Windows 11 Hard Disk Partition

[Robert]

As far as I know, I need to get the source partition smaller than the target partition before I can mirror. But short of the defrag that I've already done, I'm not sure what to do. I could cull a bunch of programs and reduce the space I'm using, but I'm already using far less than the "Total size after shrink".

The interesting fact which often goes unsaid is that after a partition shrink the minimum size is also reduced (of course, if you have free space, defragged, no unmovable files, etc).

I used this method to successfully shrink a System volume (C:) on Windows Server 2012R2 from 500GB (with only 50GB of actual data) to 80GB. The first time I tried to resize it the minimum size was around 425GB.

When you shrink a partition, certain files (for example, the paging file or the shadow copy storage area) cannot be automatically relocated and you cannot decrease the allocated space beyond the point where the unmovable files are located. If the shrink operation fails, check the Application Log for Event 259, which will identify the unmovable file. If you know the cluster or clusters associated with the file that is preventing the shrink operation, you can also use the fsutil command at a command prompt (type fsutil volume querycluster /? for usage). When you provide the querycluster parameter, the command output will identify the unmovable file that is preventing the shrink operation from succeeding.

In some cases, you can relocate the file temporarily. For example, if the unmovable file is the paging file, you can use Control Panel to move it to another disk, shrink the volume, and then move the page file back to the disk.

You should first check the Application Log as indicated. If the unmovable file is the paging file, you can try to (temporarily) relocate it to another drive, then retry shrinking. However, if there are other unmovable files that prevent shrinking which you can't remove/relocate, then you won't be able to shrink using the builtin facility. In that case you'll need to use a 3rd party partitioning/imaging tool - there exist both free and paid such tools.

As the comments point out, the problem was files that couldn't move during a partition shrink or defrag because they were locked by running applications and by windows. The simplest way to unlock those files is to stop the processes, and the simplest way to stop the processes is to not let them start! Hence, I started looking for a boot time defragment tool.

None of the above worked for me - defraggler showed a couple dozen files at the very end of the drive that I could not move. The only way was to use a tool called AOMEI Partition Assistant - worked perfectly. It loads a preboot app that runs after reboot and does the job - apparently some system files cannot be touched from within the running system.

The posts containing these instructions occupy more space making them seem more important than the tiny interspersed posts containing the simplest solutions. Importance is inversely proportional to size... Also, if something to do with a computer can be written down as precise instructions, a program can be written to follow them and it can be executed by anyone without manual effort...

I have been able to shrink my drive (NVMe SSD) to more or less precisely the size that I am using (from 200 GB down to 140 GB) in 5 minutes including researching the topic, installing this solution and executing it. Most importantly, I did not have to learn anything about typical large unmovable files in Windows which I did not care about at all.

You start up the program, select the partition you want to shrink (I assume it is your system partition/volume C:) then drag the slider to set the desired size. Because the disk is in use, the resizing process will be set up as a Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) program, scheduled for execution at the next boot.

Disclaimer: If you resize C:, it will require a reboot and the program will be executed one-time in the Windows PE environment which is a reduced windows desktop which you may not find very pretty but it gets the job done.

Obviously, you can use 3rd party software, which I also tried to use, but most of the cases free versions will allow you only to shrink when running the system - for the bootable versions in most cases you need to pay.

I've also tried MiniTool Partition Wizard Free, however like mentioned above, I was unable to shrink while running the system. I've been asked to reboot, however the application froze. Fortunately, I was able to cancel the process without losing any data - system booted normally. One of the suggestions was to use bootable version, which is not free. So I dug more and found the solution.

In my case, I need to look for last unremovable file 3 times and after each deletion, I was able to shrink the partition a little bit. Basically, you jump from the last unremovable file to another, until you reach the desired partition volume. It can take some time but still, you are able to do it without third-party apps.

In my case, following above instructions failed. Somehow I'm still not able toshrink the drive. What worked for me is to restart Windows in Safe Mode (hold shift and choose restart). In Safe Mode, go to advanced and drop to the command prompt. Use diskpart.exe to shrink the drive:

If this doesn't work for you, you may have to either give in and resort to closed-source 3rd party apps (Easeus Partition Manager, Paragon Partition Manger, MiniTool Partition Wizard, PerfectDisk all seemed to be recommended by folks to varying degrees). I like the above approach bc IMO running a defrag is less likely to mess up your current install and make you need to whip out a recovery disc than a partition editor is. And even if you disagree, I would still rather run a FOSS app + a native windows app then be dependent on a closed-source app that might have a limited free trial / require me to fork over $40+ USD for a license so I can perform a one-time operation that Windows ought to have been able to do on its own in the first place (I use Linux most of the time so this is idea is especially not worth the money for me)

I was in the same situation (wanting to shrink partion used by OS (Windows 10)) but with an extra problem that I am using mirrored dynamic disks. Unmirror was easy to be performed without losing any data. But changing back to basic disks is not possible without deleting partitions and I did not want to save all partions, delete them, recreate basic disk, recreate partion and restore.

I tried several free tools (EaseUS Partition Master, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard 10.1.0, IM-Magic Partition Resizer, Paragon Partition Manager, NIUBI Partition Editor, Macrorit Partition Expert Free) for shrinking partition but in my case did not seethe partions or did not shrink it without asking to use the paid version.

The accepted answer is indeed a reliable method for addressing the partition problem. Moreover, beyond relying on the Disk Management Tool, utilizing DISKPART provides enhanced control and flexibility for partition management in the Windows environment.

Ultimately, you should be able to run chkdsk on a volume, as per the chkdks documentation (instead of a drive letter or mount point, you simply pass it the volume name). However, it's probably easier and more reliable to just assign the partition a drive letter or mount point.

Under Windows, you need to assign a partition a mount-point to use chkdsk on it. You can use the Computer Management snap-in (Start -> Run -> compmgmt.msc) or DISKPART to do this (see below for DISKPART instructions). If you go with the Computer Management method, go to the Disk Management section, where you need to assign the partition either:

Alternatively, you can use DISKPART to assign the partition a letter. Fire up DISKPART, and type LIST DISK to find the disk, followed by SELECT DISK (where is the drive number). Follow the same steps to find the proper partition (i.e. LIST PARTITION followed by SELECT PARTITION ), and then simply type ASSIGN to have Windows mount the partition at the next new drive letter.

Open "Run" type in "diskmgmt.msc", this opens the disk manager. Find the drive, right-click on the drive, scroll to Change Drive Letters and Paths, you can then give it a dedicated drive letter. Every time you plug it into your computer, it will use the drive letter you assigned to it

7.Once you find the partition that you are wanting to run a chkdsk on look next to the partitions and they should be labeled by numbers. so choose the number of the partition and write the following command

I was facing the same problem when I bought a new hard disk. I created three partitions: 200 GB, 200 GB, and 70 GB. Both of the 200 GB partitions were good and healthy, but the 70 GB one was in an unknown format. This causes the check disk problem while booting, so just do the below steps:

You're welcome to create multiple partitions, that will eventually become multiple, independent drives in Windows. To do so, calculate how many and how large you want those drives to be and repeat these steps to create those partitions. For example, if the drive is 61437 MB and you want to partitions, specify an initial size of 30718 to partition only half the drive, and then repeat the partitioning again for the rest of the Unallocated space.

If you know what you're doing, feel free to format the drive as part of this process. However, since this tutorial focuses on partitioning a hard drive in Windows, we've left the formatting to another tutorial, linked in the last step below.

You might notice that your cursor is busy during this time. Once you see the new drive letter (F: in our example) appear in the listing at the top of Disk Management, then you know the partitioning process is complete.

Manually partitioning (as well as formatting) a hard drive is not necessary if your end goal is to clean install Windows onto the drive. Both of those processes are included as part of the installation procedure, meaning you don't need to prepare the drive yourself.

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