Delete a partition or logical drive

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To delete a partition or logical drive

Open Computer Management (Local).
In the console tree, click Computer Management (Local), click Storage, and then click Disk Management.
Right-click the partition, logical drive, or basic volume you want to delete, and then click Delete Partition.

If the menu item reads Delete Volume instead of Delete Partition, the volume is a dynamic volume. For instructions on how to delete a dynamic volume, see Related Topics.

Caution

When you delete a partition, all data on that deleted partition or logical drive is lost.
You cannot recover deleted partitions or logical drives.

Notes

To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. To perform this procedure remotely, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the remote computer. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.
To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump), or OEM partition.
You cannot delete an extended partition unless the extended partition is empty.

All the logical drives in an extended partition be deleted before you can delete the extended partition.

Open Command Prompt.
Type:

diskpart
At the DISKPART prompt, type:

list disk

Make note of the disk number of the disk from which you want to delete the partition.
At the DISKPART prompt, type:

select diskn

Select the disk n from which you want to delete the partition.
At the DISKPART prompt, type:

list partition

Make note of the number of the partition that you want to delete.
At the DISKPART prompt, type:

select partitionn

Select the partition n that you want to delete.
At the DISKPART prompt, type:

delete partition

Caution

Deleting a partition on a dynamic disk can delete all dynamic volumes on the disk, thus leaving the disk in a corrupt state. To delete a dynamic volume, use the delete volume command instead. For instructions on how to delete a dynamic volume, see Related Topics.
When you delete a partition, all data on that deleted partition or logical drive is lost.
You cannot recover deleted partitions or logical drives.

Value	Description
list disk	Displays a list of disks and information about them, such as their size, amount of available free space, whether the disk is a basic or dynamic disk, and whether the disk uses the master boot record (MBR) or GUID partition table (GPT) partition style. The disk marked with an asterisk (*) has focus.
select disk	Selects the specified disk, where n is the disk number, and gives it focus.
list partition	Displays the partitions listed in the partition table of the current disk.
select partitionn	Selects the specified partition and gives it focus. If no partition is specified, the select command lists the current partition with focus.
delete partition	On a basic disk, deletes the partition with focus. You cannot delete the system partition, boot partition, or any partition that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump).

Notes

To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group, Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.
To open a command prompt, click Start, point to All programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command prompt.
You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump), or OEM partition.
You cannot delete an extended partition unless the extended partition is empty.

All the logical drives in an extended partition be deleted before you can delete the extended partition.
You cannot delete partitions on removable media using DiskPart.
For more information about DiskPart, see Related Topics.

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