220-1102 Question 111
Single answerDisk managementA technician is upgrading a Windows 11 Pro workstation that uses a 500 GB basic disk. The C: partition is nearly full, and the disk also contains a 120 GB D: partition used for old project files. The user has copied all needed data from D: to a network share and wants that space added to C: without reinstalling Windows or using third-party tools. In Disk Management, the technician deletes the D: volume, but the Extend Volume option for C: is still unavailable. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason?
- A
The unallocated space is not directly adjacent to the C: partition on the right side
- B
Windows cannot extend the system partition on a basic disk
- C
The disk must be converted from MBR to GPT before C: can be extended
- D
The technician must format the unallocated space as NTFS before extending C:
- E
Disk Management can only extend partitions if the deleted volume was larger than the system volume
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best answer is that the unallocated space is not directly adjacent to C: on the right side. In Windows Disk Management, extending a simple volume on a basic disk generally requires contiguous unallocated space immediately following the target partition. If a recovery, OEM, or other partition sits between C: and the free space, Extend Volume is grayed out. This is consistent with Microsoft's Disk Management behavior and is a common support issue after OEM installations or Windows feature updates that create or move recovery partitions. Best practice is to verify partition order before making changes, confirm backups exist, and use built-in tools carefully to avoid affecting boot or recovery functionality.
- A. Correct.
Correct. In Windows Disk Management, a volume can typically be extended only into contiguous unallocated space immediately to its right. If another partition, such as a recovery partition, exists between C: and the newly unallocated space, Extend Volume will be unavailable even though free space exists elsewhere on the disk. This is a common real-world limitation technicians encounter when managing Windows partitions.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Windows can extend a system partition on a basic disk as long as the file system and disk layout support it and there is appropriate contiguous unallocated space. The issue in this scenario is not that the disk is basic, but that Disk Management has strict adjacency requirements.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Converting from MBR to GPT is not required simply to extend an existing C: partition. GPT is useful for larger disks and modern boot configurations, but it does not solve the specific Disk Management limitation described here. A candidate might choose this if they confuse partition style limitations with volume extension requirements.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Unallocated space should remain unformatted if it is going to be added to an existing partition. Formatting it would create a new volume, not make it easier to extend C:. This distractor reflects the misconception that all disk space must be formatted before Windows can use it.
- E. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Disk Management does not require the deleted partition to be larger than the system volume. The size of the deleted partition only determines how much space could potentially become available. The real requirement is that the unallocated space be contiguous and in the correct position relative to the partition being extended.