Run the Windows Disk Cleanup Wizard. Disable pagefile, kernel memory dump, system restore and hibernation (the primary system level unmovable files) Run a defragmenter that can move files to the start of the disk. On a 60 GB SSD with about 35 GB free space, 'Shrink Volume' in Windows 7 initially freed a paltry 100 MB, but following the steps in.
Unmoveable files when shrinking your C: partition on Windows 7
Posted by bartmaes on April 7, 2010
In some cases, you can relocate the file temporarily. For example, if the unmovable file is the paging file, you can use Control Panel to move it to another disk, shrink the volume, and then move the page file back to the disk. If the number of bad clusters detected by dynamic bad-cluster remapping is too high, you cannot shrink the partition. Dec 29, 2010 DominicP. Unmovable files could be restore points. Make sure you clear them and not just disable System Restore. Then defrag the disk. Any file high up the disk will block shrinking, even if it is not fragmented. Defrag will consolidate free space but cannot move system files. If there is a system file high on the disk you will need a third. I did it a couple of times with the Windows defragger and once with Vopt. However, there are some 'unmovable' files near the end of the disk which are probably causing the problems. Is there any way I can move these, so I can resize the partition? Attached is a screenshot from Vopt after defragging, the green blocks show unmovable files.
You can shrink partitions in “Computer Management” – “Disk Management” on Windows 7. (You can find this in “Control Panel” – “System and Security” – “Administrative Tools”.) When you right-click your operating system partition and choose “Shrink Volume…”, the available shrink space is being calculated. The available shrink space does not only depend on the amount of available disk space on this partition, but there can also be some unmoveable files that prevent you from shrinking the disk space more than a certain amount.
On my new DELL computer, I could only shrink the disk to half it’s size (150 GB), while only 20 GB was used. Also defragmenting the disk did not help.
After the “Querying Shrink Space” has finished, you can see which unmoveable file is responsible. To do this, you need to go to Event Viewer (which you can find in Computer Management as well). You have to go to “Windows Logs” – “Application”. You will see 2 entries in a row for which the source is “Defrag”. The second one gives the information you are searching for.
On my computer, the message says: “The last unmovable file appears to be: System Volume Information{f94d9e25b-4217-11df-9570-005056c00008}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}:$DATA
I found out that this file is part of a System Restore Point. You can remove the file by disabling System Restore. (You can enable it again and create a new restore point after shrinking your disk space.) To disable System Restore, you should go to “Control Panel” – “System and Security” – “System” – “Advanced System Settings” – tab “System Protection”. Click on the drive for which you want to disable system restore (probably your C: drive) and click “Configure…”. Now choose “Turn off system protection” and click Apply. Hopefully there are no other unmoveable files which prevent you from shrinking your disk drive to the prefered size.
-->Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012
You can decrease the space used by primary partitions and logical drives by shrinking them into adjacent, contiguous space on the same disk. For example, if you discover that you need an additional partition but do not have additional disks, you can shrink the existing partition from the end of the volume to create new unallocated space that can then be used for a new partition. The shrink operation can be blocked by the presence of certain file types. For more information, see Additional considerations
When you shrink a partition, any ordinary files are automatically relocated on the disk to create the new unallocated space. There is no need to reformat the disk to shrink the partition.
Caution
If the partition is a raw partition (that is, one without a file system) that contains data (such as a database file), shrinking the partition might destroy the data.
Shrinking a basic volume
Note
You must be a member of the Backup Operators or Administrators group, at minimum, to complete these steps.
Windows 7 Shrink Disk Unmovable Files Online
To shrink a basic volume using the Windows interface
- In Disk Manager, right-click the basic volume you want to shrink.
- Click Shrink Volume.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
Note
You can only shrink basic volumes that have no file system or that use the NTFS file system.
To shrink a basic volume using a command line
- Open a command prompt and type
diskpart
. - At the DISKPART prompt, type
list volume
. Ue boom app for mac. Note the number of the simple volume you want to shrink. - At the DISKPART prompt, type
select volume <volumenumber>
. Selects the simple volume volumenumber you want to shrink. - At the DISKPART prompt, type
shrink [desired=<desiredsize>] [minimum=<minimumsize>]
. Shrinks the selected volume to desiredsize in megabytes (MB) if possible, or to minimumsize if desiredsize is too large.
Value | Description |
---|---|
list volume | Displays a list of basic and dynamic volumes on all disks. |
select volume | Selects the specified volume, where volumenumber is the volume number, and gives it focus. If no volume is specified, the select command lists the current volume with focus. You can specify the volume by number, drive letter, or mount point path. On a basic disk, selecting a volume also gives the corresponding partition focus. |
shrink | Shrinks the volume with focus to create unallocated space. No data loss occurs. If the partition includes unmovable files (such as the page file or the shadow copy storage area), the volume will shrink to the point where the unmovable files are located. |
desired=desiredsize | The amount of space, in megabytes, to recover to the current partition. |
minimum=minimumsize | The minimum amount of space, in megabytes, to recover to the current partition. If you do not specify a desired or minimum size, the command will reclaim the maximum amount of space possible. |
Additional considerations
- When you shrink a partition, certain files (for example, the paging file or the shadow copy storage area) cannot be automatically relocated, and you cannot decrease the allocated space beyond the point where the unmovable files are located.If the shrink operation fails, check the Application Log for Event 259, which will identify the unmovable file. If you know the cluster(s) associated with the file that is preventing the shrink operation, you can also use the fsutil command at a command prompt (type fsutil volume querycluster /? for usage). When you provide the querycluster parameter, the command output will identify the unmovable file that is preventing the shrink operation from succeeding.In some cases, you can relocate the file temporarily. For example, if you need to shrink the partition further, you can use Control Panel to move the paging file or stored shadow copies to another disk, delete the stored shadow copies, shrink the volume, and then move the paging file back to the disk. If the number of bad clusters detected by dynamic bad-cluster remapping is too high, you cannot shrink the partition. If this occurs, you should consider moving the data and replacing the disk.
- Do not use a block-level copy to transfer the data. This will also copy the bad sector table and the new disk will treat the same sectors as bad even though they are normal.
- You can shrink primary partitions and logical drives on raw partitions (those without a file system) or partitions using the NTFS file system.