Extending a volume / partition on a SSD with Windows Disk Management

Just a currious question.

"back in the day" if you had multiple partitions on a physical disk (HDD) and you deleted a partition and wanted to extend the size of another. You could often run into an issue where the partitoin can not be extended because the free space is not located adjecent to the partition that you were extending.

So you would have to work around this with more powerfull tools and outside of the OS in where it would move data around to make the freespace move to the right location on the disk and then properly extend your partition.

Well now with SSD being used there is no longer any actual physical location of these on a mechanical disk, its all just stored in flash.

Is Windows smart enough to know this and let you do what you could not do before, or can you still run into the same issue.

Note: that I am talking about basic disk configurations not dynamic disks that allow you several new options for configuration.

 

Same issue. Partition location (relative to other partitions) is still important.

That is why I'm now using 150GB for my C: drive and will shrink it to 80GB or so on a fresh install (and need to keep expanding it as more Windows and Program updates are installed to keep the 50GB free space I consider a cushion for my more basic workflows).

 

Windows (or the user) doesn't need to know what goes on inside the SSD.

I've been using Minitool Partition Wizard for the past couple of years to do my partition management. I think it's clever enough to move data to fit in with modified partition structures since I've often resized and moved partitions without it complaining.

John

 

Windows and the user Do Not Know what goes on inside the SSD.

However, Windows thinks it knows so if you make a 25GB partition, install the O/S, create another 25GB partition for your data and/or programs, and then try to expand the C: drive - no tool I know of will allow that - no matter how big the drive is (SSD or HDD). Same is true of a D: drive data partition with an E: partition created afterwards and then trying to expand the D: partition. Even with free unallocated capacity available after the E: partition, D: drive will not be able to be expanded except by special tools that actually move the partition and the data to create room for the 'in the middle' partition.

 

^^^Same here.

My step cousin has used some 3rd party partition managers to extend the boot/system partitions with non contiguous free space, but that to me is nerve racking.

Windows ain't that great with it's partition management to begin with. It still expects data to be written on storage disks in a linear way.

Like taking chapters (sectors) out of sequence in a book. At the very least you take a hit with performance. Truth be told, no one knows in the long term how the GPT will handle a system volume split across out of sequenced NAND.

 

I think one of the best free ones with a good gui was Easus Partition Manager.

 

gparted?

ten char

 

MiniTool will allow the allocation of any free space available on the 25GB data/program partition -- Extend Partition. Or you can designate unallocated space.

 

All, as radji mentioned; some 3rd party utilities can extend the boot/system partition even with non-contiguous free space, but that is nerve racking.


Are any of these utilities able to extend the C: drive partition when another partition has already been created (and contains data or program files) and the only free space or unallocated space is at the end of the drive?

 

It gives you a choice on which partition you wish to extend from as long as there is free and/or unallocated space.

Your details are too specific; and I haven't performed that operation (I just left unallocated space).

Why don't you download the free trial and let us know if it does what you're asking?

 

I'm not asking. OP is.

My answer is that there is no software that can do that (at least none that I can recommend).


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-ssd-windows-disk-management.html#post9837702

 

Confirmed. As long as there is sufficient free space in the adjacent partition.