- Windows 7: Option to extend partition is grayed out. You can only extend the volume adding adjacent unallocated space. The easiest way, if the partitions have nothing on them would be simply delete them, expand the one you want and remake the partitions. Or if possible & they have some DATA, move that DATA to another drive temporarily then.
- There are 3 obvious reasons why Extend Volume greyed out in Windows 7 Disk Management, I’ll explain one by one. Reason 1 – no adjacent Unallocated space A 300GB hard disk cannot be increased to 500GB itself, so before extending a drive you should get some Unallocated space.
Slower and slower computer speed makes an emergently need to extend C drive partition. In order to meet this kind of needs, Microsoft provides 2 features in Windows Vista, Window 7/8 and Windows Server. The 2 features are shrink volume and extend volume. By using the feature of extend volume, we can enlarge C drive partition to store more files.
You can see 'Extend Volume' option under Disk Management of Windows 7. You just need to right click a partition after accessing so that you can see the 'Extend Volume' option. After click this option, you are able to increase the size of the selected partition. However, the problem is that you may find that the 'Extend Volume' option is often grayed out, in which situation you always fail to expand the size of selected partition.
Is there anything wrong with the Disk Management? Are you able to fix the problem on Windows 7? Why Disk Management Extend Volume Is Grayed out on Win7?If you doubt why the on Windows 7, probably you do not know how Disk Management works to extend a volume. There are 'Extend Volume' and 'Shrink Volume' options under Disk Management on Windows 7, with which you are able to resize disk partition without repartitioning hard disk.
However, why 'Extend Volume' option is grayed out when you attempt to extend C drive or other partitions? Usually, 'Shrink Volume' is always available as long as there is free space on the partition you want to extend.
The problem is that 'Extend Volume' is grayed out. The reason is that you can extend a partition in Disk Management only condition that there is adjacent unallocated space.
C Drive Extend Volume Greyed
Simply say, if you want to extend C drive, you must make sure that the unallocated space is behind the C drive. In other words, if there is no unallocated space or the unallocated space is not contiguous to the C drive, the extend volume will show grayed out and stops working. How to Fix Extend Volume Grayed out Problem in Windows 7?When Disk Management to extend a partition is not available, is there any other solution for disk partition resizing?
The answer is yes! You usually have two solutions to make the extend volume work on Windows 7:1.
Delete the partition between the volume you want to extend and the unallocated spaceSince the 'Extend Volume' option show grayed out when the unallocated space is not adjacent to the partition you want to extend, you can between them to fix the problem. This method is usually not so good because you will lose all data stored on the partition after deleting.2. Move unallocated volume to the partition you need to expand with partition softwareThe most common method to resolve the issue about 'Extend Volume' option grayed out is to rely on a to move the unallocated space close to the partition you want to extend. Partition Software to Fix Windows 7 Extend Volume Grayed out ProblemIM-Magic Partition Resizer Free works as partition management to move and extend partition.
This partition software enables you to on Windows 7 without asking you to reinstalling system or reformat hard disk. You can also shrink partition with this software to get some unallocated space and move the unallocated space close to C drive so that you can get C drive expanded with the unallocated space.Can You Add New Disk to Extend Windows 7 Partition?Many users are wondering if they can add a new hard disk to extend partition when it is running on low disk space. If you have ever attempted to add a new disk to expand disk partition, you may know that the answer is no. You can add a new disk for data storage when the original hard drive is full, but you cannot add the new disk space to another hard disk partition. In the other words, you can only move free space on the same hard disk to extend partition on Windows 7.Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free Edition.
Extend uses space to the right side of the partition. That is why it is greyed out.Now comes something that you will have to look out for. If you do manage to move the start of c drive into that un-allocated space your system may have issues with startup.If you had another OS installed you could use it to both move+extend the partition and fix your boot loader(it is in the system reserved partition.). You may also be able to fix it on another system the same way.A program called EasyBCD can edit the boot loader.
You have to tell it to load one from another drive and give the system reserved partition a letter.It does take some work, but can be done.