How to use unallocated space in server 2008 disk management

Question

Hi

we have a client who is using 2008 server and there C drive is full due to which server is not functioning backup jobs and other tasks. when we go to disk management, it showing some unallocated space. Is there any way we can use the unallocated space to extend C.

Thanks

Answer 1

You can but to do it natively the free unallocated space must be adjacent which may require backup E:\, delete E:\ partition, extend C:\, recreate E:\ partition, restore files to E:. There are third party tools that can do this without the adjacent space requirement.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/extend-a-basic-volume

--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 2

Hi @Talha ,

Unfortunately the Windows Disk Management is fairly limited when it comes to extending unallocated space, for you to be able to extend your C-drive, you would need to have the "unallocated" space straight after the C-drive, that is before the E-Drive as shown here:

To be able to use your unallocated space you would be best off by using any third-party disk management tools to extend your C-drive, use your favourite search engine and you will find many, both paid and free software.

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If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you!

Best regards,
Leon

Answer 3

hi @Talha ,

your Disk 0 is a Basic disk. This is the reason why it's not possible to extend the logical drive C: using the unallocated space:

For Basic volumes, the unallocated space for the extension must be the next contiguous space on the same disk.

Please refer here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-US/troubleshoot/windows-server/backup-and-storage/extend-data-volume

You could give it a try to convert Disk 0 from Basic to Dynamic:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2008-R2-and-2008/cc731274(v=ws.11)?redirectedfrom=MSDN

I strongly recommend backing up all data on Disk 0 before performing any conversion or other disk operations!

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(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

Regards
Andreas Baumgarten