DISKPART: Can't delete extended partition

I was trying to convert my MBR disk to GPT disk using MBR2GPT. I first checked the partition list using DiskPart, and I saw there were 4 partitions:

DISKPART>list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 49 GB 31 KB
Partition 0 Extended 415 GB 50 GB
Partition 3 Logical 200 GB 50 GB
Partition 4 Logical 215 GB 250 GB

I checked the extended partition:

DISKPART>detail partition
Partition 0
Type : 0F
Hidden: No
Active: No
Offset in Bytes: 53801556480
There is no volume associated with this partition.

I tried to delete it but it encountered the following error:

DISKPART> delete partition
Virtual Disk Service error:
The extended partition is not empty.

I tried to format it, but it seems I can't format the extended partition.

1 Answer

You cannot delete the extended partition because you may only select one logical partition at a time and this partition contains several. Thus, you need to delete all the logical partitions first, then delete the extended partition.

You may do so in Disk Management, or if you prefer in diskpart:

1. Run cmd as administrator

2. Run diskpart inside

3. Type list disk

4. Type select disk n (n is the number of the extended partition)

5. Type list partition

6. Type select partition m (m is the number of any partition)

7. Type delete partition

8. Repeat steps 6-7 to delete the rest of the logical partitions, followed in the end by the extended partition itself.