Wrong volume showing on new hard drive

[pcmanchester2012]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased a new SeaGate 2TB hard drive to replace my previous smaller one. It appears that I've formatted it wrong as the new 2TB drive is showing on My Computer as having the same storage space as the old drive. However, in Disk Management I can see the 'missing' 1.8TB or so but can't seem to access it. I'm assuming that it's a partitioning problem but, being a bit of a newbie I'm a bit lost on what to do now. I attempted to format it but it looks like I did it wrong. I've added some pics which show my system and the issue I'm having... some step by step instructions to solve the issue would really be appreciated! Ultimately I would like to remove the older, smaller hard drive and keep it safe as a back up and only have the new, larger drive plug in.

Your help is really appreciated!

http://picpaste.com/Drive_1-lVq873DN.jpg
http://picpaste.com/Drive_2-fjmHWptF.jpg
http://picpaste.com/Drive_3-YVDGX6Jj.jpg
http://picpaste.com/Drive_4-4md1I99Z.jpg
http://picpaste.com/Drive_5-gs0HzuZ7.jpg

 

[Piotrsama]

Did you Clone your old HDD to your new one? (using some cloning software, I guess)
You can leave it as that, and assign the rest (1.6TB) to a new partition... and use it for data.

 

[pcmanchester2012]

Yep I cloned it as I want to run the OS off the new bigger drive. how do I make the extra 1.8TB useable as at the moment it isn't

 

[Piotrsama]

On Disk Management, secondary mouse button over the 1.6TB partition, and format it.

 

[Elixer]

Yep I cloned it as I want to run the OS off the new bigger drive. how do I make the extra 1.8TB useable as at the moment it isn't

You assign it a letter.
In your http://picpaste.com/Drive_5-gs0HzuZ7.jpg pic, click on the area before the D: partition, and then select assign letter to drive/partition.

However, if you just did a clone, then you did it wrong.
Your supposed to select the beginning of the drive for the partition, and, after you cloned it, your supposed to disconnect the original drive (or format that one).
It also looks like you have a 3GB "restore" partition that you didn't clone, and you will need that, in case you want to restore windows on your machine.

So, redo the clone, and copy both those partitions on first drive to the 2nd drive. Use Acronis, or Clonezilla or ... (free)

 

[pcmanchester2012]

Thanks - it won't let me select format (it's greyed out - see below). It will only let me choose format on the original, smaller drive.

http://picpaste.com/drive_6-XR5l23vs.jpg - larger drive with format greyed out
http://picpaste.com/drive_7-AEfDriia.jpg - smaller, original drive where I can choose greyed out

 

[pcmanchester2012]

You assign it a letter.
In your http://picpaste.com/Drive_5-gs0HzuZ7.jpg pic, click on the area before the D: partition, and then select assign letter to drive/partition.

However, if you just did a clone, then you did it wrong.
Your supposed to select the beginning of the drive for the partition, and, after you cloned it, your supposed to disconnect the original drive (or format that one).
It also looks like you have a 3GB "restore" partition that you didn't clone, and you will need that, in case you want to restore windows on your machine.

So, redo the clone, and copy both those partitions on first drive to the 2nd drive. Use Acronis, or Clonezilla or ... (free)

Unfortunately it won't let me assign a letter to the 1.6TB bit before the partition, it just comes up with help as the only option - see here http://picpaste.com/drive_8-cMVHr47D.jpg

Any ideas?

I've recloned it a few times to try and fix it but not getting anywhere. I'm sure i'm missing something simple but have no idea. I used Acronis Easy Migrate to do the clone... Some step by step instructions would really help.

 

[corkyg]

Basically the probloem would have been solved had the cloning operation been PROPORTIONAL. All of the new drive would have been used.

 

[pcmanchester2012]

Hi Corky,

I do remember choosing proportional, however what I got is as shown in the pictures.

How do I just start again?

 

[Elixer]

Unfortunately it won't let me assign a letter to the 1.6TB bit before the partition, it just comes up with help as the only option - see here http://picpaste.com/drive_8-cMVHr47D.jpg

Any ideas?

I've recloned it a few times to try and fix it but not getting anywhere. I'm sure i'm missing something simple but have no idea. I used Acronis Easy Migrate to do the clone... Some step by step instructions would really help.

I never used that specific software, so I can't tell you how to use it.
Using Acronis true image (also available for free), just select backup, then put a checkmark on both those partitions, and select the boot sector as well.
Then just tell it the new drive.
Do a quick format of the other drive so you have 1 big partition.
Then when it clones it, it will fix the partitions for you.

 

[corkyg]

What Elixer suggests is the backup and restore function - that is not cloning. What I saw in your picture looked OK. ???

My rule #1 (for the past 15 years!) is never clone from within Windows. I always use Acronis TI's bootable Rescue Media (prepared by you.) It has a much better GUI (linux based) and never gets involved with the host OS. Always choose manual mode and stay in control. Turn off when done. Disconnect the old drive and boot to the new one if is the OS drive. Otherwise, just run the new one by replacing the old one with it.

 

[pcmanchester2012]

Thanks for the reply guys, but you both have different opinions on the best way to tackle the problem.

Which is the best way to proceed? Ideally I just need to wipe the 2TB drive and start again, however on the disk management tool it doesn't give me the option to delete the volume.

Any ideas? Getting pretty confused now to be honest.

 

[corkyg]

I fully agree with Elixer's first note. Seems to me you have BOTH drives connected. This is a no-no. Disconnect the old drive completely and boot to the new one.

 

[Elixer]

No, backup & restore means it backups to a file, then file to the HD.
That is not what I am saying, in this case, it is a straight copy (clone) of his old drive fully, that includes his restore partition & his OS partition.

I also do the clone (and backups for what it is worth) outside of windows, using the CD/USB thumbdrive I have the program on.
That way, windows can't tell you what you can, and can't do.

You can boot with the Acronis Media in the drive/usb thumbdrive, and do everything there.

Oh, and there are multiple ways to handle all this, but the main goal is to copy *all* your data over to the new drive, not just your OS. You want a 1:1 copy of the old HD to the new HD.

 

[corkyg]

OK - we really are in agreement - just different terms used. I fully endorse the Thumbdrive boot. That's how I do my laptop. I am still concerned that OP has both drives connected and they are both OS drives. Not good. Windows gets all confused that way.

 

[pcmanchester2012]

Ok thanks guys, but how do I actually do it? I'm a bit of a novice... a very confused novice!

 

[corkyg]

First, clarify as to whether or not you have both drives connected. If so, power down, disconnect the old drive and connect the newly cloned drive to that port (assume SATA.) Then power up and report what happens. We can then go from there.

 

[Elixer]

Um, while a crappy way to do this, I suppose you can take pics of the program you are using, and show us screen by screen what options it shows, and we can tell you how to fix it that way.

I still think you need to reclone everything, since http://picpaste.com/drive_8-cMVHr47D.jpg clearly shows you didn't copy all the data correctly, you only copied the OS partition, and I guess there is a option that asked if you want free space before or after, and you picked before partition, which is why that big chunk is before your OS partition.