Can't Merge Unallocated Space to C: Drive

Salt_Lamp · Nov 28, 2015

Hello everybody. Recently, I've been having a lot of trouble with trying to merge a partition of 901MB in unallocated space into my C: drive, but I can"t seem to move them together. The unallocated space is furthest to the left and my C: drive is furthest to the right with my 3 system partitions in the way between them. Is it possible for me to move them together, or do my system partitions make that impossible? I'll provide photos of both my disk management window and my "EaseUS Partition Master" window below.

I can't move ANY of the partitions that are in the way of my 901MB partition, (even if I wanted to). I also can't move my main C: drive either. I try to drag it to the left, but it won't move past my system partitions. The same goes for the 901MB partition if I try and drag it to the right. Are the system partitions preventing me from moving these partitions? Thanks in advance.

Disk Management: http://imgur.com/nNWyCd5

EaseUS Partition Master: http://imgur.com/dfCdx41

Here's a pic of the merge menu, as well: http://imgur.com/bMNuHT0

ThomasLeong · Nov 28, 2015

Not sure if systems partitions can be moved. Can't recall trying it myself.

In any case, do it one partition a time. Use the freeware Partition Wizard. Once C: and the Unallocated Partition are side-by-side, then choose 'Merge'. 'Apply' to finish, and let PW do its work. Will probably require a log off/shutdown for PW to work on C:\.

Salt_Lamp · Nov 29, 2015

ThomasLeong :

One partition at a time? How can I do anything with the partitions if they refuse to be moved? If I click and hold to drag ANY of the partitions, (whether it be in EaseUs or Windows disk management) they, I repeat, DO NOT MOVE. I have absolutely no idea why that is and it's really starting to irk me, truth be told.

Is it possible to force them to merge together through an elevated command prompt by using a specific command line?

ThomasLeong · Nov 29, 2015

AFAIK, Windows Disk Management is NOT drag-n-drop. Neither is Partition Wizard. Not sure of EaseUs.

PW works with menu items, and popup options. Start by moving the Unallocated Partition to swap places with the partition next to it, in the direction you want to go (towards the C

. If this works, then repeat with then next adjacent partition...until you achieve your objective, and 'Apply'. The software will then work on the actual data in the partitions, moving it to the desired location.

You have to start with the Unallocated Partition and the adjacent partition. If there is no 'space' (i.e. unallocated partition), the partitions-with-data have nowhere to move to.

Salt_Lamp · Nov 29, 2015

ThomasLeong :

I don't mean to be rude, but once again I CAN'T MOVE PAST THE THREE SYSTEM PARTITIONS. I've tried re-sizing the unallocated partition and dragging it towards C: in Windows disk management, EaseUS and now Partition Wizard, but it can't get past those three system partitions.

Here is a picture of the partitions laid out in EaseUS: http://

As you can see the reserved partition, the recovery partition and the EFI partition are all in the way of me moving my 901MB partition towards C: drive. Those partitions are impassable walls near as I can tell and they themselves CAN'T BE MOVED. I don't know how or why this happened, but it's becoming clearer and clearer to me that I might just be screwed.

ThomasLeong · Nov 29, 2015

First I would make a disk clone of the entire drive and try the following on the clone NOT the original. [**Disclaimer**: If you should try the following procedure on the original disk, you proceed at your own risk. I nor anyone else is responsible].

The problem is that 128MB Reserved Partition. It does not allow moving/resizing. But it allows copy. So copy it to the Unallocated. This should place the copy on the leftmost side of Unallocated.

Next delete the original 128MB Reserved Partition. Now, you should be able to move/resize the other 2 system partitions until Unallocated is adjacent to C: and you can then Merge C: with Unallocated. Apply.

Try using this (cloned) disk. If all works well, you're good.
If not, revert to the original disk, and forget merging C: to Unallocated. It is less than 1GB, not much by today's standard versus screwing it all up, losing data, and having to re-install.
Instead, perhaps consider creating a partition and formatting Unallocated as D: and use it as such.

Salt_Lamp · Nov 29, 2015

ThomasLeong :

Haven't had much luck with creating disk clones, sadly. However, I have made a back-up of Windows via EaseUS's back-up tool, so I assume that's just as good, yes? If so, I suppose there's no harm in giving what you said a shot. Is there any way to confirm for certain that the reserved partition is system crucial?

Like you said, 1GB really isn't worth stressing over in the end, so if all else fails I'll just have to make it its own drive. I guess that's just as good, really.

Salt_Lamp · Nov 29, 2015

So I looked it up and apparently that reserved partition isn't necessary for Windows to function properly. The MSR (Microsoft Reserved) partition is simply 128 MB of empty space reserved by Microsoft because they wanted to leave room to convert a basic partition to a dynamic partition in the future and the UEFI partition specification does not permit gaps between partitions.

Having said that, I suppose I could delete it, merge the 901MB into my C: drive and then boot from my windows recovery flash drive and initiate a repair to replace the missing MSR partition. Would that work?

ThomasLeong · Nov 29, 2015

"Is there any way to confirm for certain that the reserved partition is system crucial?"

Google is your friend I suppose. Guess no one is brave enough to delete it as is, and try without. Maybe I'll give it a go next week, if I have the time to clone one of my desktops, etc. The desktop SSD is easier to access/swap about than my laptop's.

BTW, Partition Wizard makes it easy to clone. Just use the tab labelled 'Wizard' > 'Migrate...', specify the destination disk, and you're good. You could use an external USB drive as the destination. Just ensure destination drive has enough space (or larger) than the source drive.

good luck!

ThomasLeong · Nov 29, 2015

"I suppose I could delete it, merge the 901MB into my C: drive and then boot from my windows recovery flash drive and initiate a repair to replace the missing MSR partition. Would that work?"

I don't quite follow.
After merging the 901MB with C:, why boot from recovery? You would only do this if Windows does not work after the merge.
In any case, I have not used recovery before so I can't say if recovery will recover the MSR Partition. It should if recovery does a complete re-partition of everything.

JonnyDough · Nov 29, 2015

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but to merge it you may have to allocate the non-system partition as free space by deleting the partition first. Pretty sure you do. I am also pretty sure that your reserved system partition is not crucial. It contains your system restore data I believe. You should be able to delete the partition and merge the free space with your system partition by extending it.

Salt_Lamp · Nov 29, 2015

Here's a thought. Why don't I just fully format the drive getting rid of all the available partitions along with it? I just installed Windows, so it doesn't matter to me if I have to re-install it again. Is there any format related software that can do what I'm suggesting?

JonnyDough · Nov 29, 2015

Just make sure your BIOS is updated and your have AHCI turned on before your format and reinstall. Windows has it's own formatting options on install. Just figure out what you want to do with your partitions before you start. The small reserved space is insignificant and you can hide that drive and assign it a drive letter like Z if you prefer to use the default drive letter for a different drive. If you're doing storage for photos or something that you want to keep, I suggest a couple of drives in Raid-1 (separate from a boot/applications drive) which will require you to set up your system in RAID mode (instead of AHCI) and install the driver as you install Windows. Set up (build) the RAID array prior to installing Windows using your Motherboard's Manual to tell you how. I personally have an ITX home server that has a small boot SSD and then two drives in a RAID-1 for storage. I store all my music and files on it. If a drive dies I simply replace it and then rebuild the array. I use it for my LAN as well to host games. That way I can use my main system to game and my server to host the game. If I die in game or something, I can use my respawn time to look to my left monitor (I have a triple set up) and set the next map we're going to play, check system temps, etc.

ThomasLeong · Nov 29, 2015

As JonnyDough said, if merge is not the tool, then re-size is.

As for a new install, if your Windows is OEM, then delete all partitions from the entire disk and leave it unpartitioned. The 'delete' of existing partitions can be done during the first part of the install process (after you choose the second option of install, not the 'upgrade' option). Windows Install will partition and format an unpartitioned disk as it deems necessary.

JonnyDough · Nov 29, 2015

And to your original question, disk management should extend just fine.

Salt_Lamp · Nov 30, 2015

Hey guys. Just thought I'd leave a quick update that I manged to solve the problem by re-installing Windows. Everything's looking great now and running perfectly. Thanks again everybody!

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