How to extend my C drive on Windows 7?

Question

Question

How to extend my C drive on Windows 7?

by Cheryl2284 Dec 23, 2013 1:43PM PST

My C drive recently is nearly full. But, the F drive is completely empty. So, I am wondering to add the free space of F drive to my C drive. Do you know how to do that? How can I extend my C drive on this windows 7 computer? Any idea can be appreciated!

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14 Posts

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Clarification Request

Without more detail, my answer is no.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 23, 2013 2:02PM PST

We can't extend into space that is allocated to another drive. And we can't extend if the space is on another drive.
Bob

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Clarification Request

Separate physical drives or partitions?

by wpgwpg Dec 23, 2013 11:50PM PST

As Bob suggested, more info is needed to cover the possibilities. If C: and F: are PARTITIONS on the same physical drive, it can be done. If they're separate PHYSICAL drives, then the best you can do would be to move files and possibly programs from C: to F:. The answers you get are only as good as the info you provide, so how about clarifying this.

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Thank you for your detailed direction!

by Matthew1254 Jan 21, 2014 10:40AM PST

Thank you for your detailed directions! I have followed your steps and used your mentioned partition resizing tools.
Fortunately, after trying the first one, I just have successfully added enough free space to my partition.
Most importantly, I have also found a video tutorial that tells how to extend my partition step by step:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jCeT7CbsKk
It helps a lot! Am I lucky?
Thanks a lot!!!

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When I do that, this is what I get

by wpgwpg Dec 25, 2013 3:29AM PST

"<b><i>
0
results for "dynamic drives</i></b> Suggestions
Check your spelling
Try a different phrase
Other options to try
Search the Windows website
Go online to get answers from other Windows users
<div><i> Search IT Pro content on the Microsoft TechNet
website"</i></div>

I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium at the moment. Maybe you have to have the Professional version?

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XP Professional version

by James Denison Dec 25, 2013 12:10PM PST

I thought it would be available for all W7 too. Might need the Pro version with it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308424

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa363785%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#dynamic_disks

http://www.petri.co.il/difference_between_basic_and_dynamic_disks_in_windows_xp_2000_2003.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_Disk_Manager

" The MMC-based Disk Management snap-in (diskmgmt.msc) hosts the Logical Disk Manager. On Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, LDM was deprecated in favor of Storage Spaces.[1]

Logical Disk Manager enables disk volumes to be dynamic, in contrast to the standard basic volume format. Basic volumes and dynamic volumes differ in ability to extend storage beyond one physical disk. Basic partitions are restricted to a fixed size on one physical disk. Dynamic volumes can be enlarged to include more free space either from the same disk or another physical disk."

Windows 7
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731274.aspx

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Re: extend c-drive

by Kees_B Forum moderator Dec 25, 2013 8:40PM PST

1. That's not what the OP asks for. He wants to merge the existing f:-drive into the c:-drive.
2. One seldom sees a PC (say from Dell or Acer or Lenovo) that out-of-the-box comes with unallocated space after the c:-partition. And since it's unlike that the OP, asking this question, created that space himself, this seems a quite inapplicable and useless answer.

Kees

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Isn't the remaining space already allocated to "F" ???

by VAPCMD Dec 28, 2013 12:16PM PST

If he 'DELETES" "F" ...then maybe he can "EXTEND" "C" to use the unallocated space.

But before doing that, I'd find out what's "D" and "E" if any and reassign them. I always assign my Optical drive(s) to "R" and "S". That eliminates drive letters getting bumped/changed and frees up the drive letters for hard drives at D or E or F or whatever. Then I'd make sure I backed up what I couldn't afford to lose.

Re extending the primary boot partition under Win 7...not sure if you can or cannot accomplish that but there is third party SW that can do that. Given that the space is contiguous should make it easier.

VAPCMD

Back to Windows 7 forum

Jimmy Greystone · Answer 1 · Dec 23, 2013 10:49PM PST

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Answer

In addition

by Jimmy Greystone Dec 23, 2013 10:49PM PST

In addition to what Bob said, the methods for doing anything approaching what you want tend to involve reinstalling the entire OS and everything else with it. It also increases the risk of losing data since now the fate of both drives are intertwined. If one drive dies, the data on the other drive becomes inaccessible without extraordinary methods and you don't know what data is on what drive.

So, if you're not prepared to format both drives and reinstall the OS and all applications from scratch, the answer is no.

Kees_B · Answer 2 · Dec 23, 2013 11:24PM PST

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Answer

But you can ...

by Kees_B Forum moderator Dec 23, 2013 11:24PM PST

move certain folders and files (but certainly not all) from c: to f:.

Kees

Matthew1254 · Answer 3 · Dec 24, 2013 1:39PM PST

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Answer

Try to resize your partition.

by Matthew1254 Dec 24, 2013 1:39PM PST

Yes, if these two partition C and F on the same physical drive, you always can have two ways to extend your partitions:

1). Back up everything important, delete partition F and add the newly created space to your C partition in Disk Management.

2). Apply a third party partition resizing tool.
If the first way cannot make a sense, you can directly apply a third party partition resizing tool that often can help you extend wanted partition in several simple steps, such as IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free, Paragon Partition Manager and Active Partition Manager, etc.

In fact, I have tried and tested all of these mentioned partition tools as my system partition is nearly full. Till now, I still remember the extremely user-friendly interface of the first free one.
You'd better select one to fit your own needs.

Note: Do not forget to back up your important data in case of any data loss.

James Denison · Answer 4 · Dec 25, 2013 2:54AM PST

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Answer

why is everyone forgetting dynamic drive setup?

by James Denison Dec 25, 2013 2:54AM PST