Solved Partition question : Unallocated Space Before

[AddRAM]

You the Partition Wizard Boot cd to do anything with partitions. PW B CD does not require a reboot, you just boot into the cd, do what you want, remove the cd then boot into windows.

If you are using PW from inside windows, that`s totally unsafe and not recommended.

 

[119baystate]

If you are using PW from inside windows, that`s totally unsafe and not recommended.

Is there any literature supporting this statement. I've been using PW for years in system normal mode & have not had issues except this 1 time, that I recall.

 

[119baystate]

Well, those unallocated spaces both at the beginning & end of DISK 0 reappeared. I will try the suggestions of DSPerber & report back.

 

[119baystate]

I wonder if this is indicative of your partitions not being "aligned", as they should be for optimal performance... HD or SSD.

You can use this quick utility to test for proper partition alignment (although a from-scratch Win7 install on an completely empty drive will always create properly aligned partitions, something which wasn't true with WinXP).

And of course, you can use the Partition Wizard "align all partitions" function to perform necessary alignment. I don't know if it will prompt you first and require your confirmation (probably), after investigating for itself whether or not it's needed.

Anyway, I've never seen your symptom before. Did you use Partition Wizard to resize your partitions, or did you use DISKMGMT? If it was PW, I'm surprised this could have been the result.

This is what I did. I rebooted off of a rescue CD. I used the CMD shell to WIPE ALL for the DISK 0. Then I did an IMAGE recovery via WIN7 BACKUP & RESTORE utility. After restoration I checked with PARTITION WIZARD & the 2 unallocated spaces were present. My backup image predates this issue of the unallocated spaces so I doubt that is the culprit. Besides, my understanding even if the disk was heavily fragmented when creating the image is that the process of compressing & cataloging the files the fragmentation is IGNORED. Upon restoration the fragmentation is no longer present. Hence, DEFRAGGIKNG prior to creating the system image is completely unnecessary.

Is my understanding INCORRECT? Could these minute unallocated spaces be the result of fragmentation?

BTW: I did use the PARTITION WIZARD to check alignment & the resulting message:
"This disk does not need to change partitions alignment. All partitions are already aligned."

So I do not know how I eliminated the spaces last night unless I stood on my toes with 1 foot, wrapped my arm around my head, & then touched my nose with my pinky & repeated incessantly, "There is not place like TAHOE."

As an aside, I did a DEFRAG analysis if the restored image & the result was 0%. So that is not an issue.

 

[119baystate]

(although a from-scratch Win7 install on an completely empty drive will always create properly aligned partitions, something which wasn't true with WinXP).

I am in the process of trying this. If successful at eliminating the unallocated spaces I will then retore the old system image & again check for the unallocated spaces. If successful there I will then proceed to repartition the disk & check again. If successful I will then do a CLEAN INSTALL on the 2nd partition.

Somewhere in that process I hope to identify when those unallocated spaces are created. Hopefully, that can clue us in to diagnose the issue & hopefully correct it?

Thanks dsperder, you gave me just enough info for me to chew on to allow me to formulate the bove procedure.

I will report back:

STEP 1) completed & the unallocated spaces persist.

So I will now wipe the drive & do a disk check from either CMD mode or can PARTITION WIZARD do that?

 

[119baystate]

I have initiated another thread in INSTALLATION & SETUP for other eyes to view & also reduce the clutter of this thread. That link:
Unallocated spaces at the beginning & end of the BOOT disk

I will post progess to that link.

 

[119baystate]

I have initiated another thread in INSTALLATION & SETUP for other eyes to view & also reduce the clutter of this thread. That link:
Unallocated spaces at the beginning & end of the BOOT disk

I will post progess to that link.

I isolated the procedure that causes the unallocated spaces. I posted that to the link above. IGNORE the useless clutter that 1 of your brethern "GREG ROCKER" caused. He apparently is resting on the laurels of his posted credentials & not offering much in the way of technical input.

The question now that I isolated the procedure is WHY & if it is OK? Respond either there or here. I hope someone has useful input.

 

[TVeblen]

It is generally known to just leave these spaces (at the beginning and end of a disk) alone. They are used by the Windows operating system when necessary.

Source:
https://kb.acronis.com/content/1884

 

[119baystate]

It is generally known to just leave these spaces (at the beginning and end of a disk) alone. They are used by the Windows operating system when necessary.

Source:
https://kb.acronis.com/content/1884

Thanks for the little blurb from ACRONIS. This is pretty much what dsperder posted to this thread some time back with much greater detail. He took a look at my screenshot & stated my situation seems a bit different. So I am reticent to let the "WINDOWS god" have any free space unless I know the purpose. What prevents him or it from annexing more space in the future? I believe I have seen in the MICROSOFT literature (I would have to take the time to find it) that the partition on which the OS resides should have approximately a 10% vacancy just for the purpose of the OS having to create or copy temp files while performing necessary operations such as DEFRAGGING, BACKUPS, or even CRASH logs. Now it wants more space & it won't bother even allocating it for any specific reason. What is the purpose of the 10% overhead + include the notorious "SHADOW PARTITION".

This is unnerving. If I have to live with it I guess I have no choice, but if there is a choice I would prefer to eliminate those spaces.

 

[TVeblen]

You can do what you want. This is not an issue that will "break" Windows. As long as you never plan to create Extended Partitions or Dynamic Disks you will not miss them.

 

[119baystate]

Quote: Originally Posted by 119baystate

Quote: Originally Posted by TVeblen
Partition Wizard will not create these unallocated spaces because Linux does not have a use for them.


Wait a minute, are you saying that WINDOWS created the unallocated spaces in an autonomous operation subsequent the PARTITION WIZARD splitting the drive into separate partitions?


TVeblen got me motivated to run another test to see if this is WINDOWS or PARTITION WIZARD creating these unallocated spaces. Most of the conversation has pointed towards WINDOWS, but I did the following:

1) booted from a MACRIUM rescue disk which I believe does not care what operating system it is attempting to recover;

2) with a USB flash drive with PARTITION WIZARD installed I deleted the boot disk;

3) the size of the disk with no partitions according to PARTITION WIZARD is 238417.78 MBYTES which is 249,894,304,481.25 ....... bytes;

4) I then created 1 single primary partition on that very disk;

5) the size of that partition according to PARTITION WIZARD is 238416 MBYTES which is 249,892,438,016 .......... bytes;

NOTE the difference in size. The first is not an integer multiple of 512 bytes which if I am correct is a block size for NTFS? The 2nd size is an integer multiple. The residual 1.78 Mb. What did PARTITION WIZARD do with that residual space?

Keep in mind I am not booted into WINDOWS unless the MACRIUM rescue disk is based off a WINDOWS OS; moreover, I am creating a single primary partition. PARTITION WIZARD created 2 unallocated spaces. The 1 preceding the primary partition is 1.00Mb & the 1 following is 0.78Mb. The 1Mb space is an integer multiples of 512 bytes while the 2nd one is not.

So I am more asking a question than making a statement. This does not appear to be a WINDOWS artifact? The 1Mb preceding the primary partition is what, part of an extended boot record? The 0.78 Mb space is simply left over & no system whether WINDOWS, LINUX, APPLE, or UNIX can use since it is less than a block size?

I also did the same experiment by creating a single logical partition & the results were the same. Try it yourself. It is a quick test & you can finish in 5 minutes depending how fast your system will boot off a CD.