Moving Unallocated Disk Space to End of Disk

tktk88 · 28 May 2018

In preparation of installing an Intel Optane Memory Module one of the requirements(see attached requirements) is to have an unallocated space of at least 5MB at the end of the disk.
Currently I have 550MB of unallocated space on the drive I will be using the Intel Optane Memory Module for but its at the front of the disk(see attached Disk Management Screen Shot) and not the end. Is there a way to simply move the unallocated space from the front of the disk to the end?

dalchina · 28 May 2018

You can achieve that with a 3rd party partition manager such as Minitool Partition Wizard. This should also show a 16Mb partition Disk Management will not show by design.

I also note you have no Windows Recovery partition- whilst not essential, it means advanced startup and recovery options and automated repair will not be available. (Typically EFI installations have 4 partitions). A guess suggests the 550Mb unallocated space was once that partition.

When you rearrange your partitions, I suggest you make sure you have at least that much unallocated space, as upgrades will create a recovery partition. To do that you would have to shrink C: a little. Doing that and moving the EFI partition may be the simplest option.

tktk88 · 29 May 2018

Thanks dalchina.............I did a clean Windows 10 Pro install from a new 2TB disk in December when I built this computer the disk was new and unformatted I just let Windows handle the setup at the time..............in prepping for the Optane Memory module I noticed that the primary drive was non gpt and the 3TB D drive was gpt not sure why so I used the diskpart method (MBR2GPT) to convert the disk to gpt could have something to do with the layout of the 2TB primary drive?
I downloaded the mini tool you suggested and I am attempting to muddle thru moving the unallocated space to the end

tktk88 · 03 Jun 2018

dalchina.............as a follow up I downloaded the mini tool free version you suggested installed it and have looked at it for a few days following the instructions to move the partitions I click on the partition I want to move and select the move/resize option however it doesn't seem to allow me to move the partitions....am i missing something or do i need to pay for full version in order to move the partitions?

Sorry to be a pest..................... hope you have a good working knowledge of the program...

Basically per your suggestion I want to move the EFI Partition in the the direction indicated ( see attached)

Moving Unallocated Disk Space to End of Disk-move-partition.jpg

putting the C Partition at the end and then resize C leaving say 50MB of unallocated space at the end of the drive

dalchina · 03 Jun 2018

Try shrinking C: then move the EFI partition 'left' to leave yourself the space you want.

However if you have a 16Mb partition there, that will be a problem. (Those aren't shown in Disk Management by design).

Personally I've never tried swapping the order of partitions.

Note that you make the changes, then Apply the changes. Expect a restart to be required.

Here you will see I have all the options needed for each of those partitions:

Moving Unallocated Disk Space to End of Disk-untitled-1.png

Moving Unallocated Disk Space to End of Disk-untitled-2.png

(But not for the 16Mb partition if I try that - it's possible that could be done if you use Minitool P W's boot disk - there are threads on exactly that issue).

tktk88 · 05 Jun 2018

thanks dalchina I get and see the same options however when I attempt to move the partitions it does not allow me to..........not sure if I am missing something in the process according to the directions its seems fairly simple and straight forward task however I am unable to make it work thus far....

would it make more sense instead of trying to move the partitions to shrink C a little say 50mb and put that into the EFI partition then make it unallocted at the end of the EFI partition do you see any harm in that?

dalchina · 05 Jun 2018

If you're stuck, try using the boot disk. No, don't mess with the EFI partition.

Are you using Minitool PW? Don't try with Disk Management.

tktk88 · 05 Jun 2018

Yes I am using the Mini Tool PW..thanks I wont mess with the EFI partition not sure how to proceed

dalchina · 05 Jun 2018

Please post a screenshot to show exactly what you are doing. Just the first thing you are trying.

If with Windows running, then a screenshot.
If using the boot disk, then a photo.

tktk88 · 05 Jun 2018

Here is the screen shot of the first step using the Mini Tool..........its simple for me to resize the partition but not sure how to move the partition to the left after