Windows Server operating systems have provided solutions for extending partition (using “Extend Volume” function in Disk Management or making use of Diskpart), so when users need to extend a server partition, their first reaction is to resort to Disk Management or Diskpart. Although the Disk Management in Windows Server 2003 is not able to help users extend or shrink partition, the Diskpart tool in it could take effect. Fortunately, in in Windows Server 2008, both those tools are available. However, we still don’t suggest users to extend partition with unallocated space by using them. That is because users may meet different problems when using them.
 

Problems in Extending Partition with Unallocated Space

If users search on the internet, they will find the following problem easily: I can’t extend my C drive even if I can see unallocated space on the disk. Actually, this is one limitation of the built-in Disk Management tool. A user can only extend a server partition under the condition that there is unallocated space on the right side of the partition they want to extend. Only in this way can they add unallocated space to partition successfully.
 
Well, in most cases, there is no unallocated space on disk or the unallocated space is not adjacent to partition. How can users extend partition with unallocated space or free space from other partitions in this case?
 

Complete Partition Extension with Unallocated Space

To our knowledge, the safest and the most effective way to extend partition with unallocated space is to take advantage of server partition magic, such as MiniTool Partition Wizard..
 

 
As users can see in the main interface of software, the unallocated space is next to partition F, but they actually want to enlarge partition C. In this case, users should select partition C at first. Then, click on “Extend Partition” to see the following window:
 

 
Here, users need to choose unallocated space from the drop-down list of “Take Free Space from” (users can also choose another partition to get free space from it and use the space to enlarge partition C). After that, please drag the sliding button below to decide the size of unallocated space (or free space) and click “OK” button to move to the next step.
 

 
Now, users will find the partition C has been extended and the unallocated space has disappeared. However, they also need to click on “Apply” button to confirm changes.
 

 
At last, click “Yes” in the pop-up window to execute partition extension with unallocated space.
 
Now, this is the end of the entire work to extend partition with unallocated space. If you also want to add unallocated space to partition on your own, please get a MiniTool Partition Wizard here.