I can't create a new partition

Michael2

There's only two: C and D. I do have the option to change the master partition, C, from basic to dynamic, but that's it. I'm just curious about why I don't have the option to create a new partition.

paulgswanson

Is the capacity of C+D= to total HDD capacity? Or is there some available free space hangin out?

Michael2

There is free space of 127.75 GB on C.

paulgswanson

My bad I should clarify, when I said freespace I meant unallocatedc space. Sorry
In order to make a Partition there needs to be unallocated space. Meaning not freespace assigned to C or D, but rather space that is not assigned to a Drive.

Example:
1Tb HDD
500GB C:\
500GB \
Entire HDD is assigned, thus no more partitions are possible w\o specialized tools.

1TB HDD
250GB C:\
250GB \
Unallocated space= 500GB left for addition partitions w\o specialized tools

I hope this clears it up

ptilsen

You can mount a volume in a folder which acts a volume. It is not a partition, but functions largely the same within Windows.
Assign a mount point folder path to a drive

You can alternatively shrink the C: drive (assuming you're not on XP/2003) and then create a partition in the newly unallocated space.

As paulg said, you cannot create a partition with free space.

Michael2

Would it just show me if there was unallocated space or would I have to do more clicking?

paulgswanson

It should show you, for example on Windows 7 I believe there is a legend on the bottom that shows what color stripe equals what kind of space. On mine its a black stripe. and allocated shows as blue.

Michael2

I'm running XP myself. It just shows dark blue for both partitions, so I guess there's no unallocated space. Strange, I though you could have up to four partitions

inscom.brigade

For Xp I used Partition Wizard Professional Edition 5.0, It was great. I think you will like it, they also had Mini tool Partition Wizard. I think that they mayhave been the same.

It is free.

boredgamelad

Unallocated space != free space. Sounds like you're still confusing the two.

########

Example 1:

Let's say you have a 1 TB (actual space) hard drive with two partitions (C and D) that are each set to a limit of 500 GB. Therefore (500 GB + 500 GB = 1 TB), the entire hard drive space is allocated. As far as free space goes, let's say C is 50% full and D is 75% full. That is, you could theoretically fill C with 250 more GB of data and D with 125 more GB of data. Even though you have 375 GB unused space, you can't make a partition that's 375 GB because that space is already allocated, or assigned, to the C and D drives.

This free space is completely different from unallocated space.

Example 2:

You have the same 1 TB drive with two partitions (C and D). Each of these has been allocated 250 GB and each of these drives is 50% full.

Just looking at free space, you've got:
C:\ 125 GB
\ 125 GB
Total: 250 GB free space

Only 250 GB free space? I thought I had a 1 TB hard drive! What about the other 500 GB? Well, it's unallocated space because it hasn't been assigned to a partition. Your partition table looks something like this:

C:\ 250 GB
\ 250 GB
Unallocated space: 500 GB

This doesn't mean you can't use that last 500, but you have to partition it first so it can be accessed. You could set up more partitions on this unallocated space. Let's say you make Drive E 100 GB and Drive F 200 GB.

Your drive would look like this:

C:\ 250 GB allocated, 125 GB free
\ 250 GB allocated, 125 GB free
E:\ 100 GB allocated, 100 GB free
F:\ 200 GB allocated, 200 GB free
Unallocated space: 200 GB

########

Hope this makes sense. There's free space (i.e. space that is assigned but not used) and unallocated space (drive space that is not assigned to a drive). In your case, all your space is allocated (or reserved, if that helps) so you can't make any more partitions without shrinking one of the others. Your drive is set up like Example 1.

Michael2

Okay, so why don't I have the option to create a new partition though? In other words, what is all the free space on C for? Would it actually get used if I were to start storing a bunch of data?

W Stewart

The free space on the C: partition is just free space that will eventually get filled up if you download enough junk. That space is free but it is still allocated/assigned to the C partition. You need to shrink the C partition by the amount of free space you're willing to give up and that extra space won't be allocated/assigned to any partition anymore. You can then use that unallocated/unassigned space to create a new partition. Windows Vista and 7 can shrink a partition if there is enough free space but I don't believe XP has that option. I could be wrong but if I'm right then you will need to download a disk partitioning tool to shrink the C partition for you. If Windows XP did have the ability to resize a partition then you would do it from the disk management utility. You would open the "Run" box and type diskmgmt.msc. The option is most likely not available in XP so you will need to use a tool like inscom.brigade suggested above.