Solved trouble deleting the 100mb partition on old C:

[socrgy9]

so i've migrated the OS to an SSD now and i've formatted the old C:. i'm trying to get rid of the old 100mb partition on the old C: because it just annoys me that its there now and i'm getting an error in CMD when i do it.

screenshots are attached.

 

[socrgy9]

i just realized i misspelled "delete" with "delet" so i tried again and still same thing

 

[karlsnooks]

socgry,

Please use this procedure to produce a diskmanagment map.

HOW TO POST A SNAPSHOT OF DISK MANAGEMENT DISPLAY
Run disk management:
WIN | type DISKMGMT.MSC | ENTER
This method gives you a display without the unneeded navigation pane.
WIN=key with Microsoft logo on top.

Maximize the output of Disk Management:
Maximize the output of Disk Management:
ALT-Spacebar key combo | X key (selects Maximize) |
Drag the field separators (such as between Status and Capacity) to show entire field.


Make a snapshot:
WIN | type SNIPPING | ENTER | New
Drag the cursor around the area you want to snip.
File | Save as | select save location and name | Save


Post the snapshot:
Post a File or Screenshot in Seven Forums

 

[socrgy9]

ok. the snip is attached

 

[Night Hawk]

Are you done with eveything on the old drive or have you started putting new files on?

You have a few options to see the 100mb removed on the spot but then would need to move the old C towards the front of the drive which takes forever of course. The alternative would be simply backing up anything presently on the drive and nuking it clean.

The DiskPart clean command should suffice or you can boot live with a drive partitioning program's live cd to get past any system activity presently tying it up preventling the removal. For stubborn partition i simply boot off a live GParted cd or usb stick.

At the command prompt once you start the DiskPart tool up and select that drive type in the clean command to see the drive itself wiped. From there simply enter create partition primary followed by format fs ntfs or format fs=nt60. With a live disk you simply click on the two to see each removed for the fast option and then create the new single partition which you then can format in the Disk Management tool afterwards to see it assigned a new drive letter.

 

[SIW2]

Looks like unallocated space to me.

Can't delete that.

 

[Night Hawk]

That's why I suggested simply cleaning the drive off completely to create a new single partition rather then trying to move the old C forward and then expand it. Give the drive a fresh start once everything on it has been backed up first of course.

Trying to move a large volume filled with files even that small distance on the drive would be a time consumer if you looking for a fast solution. That can also end up seeing a problem or two.

 

[F5ing]

Looks like unallocated space to me.

Can't delete that.

Although Disk Management shows it as unallocated, Diskpart doesn't for some reason.

Also don't see the third partition for that disk that shows in Diskpart (showing three dynamic partitions).

Also the old drive C: shows as empty. If true, agree with NightHawk about just redoing the whole disk.

 

[karlsnooks]

socrgy,
What is the present status?

 

[karlsnooks]

F5ing,
You won't see the 3rd partiton. Look at the snapshot he showed and you will see that the partition is so small that it is just a blip on the screen.

the 100 mb is unallocated.
I do not have a dynamic disk to explain what we see.
I could ask for a script to be run that would tell more, but he's already indicated that he has nothing on the old disk to save.

I assume that a CLEAN ALL would clean up the disk but I do not know since I've never worked with such a disk.

 

[F5ing]

Don't even see a blip. If unallocated I think at most you would see a blip. But Diskpart indicates a defined partition, which would show as very small, but more than just a blip.

And again, if it's all empty, just start over. Get it done right the first time and you won't have to revisit the issue.

 

[Night Hawk]

If in doubt boot from a GParted or other live cd eliminating any OS involvement to see just what is on the drive at the present time. As far as the 1mb-6mb differences seen on any drive that's simply the space allowed to change over from Basic to Dynamic or reverse. MS intentionally saw to that when using any MS option to partition a drive.

When in DiskPart the clean command once you select Disk 0 the way the drive is seen should be enough to wipe the old C anyways. The select volume 2 and then using the delete command is the other option to see the same results.

The main problem was using the "List Partition" command rather then using the "List Voume" command which shows the partitions on only one drive. The old C is a 640gb model drive while the list was showing one of the other drives when using the List Partition. Look at the partition sizes to see how the drives are layed out.

 

[karlsnooks]

a little arithmetic will help you put partition sizes and their possible visibility in perpspective.

partition 1 = 624951296 kb
partition 2 =       102400 kb
partition 3 =           1368 kb

 

[F5ing]

The main problem was using the "List Partition" command rather then using the "List Voume" command which shows the partitions on only one drive. The old C is a 640gb model drive while the list was showing one of the other drives when using the List Partition. Look at the partition sizes to see how the drives are layed out.

I may not be fully comprehending what you wrote, but I think the OP did use the appropriate command. "List Partition" will show partitions only for the selected disk. On the other hand, if the OP used "List Voume" he would've gotten a list of all volumes for all connected disks.

I would advise the OP go with your first option: rather than format C: (as he mentions in his OP), use Diskpart to select the disk, enter the "clean" command, and simply start over. In other words, scrub the MBR/PBR clean rather than trying to fix what he's got on a disk that's empty anyway.

 

[F5ing]

a little arithmetic will help you put partition sizes and their possible visibility in perpspective.

partition 1 = 624951296 kb
partition 2 =       102400 kb
partition 3 =           1368 kb

This may help you understand what I was trying to say:

I took a new 2TB drive and using Disk Management created one partition that consumed most of the disk (first screenshot). Using Diskpart I created a new partition out of the remaining space (second screenshot). The appropriate Diskpart screenshot is the third one of course.

The point is that you see nothing (except maybe a small blip) if it's just a small amount of unallocated space. But if you create a partition out of that same small space it clearly becomes visible (although a lot of times you can't read all the details for it). This is with the default logarithmic scaling.

 

[F5ing]

Had to do one more test before I redo this disk. This time I made the initial partition consuming all but 1024 KB. You don't see the 1024 KB in Disk Management if it's unallocated. But when a partition is created with it all of a sudden it becomes visible (logarithmic scaling in both cases):

 

[socrgy9]

At the command prompt once you start the DiskPart tool up and select that drive type in the clean command to see the drive itself wiped. From there simply enter create partition primary followed by format fs ntfs or format fs=nt60. With a live disk you simply click on the two to see each removed for the fast option and then create the new single partition which you then can format in the Disk Management tool afterwards to see it assigned a new drive letter.

thats it! thats the command i couldnt remember. yes, i was done with everything on the drive. the clean command worked perfectly. thank you

 

[F5ing]

Good to see you're back in business!

 

[Night Hawk]

Good for you! socrgy9 You can use the same commands for flash drives as well as internal drives when doing something like making up a USB Install Key for Windows.

As for which command to use unless you use the DiskPart tool regularly I wouldn't generally advise the Clean All command since that could end up wiping more then you want! Since this is where being drive selective you would use the Clean command instead.

If at some point you ever want to split up a drive to see several partitions do yourself a favor and use the gui method when starting with a drive that's "raw" unallocated! You have to calc wiz to enter just the right figure for each new partition when trying it in DiskPart!