Disk management options greyed out for external drive


  1. Posts : 4
    Windows 10 Home
       #1

    Disk management options greyed out for external drive


    Running Windows 10 version 22H2

    Hi,
    I'm trying to recover some space on an external hard drive using Disk Management. This is because it shows as two separate drives when plugged in and I'd like it all combined as a single drive letter.

    Disk management options greyed out for external drive-untitled.jpg

    If I click on any of the partitions the only option is "Help", except the main partition Kingston Ext Drive F which has some options greyed out and these options available:
    Change Drive letter and paths
    Format
    Shrink Volume
    Delete Volume

    It's only 20Gb on a 1Tb drive but if anyone could help with this I'd be grateful.

    Thanks in advance
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 43,022
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    That has been a UEFI system disk I guess - if you no longer want it as a system disk, then best use a 3rd party partition manager e.g. Minitool Partition Wizard. There will be a small partition Disk Management doesn't show.

    Is there anything you want to keep? If not, delete all the partitions and reformat.

    H: looks like it's probably a Factory Reset partition- to restore the PC to 'as bought'.

    F: - presumably was a Windows partition ( 'C: ' ) - depends if you've been using it for something else.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 6,361
    Windows 11 Pro - Windows 7 HP - Lubuntu
       #3

    As @dalchina mentioned, the drive is a UEFI-GPT system drive.
    If you don't use it anymore as a boot able drive I suggest you make a backup of the data on it and then clean and initialize it with Diskpart. ALL DATA ON IT WILL BE DELETED

    Open a CMD window as administrator and type:

    diskpart
    list disk (it will list all drives. Identify the USB drive number-Should be 2)
    select disk n (replace n by the USB drive number obtained with list disk)
    clean
    create part primary
    select part 1
    format fs=ntfs quick
    assign
    exit (to exit diskpart)
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 8,114
    windows 10
       #4

    Just to be safe turn pc off remove power from this drive start pc does it boot ok just to check the system files are not in use
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 14,023
    Win10 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home, Win7, Linux Mint
       #5

    Another method I use for fully cleaning a drive [usually in a drive dock] is GPARTED [GNU Partition Editor], available as download .iso file used to create a Bootable CD or as a program in a Bootable Linux LiveDVD or installed on a Linux computer. It can remove little partitions that Windows sometimes can't. But then I probably do it more often when salvaging parts from otherwise junkable machines.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 41,481
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       #6

    Please run diskpar info > post a share link using one drive, drop box, or google drive

    https://www.tenforums.com/attachment...iskparinfo.bat

    Batch files for use in BSOD debugging

    Batch files for use in BSOD debugging



    There are two Windows recovery partitions and one can be deleted.
    However this recovers less than 1 GB free space.

    If you no longer want the partition H: labeled RECOVERY it can be deleted.


    Consider a larger drive:

    Crucial System Scanner | Memory Upgrade Scanner | Crucial | Crucial.com


    Post a disk management image of the drive displaying: Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, etc.
      My Computer


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 15:08.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums