Windows – Partition has less shrink space than expected

partitioningUbuntuwindows 7

I have a dual-boot OS setup with Windows 7 and Ubuntu.

In the picture below, (C:) 376.14 GB is Windows 7, and Recovery (D:) is 21.87 GB is its recovery partition. I'm not sure what SYSTEM 300 MB is, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with Windows 7. The 37.65 GB is Ubuntu, and I believe the 11.17 GB is its swap space. Everything is on a 480GB SSD.

I'm trying to shrink the Windows partition and extend the Ubuntu partition. From the picture, (C:) has 121 GB free space, but when I tried to shrink it on Window 7's Disk Management application, it listed only 2777 MB as available shrink space. I'm puzzled, what's causing this and how do I shrink more memory?

enter image description here

Edit:

Here is the Application Log for Event 259:

A volume shrink analysis was initiated on volume (C:). This event log entry details information about the last unmovable file that could limit the maximum number of reclaimable bytes.

 Diagnostic details:
 - The last unmovable file appears to be: \System Volume Information\{516e2046-e408-11e4-bb03-a0b3cc44f1e6}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}::$DATA
 - The last cluster of the file is: 0x5d57f5b
 - Shrink potential target (LCN address): 0x3fbd621
 - The NTFS file flags are: ---AD
 - Shrink phase: <analysis>

 To find more details about this file please use the "fsutil volume querycluster \\?\Volume{6de8a945-d13d-11e1-bc89-806e6f6e6963} 0x5d57f5b" command.

Here is the output of the fsutil command from above:

C:\Windows\System32>fsutil volume querycluster \\?\Volume{6de8a945-d13d-1
9-806e6f6e6963} 0x5d57f5b
Cluster 0x0000000005d57f5b used by ---AD \System Volume Information\{516e
08-11e4-bb03-a0b3cc44f1e6}{3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752}::$DATA

Best Answer

I'm not sure what SYSTEM 300 MB is

The system partition contains the hardware-related files and the Boot folder that tell a computer where to look to start Windows.

By default, Windows 7 creates a separate system partition when it's installed from scratch (as opposed to upgraded from a previous version of Windows) on an unpartitioned hard drive. This partition is 100 MB in size.

Source What are system partitions and boot partitions?

It listed only 2777 MB as available shrink space

I'm puzzled, what's causing this and how do I shrink more memory?"**

The answer is right there in the image you posted.

"You cannot shrink a volume beyond the point where any unmovable files are located. See the "defrag" event in the Application log for detailed information about the operation when it has completed."

"See 'Shrink a Basic Volume' in Disk Management help for more information."

Shrink a Basic Volume

The shrink operation can be blocked by the presence of certain file types; see Additional considerations for more information.

...

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 or clusters 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 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. 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.

Source Shrink a Basic Volume

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