??? Hard Drive Anomaly @ Disk Management ???

Having a strange HD problem. I'm running a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit power PC & @ Disk Management there are 2 "free space gaps" between the 4 partitions on my main HD [Western Digital® Raptor X® 10,000 RPM 150GB HD [M/N: WD1500AHFDRTL | WDC WD1500AHFD-00RAR5 | Firmware Version 21.07QR5 | Manufacture Date: 06 Oct 2007]. If you Right Click on either of the 2 "free space gaps", no other option but "Help" is available. So you can't change/delete/etc. the free space bits of unknown size.

I've highlighted the areas in the image here. This HD is a 10K RPM enterprise class workhorse & seems to have lost its' pep lately. Thought moving from Windows XP 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit would give my overall system a nice boost [native AHCI, etc.], but nope. Could this issue be it? Mind you, I've formatted & reformatted many a HD & have never, ever run into this situation. Anybody else having or have had this issue? This can't be normal.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Thanks for the quick reply, Emerald.

Somebody *just* pointed that out earlier in the day for me. Why I didn't notice that before, you might ask. Answer is I did NOT create those 2 areas to be Logical Partitions. No joke. All 4 sections are suppose to be Primary Partitions. So what happened? Beats me.

I'm sure you're thinking "operator error", but there's just no way it could have happened. I'm usually a very thorough person when it comes to my technologies. "Yet there it is, Sherlock".

So...what options do I have going from here? Can I convert, in place, the 2 said partitions from Logical to Primary WITHOUT having to redo/reformat/reinstall Windows? If so, do I need a specific software for it?

Thanks in advance.

Ok, I feel like a complete dunce now. Good eye, "fzabkar". I've been so busy formatting/reformatting HD's, including this one, missed that very crucial point.

I do have to add, though, that I've been setting up the same 4 partitions on this particular HD ever since I put the machine together 3 years ago. The only factor that has changed is the recent upgrade to Window 7 Ultimate 64-bit. So the 100MB NTFS System Reserved partition has never been a factor with a Windows XP Home 32-bit install, it seems. Maybe a strictly Windows 7 or a 64-bit OS issue. Hm.

Hopefully this experience can help someone else.