Move partition & Unallocated space in Windows Server 2008
Besides basic operation to create, delete and format partition, Windows Server 2008 Disk Management snap-in can shrink and extend volume. It is big improvement comparing to previous Server 2003. However, some inherent limitation cause you cannot extend volume in most cases. For example: when C drive running out of space, some people try to shrink D and extend C drive in Server 2008 Disk Management. It is impossible, because Extend Volume is still disabled for C drive after shrinking D. In fact, this problem can be solved easily by moving partition.
In this article, I’ll show you how to move partition in Windows Server 2008 R2 without data loss. Besides moving disk drive, NIUBI Partition Editor can move Unallocated space in Windows Server 2008 by simply dragging.
Move Unallocated space to C drive
The common issue is cannot shrink D to extend C drive, to solve this problem, you need server partition manager software such as NIUBI Partition Editor. Move partition D to the right side and move Unallocated space towards the left, and then Extend Volume is enabled for C drive. Let’s see how to do this.
Download and install NIUBI Partition Editor. In my server there is a 20GB Unallocated space behind drive D.
Right click drive D and select Resize/Move Volume, drag the middle position rightwards.
Partition D will be moved to the right side and Unallocated space will be move to the left side at the same time.
If you want to add Unallocaed space to C drive, simply right click C and select Resize/Move Volume, drag the right border rightwards.
Click OK and back to the main window, this Unallocated space is combined into C drive.
Remember to click Apply on top left to execute, otherwise, physical disk drives won’t be modified.
Move partition towards the right
If the Unallocated space is behind drive E, it is similar.
Right click drive E and select Resize/Move Volume, drag the middle position rightwards. You can move Unallocated space to behind D and move partition E to the end.
In Summary
Windows Server 2008 Disk Management provides advanced Shrink Volume and Extend Volume functionalities, but because it cannot move partition, which cause the functionalities are useless in most cases. To move partition in Server 2008, NIUBI Partition Edition is very easy to achieve. You just need 1 step to drag on the pop-up window.
As long as there is adjacent Unallocated space on either side, you can drag the middle position to move the partition towards the other side, or drag the border to combine the Unallocated space. Besides resizing and moving partitions, NIUBI Partition Editor can help you merge, convert, copy, defrag, wipe partition and much more.