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Is your C drive screaming for space while your D drive is lounging around with gigabytes to spare? In this video, we show you how to move space from D to C (no paywalls, ever!) and troubleshoot every hiccup Windows throws your way. Learn the safest, easiest way to reclaim your storage. Don’t forget to subscribe for more PC tips and let us know in the comments what trick helped you most! #Windows #PC #Tech #HowTo #Tutorial

👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@techmaniachd

0:00 - Why You Can't Extend C Drive
1:40 - Sponsored Message and Offers
2:24 - Checking Drive Configuration
3:57 - Backup Importance and Preparation
4:50 - Handling Drive Encryption
5:49 - Decryption Progress and Troubleshooting
7:52 - Resizing Partitions Step-by-Step
10:14 - Finalizing and Verifying Changes


Transcript
00:00Your C drive is showing red in File Explorer.
00:03Windows is begging for space, but you have dozens of free gigabytes.
00:06Except they're on the D partition.
00:09So you come up with the idea to use the built-in disk management to shrink D
00:13and give some of that space to the C drive.
00:16Sounds genius, right?
00:17So you allocate the right number of gigabytes from the bigger one
00:21and you're about to assign that space to the smaller one.
00:24Why? You right-click and wait a second.
00:27You see that the extend volume option is unavailable for some reason.
00:31What the heck?
00:32There are two reasons for this situation.
00:35First, the free space after shrinking D ends up on the right, which is the wrong side.
00:40It's after the D partition, not after C, where you could actually assign it easily.
00:46Second, sometimes a hidden recovery partition gets in the way,
00:50which Windows often places physically between C and D
00:53and it simply doesn't allow you to move it.
00:55If this is a problem you've just encountered and if you also think it's super turbo annoying,
01:00then go ahead and click the thumbs up under this video,
01:03because in a few minutes I'll show you how to handle it.
01:06And yes, it's true that you'll find dozens of other guides online
01:10claiming to help you solve this same problem,
01:12but most of them show tools that spring a payment window on you at the very last step.
01:18This guide is 100% free from start to finish.
01:22And even if you're watching this a few years after it was published
01:25and the program described here is no longer free,
01:28which of course can happen since neither I nor you have any control over it,
01:32don't worry.
01:33I'll make sure to put a link to a free alternative in the pinned comment
01:37so this video will never be a waste of your time.
01:39I promise you won't see any paywall at the very last step here.
01:43We'll just do it together from start to finish.
01:45You're able to watch this material thanks to the support of the GVG GVG Mall platform.
01:50If you're still struggling with that annoying message reminding you to activate,
01:53go ahead and visit the link in the description right now.
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02:24Before we move on, we need to determine whether partitions C and D
02:28are actually on the same physical drive.
02:31You can check this in 5 seconds, right click on the start menu,
02:34select disk management and look at the upper left part of the window.
02:38If C and D are in the same row labeled as disk 0 or disk 1,
02:42meaning they're next to each other, then we can proceed.
02:45But if these are two separate physical disks,
02:48no program in the world will move space between them.
02:51Similarly, if you have only one partition C which occupies the entire small disk.
02:56If that's the case for you, you have two options.
02:59The first, completely free one, is to clean up junk from the C drive.
03:03A link to a dedicated video that will help you with this
03:06has now appeared in the comments and in the top right corner.
03:10Thanks to it, you'll free up a few, maybe even several hundred gigabytes on the C drive,
03:14and that should completely solve your problem.
03:16The second way is to replace it with a new, larger drive.
03:21Unfortunately, this is a paid solution and I can't do anything about that.
03:24But if the cost doesn't scare you, and the problem is transferring your data and system,
03:29then yes, I can definitely help you with that.
03:31A link to a dedicated video about cloning a smaller drive to a larger one
03:35has just appeared in the top right corner of your screen,
03:38and you'll also find it in the description.
03:40There are also many solutions here that try to get your money,
03:43but once again, I made sure to choose a great, intuitive, safe, and completely free program.
03:49However, if C and D are actually on the same physical drive,
03:52just like in the images shown, then this video is exactly for you.
03:56But before we get to the details, an important warning.
03:59The procedure itself is completely safe and doesn't delete any data,
04:03but these are operations on a live system and your valuable data is at stake.
04:08If there is a power outage, a disconnection from the drive,
04:12or if the drive itself is faulty, your data could be at risk.
04:16That's why their safety is the most important thing.
04:18So, before you start this process, it's a good idea to make a backup.
04:21As you probably guessed, this topic has already been covered in depth,
04:25and you can make such a backup completely for free.
04:27The link to the dedicated material is in the top right corner and in the description.
04:32Without a backup, you really shouldn't go any further.
04:35This isn't meant to scare you.
04:36It's simply the only thing that will save all your data if something goes wrong.
04:40If you're doing this on a laptop, plug in the power adapter now
04:43and don't disconnect it until the operation is finished.
04:46Alright, now that we've got the formalities out of the way,
04:48the link to the program itself is in the description.
04:51You download it using the free download option.
04:53Install it, run it, and the first thing you do is go to the top,
04:56select View, Language, and then Polish, Polsky.
04:59And from that moment, the program is in Polish.
05:03Now right-click on the C partition, and if the resize and extend options are greyed out,
05:08the reason is almost certainly an encrypted drive.
05:11And don't worry, don't get upset.
05:14It's possible that you never turned it on yourself.
05:16Well, Windows has been enabling encryption by itself without asking since the end of 2024 on more and more computers.
05:23If you have the home version of the system, press the Windows key and the I key, like Ignacy, on
05:29your keyboard.
05:30Go to Privacy and Security, Device Encryption, and just turn it off.
05:34A small progress bar will appear.
05:36On the other hand, if you have the pro version of the system, you have the full BitLocker.
05:40You will find it in the control panel under the disk encryption section.
05:44Here, simply turn off the BitLocker function on the C partition and on the one from which you want to
05:48reclaim space.
05:49Now press the three keys on the left, Control, Shift, and Escape.
05:53Go to the Performance tab, and if you see your disk working hard here, you can be sure that decryption
05:58is in full swing.
05:59Depending on the amount of data, the speed of your disk, and the processing power of your CPU,
06:05this will take anywhere from a few minutes to several dozen minutes, or maybe even longer.
06:10Fortunately, your computer works quite normally during this time, and since you have to wait anyway,
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07:00and even about buying a house on the outskirts of the city.
07:04Who knows? Maybe something that will interest you.
07:07I'm sure one of those topics helped you pass the time while you were waiting for both partitions to be
07:12decrypted.
07:12And when the progress bar finally disappears and you see that the drive has stopped grinding like crazy,
07:18you open the Disk Genius program again.
07:20You right-click on C and see that the option to extend the partition is finally available.
07:27By the way, if it's still not available, check out the Frequently Asked Questions section under this topic on my
07:32website.
07:33The link is, of course, in the description.
07:36There, I'll try to put together ready-made solutions for specific problems.
07:40Of course, if any issues come up, that section will be gradually expanded.
07:44But that's just in case something doesn't work out.
07:47If everything goes well, the option to extend the C partition should now be available.
07:51So, let's move on to the main part of the procedure.
07:54After clicking, a small window will appear showing all the partitions on that single physical disk.
08:00For me, the recovery partition is selected by default, but it's the D partition,
08:05the one with games, that has hundreds of gigabytes free,
08:08and that's the one I want to shrink in favor of the C partition.
08:11So, I select it and click OK.
08:13In this window, you can grab the edge between the disks to adjust their size by eye.
08:18You can also enter exact values.
08:20For the D drive in the upper box, or for the C drive in the lower box.
08:24At first, I was convinced that if I entered a value here, like 100 gigabytes,
08:29then after the operation, the C drive would have 100 gigabytes logical, right?
08:34But that's not how the program works.
08:37Well, that's a surprise.
08:38Whatever value we enter in this box, that's how much the partition will be extended by.
08:43So, since my drive originally had just under 60 gigabytes,
08:47after entering 100, it will have just under 160 gigabytes.
08:51That will be more than enough for any additional programs in the future.
08:55Enter a value for expanding the C partition that will satisfy you and click the start button.
09:01Next, a message about a backup will appear.
09:04Fortunately, we've already taken care of that earlier.
09:06So, you don't have to break your rhythm now.
09:08Just click the yes button.
09:10The next window is a summary of the task plan.
09:13It's worth taking a look at it, and if everything checks out, we move on.
09:17Now you'll see information that, since the procedure concerns the partition that Windows is currently running from,
09:24it needs to be performed outside of the operating system.
09:27This is completely understandable and in line with our assumptions.
09:31It's a one-time thing.
09:33The program doesn't leave any junk in the boot process.
09:37But if at this stage you see information about missing files, click the link in the window.
09:42Scroll down a bit and click on the text, Download Now.
09:46Right next to the red text, a matching version is found.
09:50Open the downloaded file and install it on the C drive.
09:53This environment requires almost 4 GB, and if you're really low on space,
09:58my previously mentioned video about cleaning up the C drive might really help you here.
10:04This component is really essential to complete the operation,
10:07but fortunately most people already have it installed, so let's move on.
10:10Next, you go back to the program and click Start.
10:12After the restart, the computer will boot into the Disk Genius program,
10:16still outside of the Windows system.
10:18You'll recognize it because the resolution will be quite low,
10:21but that's exactly how it's supposed to be.
10:23You don't need to click anything here, you don't need to touch anything.
10:26All the steps we planned earlier in Windows are now being carried out slowly,
10:29and you just need to wait patiently.
10:31Although the clock initially showed about 15 minutes for me.
10:35In reality, the whole process took just 5 minutes.
10:38But if you get the impression that it will take much longer for you,
10:41and you don't want to wait until spring in front of your computer,
10:44there's an option at the bottom for things like
10:46shutting down or hibernating after it's finished.
10:49I left it set to restart, and what happened?
10:51Windows loaded again, and the computer logged in.
10:54So I go into Explorer and see that the C drive has increased by an additional 100 GB,
10:59which is exactly what I entered in that lower box earlier.
11:03If you want to enable disk encryption again,
11:05you go to exactly the same place as before,
11:07depending on whether it's the home or pro version.
11:10If this material saved you some stress, please leave a thumbs up, a comment,
11:14and maybe even check out my other content.
11:16Take care.
11:16.
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