Tiny bit of unallocated space (hardly worth mentioning)

[megatron]

Could I merge this safely back into an existing partition?

 

[bledd]

you get that quite often, it's just formatting data, i'd ignore it..

some formatting tools create it, some don't

 

[PistolPete]

It's reserved system space for when (if) you convert from a basic to a dynamic disk. If you never intend to convert your disks from basic to dynamic then you can try use DISKPART or similar to merge it into the next closest partition.

 

[megatron]

Thanks I think Ill leave it. According to Microsoft you lose partions if u convert back to a basic disk and therefore need to backup all data; but this is the operating system disk so can't mess about with it without a reinstall.

Apparently dynamic disks support extending the volume to include unallocated space.

 

[Dutch Guy]

Off topic but what is the difference between a Basic disk and Dynamic disk?

 

[megatron]

"Windows XP Professional supports two types of disk storage: basic and dynamic. Basic disk storage uses partition-oriented disks. A basic disk contains basic volumes (primary partitions, extended partitions, and logical drives).

Dynamic disk storage uses volume-oriented disks, and includes features that basic disks do not, such as the ability to create volumes that span multiple disks (spanned and striped volumes)."

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309044

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/howto-20.html