Merge partitions (with screenshot)

[shobuddy]

I have three disk partitions and some unallocated space. You can see a screenshot of this here:

I want to merge drives C, D and the unallocated space into one and leave E as is. All drives but C can be wiped clean if need be. Is this possible to do w/out 3rd party tools? I've tried a few scenarios in Windows 7 storage management but have not had any luck. The wizard in the screenshot shows me trying to extend C into E but as you can see, it does not allow it. I was merging C to E so that I could then merge it with the unallocated space then shrink C to create an E.

 

[itsVance]

You need to delete volume E before it will let you do any of what your trying to do.

 

[shobuddy]

You need to delete volume E before it will let you do any of what your trying to do.

If I delete E and turn it into unallocated, will I be then be able to merge C with the unallocated space? Because right now I cannot merge E with the unallocated space.
Also, any way to absorb D into C?

 

[itsVance]

You need to delete volume E before it will let you do any of what your trying to do.

If I delete E and turn it into unallocated, will I be then be able to merge C with the unallocated space? Because right now I cannot merge E with the unallocated space.
Also, any way to absorb D into C?

Once you delete volume E and D (sorry was looking at it cross eyed), you can extend C into E and D.

 

[shobuddy]

You need to delete volume E before it will let you do any of what your trying to do.

If I delete E and turn it into unallocated, will I be then be able to merge C with the unallocated space? Because right now I cannot merge E with the unallocated space.
Also, any way to absorb D into C?

Once you delete volume E and D (sorry was looking at it cross eyed), you can extend C into E and D.

Thanks Vince, I'll try this tomorrow when I have access to the computer. Final question: Once I extend C into the unallocated space (E and D), will I be able to shrink/partition about 50GB of C into a separate drive? I want to make sure I can do this.

 

[itsVance]

You need to delete volume E before it will let you do any of what your trying to do.

If I delete E and turn it into unallocated, will I be then be able to merge C with the unallocated space? Because right now I cannot merge E with the unallocated space.
Also, any way to absorb D into C?

Once you delete volume E and D (sorry was looking at it cross eyed), you can extend C into E and D.

Thanks Vince, I'll try this tomorrow when I have access to the computer. Final question: Once I extend C into the unallocated space (E and D), will I be able to shrink/partition about 50GB of C into a separate drive? I want to make sure I can do this.

The amount you can shrink it is determined by how much you have it filled up and where any unmovable files are located. If you shrink it right after you extend it though, there should be no problems.

 

[shobuddy]

I was able to get most of what I wanted. Only thing I wasn't able to do was get rid of D and have it merge with C or E. From what I've read, this is because D is to the left of C and E and it must be to the right of them for it to be dissolved into them.