I cloned my drive and now I want to expand a partition, but I'm having trouble with it. In Diskpart, all the drives show up as primary, including the system reserved partitions, and it won't let me extend the partition I need. What steps can I take to successfully expand this partition?
3 Answers
Just a heads-up: Windows needs unallocated space to be directly next to the partition you're trying to extend. If G: is blocking it, you have a few options. You could redo the clone and rearrange the partitions, use a cloning tool that can resize partitions, or use a third-party tool to shift G partition out of the way so that C sits directly next to the unallocated space. Any of these methods should help you get that partition expanded!
You might want to consider using Partition Wizard to move the G drive. If you're okay with it, you could also transfer anything important from G elsewhere and delete the G partition entirely. It's crucial because Windows only allows extending onto unallocated space that's immediately to the right of the existing partition.
One great method is using a bootable Ubuntu USB drive. Just create one with something like Rufus or balenaEtcher. When you boot into Ubuntu, choose 'Try Ubuntu' instead of installing it. From there, launch GParted and select your drive. You can move your G partition to make the unallocated space contiguous with your C drive, then apply the changes and reboot back into Windows to see the expanded partition. I've used this technique many times, and it's usually super reliable!
Thanks a ton! I tried your method, and it worked perfectly!
I encountered an issue when trying to move the G drive; GParted gave me an error about a partition situation. What should I do?