How to Combine Two Unallocated Partitions in Windows Vista

Unallocated partitions are sections of a hard drive that cannot be used by the operating system because that portion of the hard drive isn't formatted. Partitions are usually formatted when they are created, but because of drive corruption or an unreadable drive format, it's possible to have sections of the drive that are partitioned but unallocated. Using the Disk Management utility, you can format and combine the two partitions into one formatted partition for use with Windows.

Instructions

1. Press and hold the "Windows" key and press "R" to open a "run" dialogue. Type "diskmgmt.msc" in the text box and click "OK" to open Disk Management.

2. Right-click the first unallocated partition and click "Delete Volume." Click "Yes" to delete the partition and return all space in the partition to unallocated, non-partitioned space.

3. Right-click the second unallocated partition and click "Delete Volume." Click "Yes."

4. Right-click the unallocated space and click "Simple Volume." Click "Next" in the New Simple Volume Wizard. Click "Next" to allocate all space to the new simple volume. Click "Next."

5. Click the drop-down menu to assign a drive letter to the new volume and click "Next." Select "NTFS" in the drop-down menu for the file system and enter a name for the new volume in the "Volume Label" text box. Click "Next." Click "Finish." The space from the two unallocated partitions will be combined in one useable volume.

References

• Microsoft Technet: Overview of Disk Management
• Microsoft: Can I Partition My Hard Drive?
• Microsoft: Create And Format A Hard Drive Partition