Insufficient Space On C Drive? Teach You How To Merge Hard Disk Partitions In Two Steps
We have been using computers for a long time. Have you ever encountered such a situation: On the surface, it seems that there is no bulky software installed on the computer, but the C drive slowly turns red day by day, and even prompts related to insufficient disk space pop up at every turn. Open the disk management and take a look, and you will find that there is a lot of free space on the D drive or other partitions next to it, and there is even a small section of the disk that is unallocated and just idle there. At this time, many people's first reaction is to reinstall the system, but in fact there is no need to go through such a big deal. If you merge the unallocated space into the C drive, the problem can be solved smoothly. Next, let’s talk about two very practical operation methods. You don’t need to know any mysterious technology, just follow the steps step by step.
1. Use the system’s own Disk management tools Extend C drive
This method is the simplest, does not require any additional software, and is suitable for most Windows systems. To press the Win+X keys on the keyboard, select "Disk Management" in the pop-up menu. Wait a few seconds and a list of disk partitions will appear on the screen. Take a closer look and find the "unallocated" area shown as a long black bar. It must be immediately to the right of the C drive. If there is a D drive or other partition in the middle, then there is no way to expand it directly. You have to back up the data in the middle partition first and then delete it. After confirming that the location is OK, right-click on the C drive area and see if the "Extend Volume" option is gray. If it is not grayed out, it means that the unallocated space is not contiguous with the C drive. If you can click it, then follow the wizard. By default, all unallocated space will be added. You can also manually enter the size you want to merge. All the way to "next step" until completion, the whole process Data in C drive No damage at all.
2. With the help of Third-party disk management software more flexible
If the unallocated space is not located near the C drive, or you don't want to bother with backup and deletion of intermediate partitions, then you have to use more flexible third-party software. On the market, some have good reputations, such as MiniTool Partition Wizard, EaseUS Partition Master, including the domestic DiskGenius, which are very easy to use. When downloading and installing, be sure to go to the official website and do not obtain it from those disorganized download sites, otherwise it will be easy to bundle a lot of junk software. After the installation is completed and opened, the software interface will present the disk partition status in a graphical form, which is more intuitive than the one that comes with the system. Directly select the C drive, look for options such as "Merge Partition" or "Extend" in the left function menu, and then check the unallocated space. It should be noted here that usually the software will prompt you that this is an operation to be performed and will not take effect immediately. You also have to click the "Apply" or "Execute" button on the toolbar. After restarting the computer, the software will complete the actual merge operation before entering the system. The biggest advantage of this method is that you don’t have to worry about whether the unallocated space is next to the C drive, and you can even move non-adjacent partitions there.
3. More professional Windows PE Environmental Operations Act
If the previous two methods do not produce the expected results due to various reasons, such as the system itself has some fault conditions, or the C drive is adjacent to the system recovery partition and cannot be deleted in time, in this case, you can consider using Windows PE, PE is actually a streamlined system installed in a USB flash drive. You have to prepare a USB flash drive with a capacity greater than 8GB, download tools such as Micro PE Toolbox or Laomaotao, etc., and write PE to the USB flash drive. After the computer restarts, according to the corresponding keys of different brands of computers, some press F12, some press Del, and some press Esc (the specific keys vary depending on the brand, you need to pay close attention to the prompts given at the bottom of the screen when starting up). In this way, enter the BIOS to set the boot items, and adjust the boot sequence of the USB disk to the first place. After entering the PE system desktop, find "Partition Tool" or "DiskGenius" on the desktop. In this environment, the drive letter of the C drive may change to D or E. Don't just look at the drive letter. Be sure to check the size of the partition and the file content contained in it to confirm that it is the original C drive. Then you also need to find the function of merging partitions or adjusting partitions to merge unallocated space. After the operation is completed, save and restart, and unplug the USB flash drive.
4. Precautions that must be understood before operation
Regardless of the method, the first step is always to back up critical data. Although the operation of merging partitions to C drive is relatively safe under normal circumstances, there is no guarantee that power outages and crashes will not occur. Copying desktop, documents, favorites, photos, etc. to a mobile hard drive or cloud disk takes more than ten minutes to gain peace of mind, but it is worth it. In addition, it should be noted that if there is a logical partition between the C drive and the unallocated space, then direct spanning merging cannot be performed on the basic disk. At this time, there are two options, one is to delete the middle partition, and the other is to use third-party software. In addition, there are differences in the merging rules of dynamic disks. Before performing the operation, it is recommended to find out the type of your own disk and query it clearly.
Merging the unallocated disks to the C drive can indeed quickly resolve the red disk alert. The capacity of the C drive is increased, and the computer will run more smoothly. First try the disk management provided by the system itself. If it doesn't work, use third-party software. If it still doesn't work, there is a powerful method called PE. No matter which method you use, remember to back it up in advance and don’t take the trouble. Choose a method that suits you, spend more than ten minutes to operate it, the C drive space will be restored, and the computer can be used for two more years.
