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I originally had a logical partition "Data Storage (E:)" which I wanted to shrink. I did so using Paragon Partition Manager (as Windows 7's disk management wouldn't let me shrink), thus creating unallocated space which was put inside an 'extended partition' along with the 'E:' drive. I moved the unallocated space out which meant my 'E:' drive is now annoyingly in this extended partition on its own.

Partition layout:
enter image description here

The problem with this is that I can no longer access the 'E:' drive in Windows.

How can I access my 'E:' drive data and ultimately take the logical partition out of the unwanted extended partition that was created?

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  • A volume within an extended partition should be accessible, assuming it has a drive letter assigned to it. Check in Windows' Disk Management console (Start -> Run diskmgmt.msc) to see whether it has a drive letter; if not, assign one. (If so, the problem may have to do with filesystem damage incurred to the former E: volume during the resize. You did back up that volume's contents before you modified it, right?)
    – Aaron Miller
    Jul 29, 2013 at 21:51
  • Edit: I've fixed it thanks to Aaron's idea: it was assigned drive letter E, but by changing is to another letter somehow Windows kicked into gear and finally recognised it with an autoplay pop-up.. Previous comment: "I didn't back up as I simply have no hardware to back up on whatsoever, however the data potentially lost is of no significant value (at least I think!)... Here is disk management's layout: image link... just to clarify, I recently created that unallocated space after the image in the original post. Any ideas what will happen if I make the 'E:' drive primary in its current state?"
    – Oliver
    Jul 29, 2013 at 22:10
  • Glad to be of help! I've converted the comment to an answer, so that you can accept it as such.
    – Aaron Miller
    Jul 30, 2013 at 14:15

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A volume within an extended partition should be accessible, assuming it has a drive letter assigned to it. Check in Windows' Disk Management console (Start -> Run diskmgmt.msc) to see whether it has a drive letter; if not, assign one. (If so, the problem may have to do with filesystem damage incurred to the former E: volume during the resize. You did back up that volume's contents before you modified it, right?)

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