How to Solve the Problem of "New Simple Volume" Grayed Out in Windows Server

Why can't I create a new simple volume?

Have you ever encountered a situation where you are unable to create a new partition on unallocated space using the “New Simple Volume” feature in Disk Management? You see the “New Simple Volume” option grayed out and wonder why?

The "New Simple Volume" greyed out issue mainly occurs when the source disk is an MBR disk. An MBR disk has a maximum hard drive size of 2 TB and supports up to 4 partitions or 3 primary partitions + 1 extended partition. Therefore, you will inevitably encounter the greyed out and unavailable error in Disk Management when:

• The current partition has reached its maximum size of 2 TB, and Windows doesn't allow creation of more partitions.
• You've created four primary partitions, or three primary partitions and one extended partition. No more partitions can be created.

Now that we have identified the possible causes of the new unmountable boot volume error, let us look at the fixes.

How to Fix the Grayed Out "New Simple Volume" in Windows Server (3 Methods)

To solve the problem that "New Simple Volume" is grayed out, you can convert the MBR disk to a GPT disk. A GPT disk supports up to 256 TB in size and 128 primary partitions at most.

There are three ways to resolve the issue of the "New Simple Volume" option being grayed out in Windows Server. This involves converting MBR to GPT using one of the following tools:

Tool - Server Partition Management Software - Partition Master Server.

Windows Disk Management

Windows Diskpart Command-Line Tool

Converting MBR to GPT via Disk Management or CMD will lead to data loss, for you need to delete all the data on the disk before the conversion. However, for a solution without data loss, it is recommended to use the Server Partition Manager software – Partition Master Server Edition. Now, let's delve into the usage of each tool in detail.

Method 1: Convert an MBR Disk to GPT Using Server Partition Manager Software [Click (#1)](#1)

Partition Master Enterprise is a professional tool that provides a simple and effective way to convert an MBR disk to GPT or GPT disk to MBR without data loss. It works on both system drives and non-system drives, and it comes with many other great features:

• Resize disk partitions quickly. • Flexibly adjust partition size by simply dragging left or right. • Merge Windows partitions quickly to expand partition. • Clone entire disk to another disk efficiently.

With the Partition Master Enterprise tool, you can convert MBR to GPT with just one click. All you need to do is download the software and run it on your Windows Server. Then, follow these simple steps for the conversion.

Step 1. Download and launch Partition Master on your computer.

Step 2: Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, select "Convert MBR to GPT" and click "Next".

Step 3. Select the MBR disk that you want to convert to GPT and click "Convert" to start the conversion.

That's it – your MBR disk should now be painlessly converted to GPT.

Method 2: Convert MBR Disk to GPT with Disk Management

This method requires that all partitions or volumes on the drive be deleted before converting MBR to GPT. Thus, if there's important data in existing partitions, you must back it up before starting the conversion. Also, this method only works for data disks. So, if the disk you want to convert to GPT is not a data disk, please return to Method 1 for assistance.

Please follow the steps below to convert MBR to GPT.

Step 1: Open Disk Management by right-clicking "This PC" and selecting "Manage," then "Disk Management."

2. Right-click on the MBR disk partition and select "Delete Volume" or "Delete Partition". Then, click "Yes" to confirm.

In Disk Management, delete the volume to prepare for converting the MBR disk.

Repeat this step to delete all existing partitions on the MBR disk.

<Step 3>: Right click the empty MBR disk and choose "Convert to GPT Disk".

After the conversion, you can create as many partitions as you need, and the “New Simple Volume” greyed out issue will no longer appear on your PC.

Method 3: Convert MBR to GPT via CMD

Diskpart CMD is an inbuilt Windows tool used for managing disk partitions and converting MBR to GPT disks. If you prefer using this method, back up all essential data since CMD also deletes volumes on the disk before conversion. Users should note that this method applies to data disks. For non-data disks, refer to Method 1.

Here are the steps to convert MBR to GPT via Command Prompt with UTF-8 encoding in American English: 1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator. You can do this by typing "cmd" in the search bar, right-clicking "Command Prompt" from the results, and selecting "Run as administrator." 2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to check the current partition style of the disk: ``` diskpart ``` Press Enter, and you'll enter the DiskPart tool. 3. Inside DiskPart, type the following command and hit Enter to list all disks: ``` list disk ``` 4. Note the number of the disk you want to convert (usually Disk 0 or Disk 1). Then, type the following command and press Enter to select that disk: ``` select disk X ``` Replace "X" with your disk number. 5. Make sure you've selected the correct disk because the next steps will delete data on it. Type the following commands and hit Enter to clear the disk data and convert it to GPT: ``` clean convert gpt ``` 6. Type the following command to exit DiskPart: ``` exit ``` 7. Finally, type the following command to exit Command Prompt: ``` exit ``` After completing these steps, your disk should now be converted from MBR to GPT. Keep in mind that this process will erase all data on the disk, so make sure to back up important files before proceeding.

Step 1: Press the "Win + R" keys on your keyboard to open the "Run" dialog box, type "cmd," and then press Enter.

Step 2: Type diskpart in the Command Prompt window, and press Enter to start the Diskpart program.

Step 3: Type in the following commands one at a time, and press Enter after each:

• list disk (Displays all connected disks) • select disk n (where 'n' represents the number of the target MBR disk) • clean (Erases all partitions on the target disk) • convert gpt • exit (Exits the window)

Conclusion

From the details above, you can see the main difference between using built-in Windows tools (Disk Management and Diskpart CMD) and third-party software (such as Partition Master Enterprise) lies in the ease of deleting disk volumes. The Partition Master software provides the simplest solution to fix the "New Simple Volume is grayed out" error by converting an MBR disk to GPT without losing data. Additionally, it embeds other excellent features to meet all your disk management needs. Therefore, it's recommended to use Partition Master Server Edition for efficient disk conversion to facilitate more convenient operations.