Solved Disk Managment Untitled Partitions

kungfushark

New Member
Messages
9
I was planning to dual boot my Windows 8.1 computer with Ubuntu, and I need to create a new disk partition to do that. I have a partition called LENOVO (D:), that has no data on it at all, which I removed, formatted, and then made a new partition there called Linux (D:). However, that partition only had 4GB of space on it, and I need more space than that. There are, in Disk Management, 4 other drives that are not titled, and I can't do anything with them. One of these partitions has 11.4GB on it, so I could use that, but it has no title, and when I right click on it, the only thing that comes up is "Help", and when I click on "Help" it takes me to Microsoft's Disk Management help page, which doesn't have any helpful information on it. What is this partition, and how can I format it so I can use for my installation? Thank you for any possible help, and I will try to answer any questions asked about my system.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
The 4 partitions don't have titles are probably the Recovery/Boot Partitions and if you mess with them, you will break Windows. The 11.4GB partition probably is the Factory Recovery Partition and contains the original Windows 8 if you have a need to refresh/reset Windows 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
The 4 partitions don't have titles are probably the Recovery/Boot Partitions and if you mess with them, you will break Windows. The 11.4GB partition probably is the Factory Recovery Partition and contains the original Windows 8 if you have a need to refresh/reset Windows 8.

So I can't use these for my new installation? If not, then are there any ways that I can add space to my current 4GB partition?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
I have a partition called LENOVO (D:), that has no data on it at all, which I removed, formatted, and then made a new partition there called Linux (D:).

It's not done this way. You are creating Windows filesystem partitions -- but Linux needs a Linux filesystem partition, which you can NOT create with Disk Management.

You create the Linux filesystem partition either with the Linux installer, or you boot from an installer USB/DVD and use GParted to create that partition.

But ... the problem is, if you have an MBR-formatted drive, there is a hard maximum of 4 upper-level partitions on that drive (4 primary or 4 primary + 1 Extended), and since you already appear to have 4, you can NOT create any more. If you force that with Disk Management, it will automatically convert ALL your partitions into Dynamic Disks -- which then will be difficult to repair.

However, since your PC came with Win8.1 already installed, it's very likely you have a GPT-formatted drive, which is NOT subject to the partitioning limitations of MBR-formatted drives.

You need to determine which way your drive has been formatted before proceeding.

You are also likely to have UEFI instead of BIOS -- and that introduces new complications that I'm not able to address, seeing as I don't work with UEFI.
 

My Computer

So I can't use these for my new installation? If not, then are there any ways that I can add space to my current 4GB partition?
Not if it's a Windows filesystem formatted partition, no -- not for Linux installation.
I have a partition called LENOVO (D:), that has no data on it at all, which I removed, formatted, and then made a new partition there called Linux (D:).

It's not done this way. You are creating Windows filesystem partitions -- but Linux needs a Linux filesystem partition, which you can NOT create with Disk Management.

You create the Linux filesystem partition either with the Linux installer, or you boot from an installer USB/DVD and use GParted to create that partition.

But ... the problem is, if you have an MBR-formatted drive, there is a hard maximum of 4 upper-level partitions on that drive (4 primary or 4 primary + 1 Extended), and since you already appear to have 4, you can NOT create any more. If you force that with Disk Management, it will automatically convert ALL your partitions into Dynamic Disks -- which then will be difficult to repair.

However, since your PC came with Win8.1 already installed, it's very likely you have a GPT-formatted drive, which is NOT subject to the partitioning limitations of MBR-formatted drives.

You need to determine which way your drive has been formatted before proceeding.

You are also likely to have UEFI instead of BIOS -- and that introduces new complications that I'm not able to address, seeing as I don't work with UEFI.
So I don't care about the Linux file systems. I will install Linux on those partitions later. What I care about is "How do I make an existing partition bigger." I have storage space on my computer for the partition I am trying to create. I currently have a 4GB partition, and I would like to turn it into a 10GB partition. How do I do this? Please do not address this question as though it is about Linux.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
First, you did not fill out your system spec so we don't know what you have in your Laptop, what capacity is your HD ? At least post a screen shot of the Disk Management then we'll have some idea to help you.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
First, you did not fill out your system spec so we don't know what you have in your Laptop, what capicity is your HD ? At least post a screen shot of the Disk Management then we'll have some idea to help you.

What do you mean by "fill out your system specs"? I do have a screenshot, however.
Capture.PNG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
OK, I can see them now. The first 3 partitions are reserved recovery partitions and in addition, there's a hidden unallocated partition of 128MB which disk management does not show. So total is ~ 3GB that you cannot touch. The only reserved partition that you can use is the last one 11.4 GB. However, you'll have to use an external USB to create a USB Recovery disk for possible future recovery back to the original Windows 8 that came with your Laptop. To make a Recovery USB: Control Panel->Recovery
After creating the Recovery USB, you can delete this partition and merge it with the 4GB then you'll have ~15.4 GB available.

EDIT: If you cannot delete the partition thru Disk Management the you'd have to use "diskpart" from the Admin Command prompt to delete it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
OK, I can see them now. The first 3 partitions are reserved recovery partitions and in addition, there's a hidden unallocated partition of 128MB which disk management does not show. So total is ~ 3GB that you cannot touch. The only reserved partition that you can use is the last one 11.4 GB. However, you'll have to use an external USB to create a USB Recovery disk for possible future recovery back to the original Windows 8 that came with your Laptop. To make a Recovery USB: Control Panel->Recovery
After creating the Recovery USB, you can delete this partition and merge it with the 4GB then you'll have ~15.4 GB available.

EDIT: If you cannot delete the partition thru Disk Management the you'd have to use "diskpart" from the Admin Command prompt to delete it.

I do not have an external drive with 11.4GB of space on it, so are there any other options, or am I going to be at Best Buy tomorrow getting a drive?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
What about your C: Drive. Do you stilll have a lot of space available ? if you do then you can shrink C: Drive for around 10~15 GB then expand with 4GB currently available. Here's the system specs and take a look at mine:

1.png
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Ok, so I managed to shrink my C drive down by 7GB, but now, when I try to shrink it more, it says "There is not enough space available on the disk(s) to complete this operation", even though I have 21 GB of free space.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
Your C: Drive is fragmented so Windows can only see the continous available space ~7GB. You need to run defrag to consolidate all free space then try to shrink again. However, you only have 21GB on C: drive left, I would not shrink it any further because you'll run out of space on C: unless you do some cleaning.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Your C: Drive is fragmented so Windows can only see the continous available space ~7GB. You need to run defrag to consolidate all free space then try to shrink again. However, you only have 21GB on C: drive left, I would not shrink it any further because you'll run out of space on C: unless you do some cleaning.

How do use the defrag command?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB
Open This PC, Right click on C: Drive->Properties->Tools->Optimize
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Ok, so I defragmented my C: drive, but I still can't shrink it. Is there else I need to do?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S
    CPU
    i686 1.5 GHz
    Memory
    128 GB

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
you can only shrink a drive so small
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Turning "Hibernate" off can give you few more GBs free on C: partition. Windows are really unhappy without at least 10 - 15% of free disk space, 25% are really sweet spot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
at preset he has 100GB with 20GB free (20%) and windows refuses to shrink the drive.. (understandable)
He needs to copy some of those files to another DATA drive or purchase a bigger storage drive.. He is at his limit already..

Or instead of shrinking C:\ > he should think about expanding it to use all available space
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
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