Solved: Windows Server 2008 Extend Volume Parameter Is Incorrect

If you are trying to extend volume in Windows Server 2008 or 2008R2, but fail due to the “Parameter is incorrect” error, you can read this post. Here we will show you how to solve “Windows 2008 extend volume parameter is incorrect” issue effectively.

Emily

By Emily / Updated on May 12, 2023

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Scenario

"I extended my E drive partition from 100GB to 150GB using Server 2008 disk manager “extend volume” feature. But after running through the GUI, I received an error message reporting “the parameter is incorrect”. Any advice?"

Extend Volume Parameter Incorrect

Cause of “Parameter is incorrect” when extending volume in Server

Compared with Windows Server 2003 Disk Manager, Server 2008 Disk Manager add the “Extend Volume” and “Shrink Volume” options allowing users to change partition size online, instead of resorting to third-party tools.

The “extend volume” feature works well usually. However, sometimes you might meet the error message saying “The parameter is incorrect” when extending Windows Server 2008 system drive. In this case, it is possible that the volume has been increased to the new size in Disk Management, but it still shows the old size in the Windows Explorer. After Googling this issue many times, it seems because the file system of the target volume has not been expanded.

Fix "parameter is incorrect” error in Server 2008 (R2)

In the last section, we found out that the cause behind the “extend volume parameter is incorrect” is the file system of the target partition had not been extended correspondingly. So, we need to extend its file system as well. That can be done through Diskpart commands. Detailed steps are:

Step 1. Press “Windows” key and “R” key on your keyboard to open Run box. Type “cmd” in and click “OK” to enter the CMD.exe window.

Step 2. In the Command Prompt window, type “diskpart” and hit on “Enter”.

Step 3. Then execute the following commands in order:

  • list volume

  • select volume #: select the volume you have extended.

  • extend filesystem

Extend Filesystem

When done, type “exit” to leave this window.

Better workaround for "Parameter is incorrect" error in Server 2008 (R2)

If the “Windows 2008 extend volume parameter is incorrect” issue still persists after extending the file system via Diskpart, you can turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. This partition management software can easily and flexibly extend volume in Windows Server 2008/2012/2016/2019/2022 and Windows 11/10/8/7 in different situations.

Try Demo Version Server 2022/2019/2016/2012/2008/2003
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Part 1. There is adjacent unallocated space

When there is contiguous unallocated space in the right or left side of the target volume you want to extend, you can directly extend it via “Resize Partition”.

Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Server on Server computer. Right-click the target drive and select “Resize/Move Partition”.

Resize Destination Partition

Step 2. In the pop-out window, drag the bar to the right side to extend it with the unallocated space. If the adjacent unallocated space is on the left side of the volume, you need to drag the slider to the left side.

Extend Partition Size

Step 3. In the main interface, click “Apply” and “Proceed” to commit the pending operation.

Part 2. The unallocated space is not adjacent to the to-be-extended partition

When there is unallocated space but it is not adjacent to the aim volume, you can use the “Merge Partitions” function. That can directly merge one or more unallocated space into another volume no matter whether they are adjacent or not.

Step 1. Right-click the volume you want to expand and choose  "Advanced" > “Merge Partitions”.

Merge Partition

Step 2. In this window, tick the unallocated space and click “OK”.

Tick Unallocated Space

Step 3. Back to the main interface, click “Apply” to commit the operation.

Apply

Besides, you can first move partition to make the unallocated space next to the target partition, then use the first method to extend volume.

Part 3. There is no unallocated space on the hard drive

If there is no unallocated space on the hard drive, you can first shrink another larger drive and choose either one of the above two methods to extend volume in Server, or you can use “Allocate Free Space” to directly assign some free space from one partition to another.

Step 1. Right-click the partition which has some free space you can use to extend another one, and select “Allocate Free Space”.

Allocate Free Space

Step 2. In this window, you can decide how much free space to allocate to the target volume and click “OK”.

Allocate Free Space From D To C Drive

Step 3. Click “Apply” and “Proceed” to execute the pending operation.

Proceed

These three ways can help you extend volume in Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012/2008 and get around the "Windows 2008 (R2) extend volume parameter is incorrect" issue. In addition, the “Extend Partition Wizard” provided by AOMEI Partition Assistant Server can extend NTFS system drive without rebooting.

Final thoughts

Now, you are sure to know how to do when meeting the “Windows 2008 extend volume parameter is incorrect” problem. The same methods can also apply to Server 2012, Server 2016, Server 20019, Server 2022 extend volume parameter is incorrect. AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is a great workaround when you cannot extend volume successfully. Besides, it can also clone Windows Server to SSD/HDD, split a large partition into two smaller ones, convert system disk and non-system disk between MBR and GPT partition styles without deleting partitions.

Emily
Emily · Staff Editor
Emily is an English editor of AOMEI Technology; she has a great passion for providing easy solutions for people to tackle with all disk or partition management problems. In addition to writing articles about disk/partition management, she also edits great tutorials on how to back up and restore disk for data security. In her spare time, she loves to learn computer skill to improve herself or stay with her family to enjoy a good day.