This article introduces how to shrink C drive with Windows 7 shrink volume function, and the solution if cannot shrink system partition with unmovable files or not enough space.
Applies to: Windows 7 32bit (x86) and 64bit (x64).
Content:
I did it a couple of times with the Windows defragger and once with Vopt. However, there are some 'unmovable' files near the end of the disk which are probably causing the problems. Is there any way I can move these, so I can resize the partition? Attached is a screenshot from Vopt after defragging, the green blocks show unmovable files. Size of available shrink space in MB is 0. You cannot shrink a volume beyond the point where any unmovable files are located. Then how to get extra size of a. Mar 07, 2020 Press Windows and X together on your keyboard, select Disk Management in the list. Right click a NTFS partition and select Shrink Volume. Enter an amount of space and click Shrink. If you do not enter an amount manually, the maximum available free space will be used. Enter the exact disk space in MB and click Shrink button. Note: you cannot shrink a partition beyond the point where any unmovable files are located. See the 'defrag' event in the Application log for detailed information about the operation when it has completed. See 'Shrink a basic volume' in Disk Management help for more information.
If you forget to create and edit partition when installing Windows 7 on a new disk, so all disk space except the system reserved partition is occupied by C drive. In this situation, you can shrink C drive to create more partitions. In most of Windows 7 computers, system C drive is running out of space, so many people want to shrink volume D to extend system partition.
This article introduce how to shrink C drive and data drive with Windows 7 Shrink Volume function in native Disk Management. If it works, you can shrink hard drive partition without software. If you cannot shrink system C drive with unmovable files or if Shrink Volume greyed out, run NIUBI Partition Editor.
Shrink C drive in Windows 7 Disk Management
Better than Windows XP, Windows 7 has Shrink Volume function built in Disk Management. It is able to shrink system partition and data volumes without losing data. In fact, it has an advantage than all third party partitioning software: it is able to shrink system C drive without rebooting. But on the other hand, it has many disadvantages. Kinesis freestyle program keys for mac.
1. Only NTFS partition is supported
NTFS and FAT32 are most common partition type in Windows 7, but Disk Management can only shrink and extend NTFS partitions. This is one of the reasons why Shrink Volume is disabled.
2. Cannot shrink partition towards right
This is not an issue if you just want to shrink a volume to create new, but if you want to extend a volume by shrinking other one, it is impossible with Windows 7 Disk Management.
When shrinking partition D with Shrink Volume function, Unallocated space can only be made on the right side of D, but to expand C drive with Extend Volume, Unallocated space must be on the left side of D.
Follow the steps to shrink system partition C in Windows 7 Disk Management:
1. Press Windows and R together on the keyboard, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Disk Management.
3. Click Shrink to shrink with default maximum available space or enter a smaller amount by yourself (1024MB=1GB).
In most cases, C drive will be shrunk in a short time.
It is the same to shrink partition D or other data volumes.
Can't shrink system partition - not enough space
It is very easy to shrink partition with Windows 7 Disk Management, but you may encounter issue. The most common trouble is not enough space and unmovable files.
When you shrinking any partition (especially to C drive), if you shrink with default maximum amount or even entered a larger amount by mistake, you are very likely receive error - There is not enough space available on the disk(s) to complete this operation.
Solution: repeat the shrinking operation by entering a smaller amount by yourself.
Cannot shrink volume because of unmovable files
In the shrinking window, there is a tip - You cannot shrink a volume beyond the point where any unmovable files are located, what does it mean?
For example: C drive is made up of 4 blocks, if any unmovable files are located in block 3, you cannot shrink C drive to block 2 or 1 even though there is free space.
These unmovable files include Paging File, Hibernation and other larger files. So comparing with data volumes, it is more likely encounter this issue while shrinking system partition C. In some computers, Disk Management gives only little space to shrink. In few computers, Disk Management cannot shrink partition with even 1MB.
Solution: run third party software such as NIUBI Partition Editor, which can move these 'unmovable' files.
Drag and drop to shrink system C drive and data volumes
Comparing with Windows native Disk Management tool, NIUBI Partition Editor has benefits while shrinking partition volume:
- Both NTFS and FAT32 partitions are supported.
- Partitions can be shrunk towards either side and make Unallocated space on either left or right side.
- It is able to move these unmovable files, so you can shrink volume to minimum size if you want.
- Unallocated space shrunk from a partition can be easily combined to other volume on the same disk.
Microsoft explorer trackball driver for mac. Steps to shrink volume in Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit):
1.Download NIUBI Partition Editor, right click the partition that you want to decrease (here is D:) and select Shrink Volume.
2. Free solo 123movies. In the pop-up window you have 2 options.
If you drag left border towards right, or enter an amount in the box Unallocated space before (1024MB=1GB):
Then Unallocated space is made on the left of D.
If you drag right border towards left, or enter an amount in the box Unallocated space after (1024MB=1GB):
Then Unallocated space is made on the right of D.
3. Click Apply on top left to execute. (All operations before clicking Apply only work in virtual mode and real disk partition won't be modified.)
Watch the video guide how to shrink partition in Windows 7:
The steps are the same no matter you want to shrink system C drive or any data partition in Windows 7. Follow the steps to extend partition after shrinking.
Ntfs Unmovable Files
NIUBI Partition Editor has free edition for home computer users, besides shrinking and extending partition, it helps move, merge, convert, defrag, wipe, hide partition, scan bad sectors and much more.
Position: How Tos - Partition Management - Shrink Volume
Summary
In this page you can find multiple ways to shrink a volume without losing any data, for instance shrink partition in Disk Management, shrink volume with DiskGenius, change size for ext4 partition, etc. By way of resizing partition, you can make best of disk space. Do you want to shrink/resize partition with unreasonable size? Read on to learn how to easily change partition size.
DiskGenius - Free disk partition software to resize partition, extend C drive, shrink volume or split partition.
![Windows 7 Shrink Disk Unmovable Files Windows 7 Shrink Disk Unmovable Files](https://www.howtogeek.com/thumbcache/60/40/91a283bc99b95689f5a88a33a0e2f886/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Fullscreen_2_28_17__9_49_AM-650x300.png.pagespeed.ce.-RjYU_xftx.png)
Table of Contents:
Overview on shrinking volume
Shrinking volume refers to the task of decreasing the size of a partition, which helps to organize disk space in accordance with specific needs. When you have a large partition that has much free space to spare, it may make sense to spare free space from the volume by shrinking it, for instance you can either create a new partition on unallocated space or add it to other partitions. As we all know, a disk should be partitioned before we can use the space on the disk to store data. There can be multiple volumes on the disk and each works like distinct area, thus you can separate operating systems from personal data and manage data orderly.
Why do you want to shrink volume? In fact, changing partition size is a useful practice if you want to make best of disk space on your computer. For instance, there is a 2TB hard drive on your computer and the disk is divided into two partitions, a 500GB system partition where Windows is installed and a 1.4TB partition for your music, photos, games, working documents, learning material, etc. Thus, this disk is not properly partitioned. There might be too much free space in C drive (system partition), and the other partition contains too many file types. In this case, you can shrink system volume to a suitable size such as 100GB, and you can get 400GB free space which can be used to created a new partition to store data. As the that large partition, you can split it, after which you can store working files on one partition, games on a different partition. Apart from organizing data effective, some user shrinks partition for the purpose of dual boot computer. There is not enough free space on the disk to create a new partition for new operating system, and you can shrink a large partition to get free space. Let's see a real case about this issue:
'How can I shrink partition size further what is allowed in Disk Management? Just bought a 1TB external hard drive to store backups. The external hard drive came with one big partition and I want to divide it into 3 partitions. However, when I try to shrink the big partition, I couldn't to the specified size. The disk management console keeps saying 'Not enough space'. My computer is running Windows 10.'
Tools to shrink partition
Changing partition size is one the basic operations that should be mastered by computer users for the sake of taking full advantage of disk space and rationally managing data. Fortunately, many tools are available to shrink partition without losing data in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP. Here are some tools you can use to shrink/extend partition:
Disk Management: Disk Management is the Windows internal tool and it provides basic function to manage disk and partitions. Since Windows vista, resizing partition became easier than previous Windows versions. Users can extend partition by adding the adjacent free space, shrink partition, create new partition, etc. But it cannot deal with all partition resizing tasks, for example, unallocated space is not on the right side or not adjacent to the partition. If you want to do extra operations, you need to use third-party disk partition software.
Disk partition software: partition management software enables you to create, deleted, format, shrink, extend, split, expand or resizing partition on your hard drive or other storage devices. DiskGenius Free includes more features than Disk Management and similar third-party software. Apart from regular functions on disk partitions, it also can wipe hard drive, erase partition, permanently delete data, image disk/partition, clone partition /disk, convert GPT/MBR disk, convert virtual disk format, edit hex data, check and repair bad sectors, check partition table errors, manage virtual disks, etc. Besides, it supports file recovery and partition from various storage devices.
DiskPart commands: DiskPart commands help to manage disks, partitions, volumes or virtual disk and you can use it shrink partition if you know how to use it. The shrink command reduces the size of selected volume by the specified amount. Similar to Disk Management, it is able to get free disk space from the unused space at the end of selected volume.
Method 1: Shrink a basic volume in Disk Management
This section will show you how to shrink a volume/partition in Windows 10 Disk Management console. If your computer is running other Windows version, you can also follow this guide.
Step 1 Open Disk Management. Right-click on the Start button and choose Disk Management.
Step 2 Right-click on the partition you want to reduce its size and choose Shrink Volume, as below.
Then Disk Management starts to query the volume for available space to shrink, which may take a couple of seconds, then wait with patience. It'll be better if the partition was properly defragmented in advance. When the calculation finishes, a window pops up.
In Disk Management, you can view all disks and partitions on your computer, locate the one you want to spare free space. In this case, we are going to shrink the 120GB New Volume (D:) which is located on basic disk 1.
If Shrink Volume option is grayed out, then it is not supported for the partition, for example the FAT32 partition of USB flash drive. In this case, you need to use DiskGenius to resize it.
Step 3 Specify the disk amount you want to reduce from the partition. Enter the exact disk space in MB and click Shrink button.
Note: you cannot shrink a partition beyond the point where any unmovable files are located. See the 'defrag' event in the Application log for detailed information about the operation when it has completed. See 'Shrink a basic volume' in Disk Management help for more information.
Disk Management completes the process quickly and the you'll be back at the original interface and see the shrunk partition and unallocated disk space on the drive. Then you can create a new partition on it.
Limitations on Disk Management:
Disk Management cannot deal with all issues about partition shrink, and here are some limitations.
- This option is available for primary partitions and logical drive or volumes formatted in NTFS file system and it grays out on FAT32 or FAT16 or any other types partitions.
- The shrinking process will fail if there are too many bad clusters on the volume.
- If the partition you want to shrink does not have a file system such as RAW drive and contains data like database file, shrining the drive may destroy the data.
- When you try to shrink a system volume, you may not be able to reduce the partition size beyond the point where unmovable files are stored, like paging file, hibernation file, shadow copy storage area, etc.
Method 2: Shrink volume with DiskGenius
DiskGenius Free Edition includes the functions to chance partition size without losing data and you can use it to shrink, resize, extend and split partition. In addition, it can add unallocated disk space to any partition. Here we'll show you how to shrink partition with DiskGenius. If you can to extend C drive, allocated free space or resize partition in Windows, please refer previous guides.
Step 1 Install and launch DiskGenius from your computer and you can see disks and partitions clearly. Select a disk or partition, and you can view parameters.
Step 2 Right-click on the partition you want to reduce its size and choose Resize Partition, as picture below:
Step 3 On the pop-up Window, set partition size you want to change and click Start button.
There are two ways of specifying partition size: drag either edge of the selected partition from the partition bar; also you can enter the exact size in the middle columns. Besides, you can decide how to deal with the free space that is spared from the volume: keep it unallocated, create a new partition on it or merge it to other partition.
Click Yes and DiskGenius starts to change partition size based on settings you just made.
Method 3: how to shrink partition via DiskPart command?
Windows diskpart commands have the ability to resize volume, delete partition, create partition, format partition, etc. Commands are executed in Command Prompt or PowerShell. It is not suggested to use this method if you are not expertized in computer skills. Here is the process of shrinking a volume on basic disk via DiskPart commands:
Step 1 Right-clicking on Start button and choose Command Prompt (Admin). This opens Command Prompt.
Step 2 In command prompt type diskpart and press Enter key.
Step 3 Type following commands in sequence and press Enter key after each command.
List volume
Select volume # (replace # with the volume number you want to shrink)
Shrink querymax
shrink desired=# (replace # with the actual size in MB you want to shrink the drive.) Ultraman fighting evolution 3 iso only 100mb.
The command select volume should choose the correct partition you want to resize. Diskpart command can decrease the size of partition which is formatted in NTFS file system or does not have a file system. If a desired amount is not specified, the volume will be reduced by the minimum amount.
Cannot Shrink Volume Unmovable Files
How to shrink ext4 volume without data loss?
Since neither Disk Management nor Diskpart can resize, extend or shrink a partition which is formatted in ext4 partition, we need to use third-party disk partition software to complete the task. Here we'll use DiskGenius to shrink an ext4 volume.
Step 1 Launch DiskGenius and locate the ext4 partition you want to change size.
Step 2 Right-click on the ext4 partition and choose Resize Partition Torrent lynda c programming. option from context menu.
Step 3 The resizing partition window pops up and you can decide the partition size to be reduced.
Free space can be spared from either beginning or ending part of the partition, and there are three options when dealing with the free space. Click Start button once partition size gets set.
Conclusion
We have shown how to shrink the volume space without losing any data via three approaches in Windows 10/8/7 and Windows servers. DiskGenius can help you do the task that Disk Management cannot, such as shrink ext4 volumes, shrink FAT32 volumes for flash drive, move disk space, etc. With this tool, you can manage disk space more efficiently. As always, if you have any questions or need any help regarding disk partition management, please feel free to contacting us.
DiskGenius - Free partition manager to move/resize/partition, copy disk, convert MBR/GPT disk, etc.
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