, NTFS) before we can access it. To do that we will use CREATE PARTITION.

You can create an EFI, Extended, logical, MSR, or a Primary partition; These all have different uses. Primary partitions are used for Operating System installations, so if you want to install something like UBUNTU/Linux then theoretically we would want to use that one; However we're trying to make a drive that we can store our music, pictures, game downloads, and other miscellaneous crap on; so we'll be using a LOGICAL PARTITION.

However, we must first CREATE AN Extended partition with which our Logical partitions will be located upon. The number of Logical partitions upon an Extended partition is limited only upon how much memory the Extended partition holds, ergo multiple logical partitions. A HDD may have only one Extended Partition.

CREATE PARTITION EXTENDED PARTITION SIZE=#

In my case # = 400000 (390.625 gigabytes roughly).

To check that said partition has been created, we use LIST PARTITION (our focus still being on Disk 0, otherwise it will display partitions associated with whichever Disk # we're focused upon, or none at all). I see my 2 Primary Partitions (Windows 7 automatically creates a 100mb Partition on installation, so there's two), and a third one listed as * Partition 0 - Extended - 390GB - Offset 65GB

Notice the asterisk?, that's good it means we have focus upon that partition and we can now create a logical partition. Now, I don't want to use up the whole extended partition on just one logical partition because I might want to add or extend a drive in the future, so I'll add one with a size of 200GB.

CREATE PARTITION LOGICAL SIZE=#
Where # is the amount of space in megabytes, in my case it's 204800 (should come out to 200gb exactly, by conversion).

There are more options that can be displayed using HELP PARTITION LOGICAL if you need something more definitive.

"DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition."
Awesome, just to take a look at it now, we'll do the following.

LIST PARTITION

DISKPART> LIST PARTITION
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 100 MB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Primary 65 GB 101 MB
Partition 0 Extended 390 GB 65 GB
* Partition 3 Logical 200 GB 65 GB

Ok, so we see here that it worked, but just out of curosity, what would LIST VOLUME show?.

LIST VOLUME

DISKPART> LIST VOLUME
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 0 D Kaspersky P CDFS DVD-ROM 251 MB Healthy
Volume 1 System Rese NTFS Partition 100 MB Healthy System
Volume 2 C NTFS Partition 65 GB Healthy Boot
* Volume 3 RAW Partition 200 GB Healthy

Windows 7 doesn't display the Extended Partition, this is supposedly due to said partitions purpose of simply being a tool to create Logical Partitions, and as such if LIST DISK is used you will see only the amount of free space available upon the logical partition; The space left over upon the Extended Partition being unidentified or hidden.

The fact that it was shown before as 400gb Free under LIST DISK was due to it not being under an Extended Partition, so even though you can't see the space left over upon the Extended Partition outside of using LIST PARTITION in DISKPART it doesn't necessarily mean you don't have extra space left to distribute: For this purpose LIST PARTITION seems to do just fine with informing us of that.

Moving on...

Now that we have our new Logical Partition created, theoretically speaking we must assign it a drive letter, and format it into NTFS, FAT32, or any other FileSystem.

We still have focus upon the Logical Partition which we just created, so now we'll use FORMAT.

If this is used in the absence of other defining parameters then it will proceed to format the volume or partition that has focus (shown with an asterisk *) as the default Filesystem displayed by the FILESYSTEMS command. (Mine being NTFS)

This may take awhile so go have a smoke and coffee, or coerse your girl/man into having a quicky....

DISKPART> FORMAT
100 percent completed
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

Where before youre Partition would have been Identified as RAW under the Fs section in LIST VOLUME, now it is NTFS (or your respective default Filesystem type).

Unfortunately though, it still doesn't have a Drive Letter(Ltr) assigned to it, Therefore we must assign it one. To do this we'll be using ASSIGN, which will assign a drive letter or mounted folder pathname to the volume of focus.

By using the ASSIGN command, you can change the drive letter associated with a removable drive. However, you may not assign drive letters to BOOT volumes or volumes that contain the paging file. In addition, you cannot assign a drive letter to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partition unless booted to Windows PE, or any GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition other than a basic data partition, an ESP partition or a recovery partition.

ASSIGN
DISKPART> ASSIGN
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.

In this case, it has automatically assigned my Partition/Volume of focus a Drive Letter as (E: ). I can see that it has succeeded because Windows has prompted to open files in this drive through a pop-up menu, we can also see the drive if we open up Computer, under the Windows Logo (Start Menu).

So there we have it, using DiskPart we have successfully created a new Partition, formatted, and assigned a Drive letter to our previously unallocated free space.

RECAP:
Logical Drives are for Data
Primary Drives are for OS
A Logical Partition cannot be created without creating an Extended Partition first.
I am NotaMidget; I like Cougars, tea, and biscuits.

 

[ajithadoor]

partition problem

hai, i try to partition in c drive for dual boot system in windows 7 64 bit system then i got unallocated part but i try to formate then their is a virtual disk mangement window open and inform to change basic to dynamic . Then i try to change. There was showing "object not support "how can i make healty partition at there please healp me. I hope u

 

[gregrocker]

Do not convert to Dynamic!

Post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk mgmt drive map with listings showing all columns, using the Snipping Tool in Start Menu. We will advise you how to add the partition you desire for Dual Booting.

It would be best to start a new Thread when you post back so that you get maximum help, by pressing the New Thread button at top of page.

 

[ajithadoor]

thanks for ur replay . I will try this and inform to u . Thanks

 

[velraj]

i cant partion my allocated space by ur method..it showing fee space 366gb..but while partitioning the error is "There is not enough space for this operation"....i tries only 200 gb... :shock: what should i do to partion ..help me sir

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map and listings, using the Snipping Tool in the Start menu. Attach with paper clip in reply box. Tell us exactly what you want to do.

When Free (Logical) Space gets in the way the problem is often that you need to rightclick on it in Disk Mgmt to Delete Volume so it becomes Unallocated (Primary) Space. This is because Free is still part of a Logical extended partitions which is not compatible with adjacent Primary partitions.

However the latest versions of free Partition Wizard bootable CD view Primary and Logical the same for all functions so will extend Primary partitions into Logical free space. Use that if Disk Mgmt does not help. And let us see the screenshot to see if anything else is at issue.

 

[Stevenbv]

Hi, I read your posts and I am trying to find an answer to my problem. The size of the C partition is now seen less (40GB) than it used to be (120 GB) and now it is full. I downloaded a game last week. Can this be the cause ? How to fix it ?
Thanks.

 

[gregrocker]

Look through your User folders to see what's in them. You should know, keep them cleaned out and backed up. You should also have everything sorted into it's correct User folder. Just click your User name folder to start.