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Vista "expand Volume" Problem

#1 User is offline   kitapawel 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 10:44 AM

Hi,
I have a problem with expanding one of my hard drive partitions. When I try to click on the E: drive in order to expand it, the "Expand" option is greyed out.
Here are the details:
I have a 500gb drive. It is divided into 3 partitions: C, D, E, and the system resides on C. I have 377gb of unassigned disk space. C=39gb D=39gb E=49gb. On E I just have some games installed, but i would like to expand it. What should I do, to enable the Expand option? If I do everything correctly according to the tutorial from your website it is still greyed out.
Does vista have any options which eg. limit availavble disk space? Maybe that could be the problem?
I would be grateful for any help.

PS: my OS = Vista ultimate, 100% legal and activated. I have sevice pack 1.

#2 User is offline   Billy O'Neal 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 02:57 PM

Have you run chkdsk on e?

Billy3
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#3 User is offline   usasma 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 03:53 PM

I don't have a disk with any unallocated space handy to check on this - but what happens if you format the unallocated space?
- John
**If you need a more detailed explanation, please ask for it. I have the Knack. **

#4 User is offline   kitapawel 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 03:55 PM

Billy: I just performed a chkdsk e: - no bad sectors were found. After the operation the "Expand" option is still greyed out:( Any other tips?
usasma: theres no option to format unallocated space.

#5 User is offline   Billy O'Neal 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 03:57 PM

Formatting unallocated space will create a new partition, which we cannot do. My guess is that your E drive is located on an extended partition, and is therefore a logical partition. To my understanding, vista cannot expand logical volumes. You'll need something like Acronis Disk Director for that.

Billy3
Look buddy, I'm an Engineer, and that means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" .. 'cause that would fall under the purview of your conundrums of philosophy....
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#6 User is offline   kitapawel 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 04:09 PM

Yes, both d: and e: drives are labeled as:
Healthy(Logical drive)
I dont know if this is an accurate translation, but I have a Polish copy of Vista;)

Anyways...if I use the suggested software, should i be prepared to lose data on e:, or maybe even on all partitions, or is the operation safe?

#7 User is offline   Billy O'Neal 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 04:18 PM

Acronis can resize non-destructively, but it is not free :huh:.

Something like Ranish Partition Manager can do it for free, but will wipe the partition in the process.

Billy3
Look buddy, I'm an Engineer, and that means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" .. 'cause that would fall under the purview of your conundrums of philosophy....
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#8 User is offline   kitapawel 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 04:26 PM

I saw a free trial version of acronis - maybe it would do well for a one time job.
Thanks for help!

#9 User is offline   DaChew 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 04:38 PM

create a new logical drive and format it
Chewy

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#10 User is offline   usasma 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 05:44 PM

I'm confused. Why can't we create and format a partition in the unallocated space? Should be simply initializing the unallocated space, creating a partition and then formatting the partition (haven't done this recently in Vista).
- John
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#11 User is offline   Billy O'Neal 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 06:33 PM

Vista can expand the volume just fine. It cannot, however, expand the extended partition in which that volume resides, hense the problem

Billy3
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#12 User is offline   DaChew 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 06:51 PM

View PostBilly O, on Mar 28 2008, 07:33 PM, said:

Vista can expand the volume just fine. It cannot, however, expand the extended partition in which that volume resides, hense the problem

Billy3


I made an extended partition and logical drive and then expanded that into the primary partition after shrinking it.

It will not expand a partition into unpartitioned space

I am with John on this, no need for acronis

Quote

Formatting unallocated space will create a new partition, which we cannot do. My guess is that your E drive is located on an extended partition, and is therefore a logical partition. To my understanding, vista cannot expand logical volumes. You'll need something like Acronis Disk Director for that.


You create a new extended partition and logical drive in it and then format.

This post has been edited by DaChew: 28 March 2008 - 06:55 PM

Chewy

No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try.

#13 User is offline   Billy O'Neal 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 07:02 PM

Quote

It will not expand a partition into unpartitioned space

Really? Because... I run Vista... and I've done this several times before.....

Oh well.

Quote

You create a new extended partition and logical drive in it and then format.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning
A hard disk can contain only one extended partition.

I think GPartEd should be able to expand the extended partition, and then you should be able to use Vista to extend the volume. (Non destructively)

Billy3
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#14 User is offline   DaChew 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 07:27 PM

It would be nice to know what unassigned space meant, I assumed it was unallocated in the extended partition which was ALL the drive left after creating the primary or primaries?
Chewy

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#15 User is offline   Billy O'Neal 

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Posted 28 March 2008 - 07:31 PM

Nope. An extended partition is a primary partition, into which logical volumes volumes can be created.

Wikipedia said:

A PC hard disk can contain either as many as four primary partitions, or 1-3 primaries and a single extended partition.


Billy3
Look buddy, I'm an Engineer, and that means I solve problems. Not problems like "What is beauty?" .. 'cause that would fall under the purview of your conundrums of philosophy....
Twitter: @MalwareMinigun Blog: WinWrench
Students get free software through Microsoft DreamSpark
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