SSD upgrade from 1TB to 4TB/Size issue

antares · 29 Nov 2023

Hi all, I just upgraded my main OS Samsung Nvme SSD 1TB to a 4TB Nvme. In order to do so I backed up the original SSD with Acronis True Image and restored to the new 4TB Nvme. The system boots fine and the system seems to be an identical clone of the original, except that I still see the same SSD size as the original (1TB). Upon exploring with Computer Management/Disk Management I see there's a 2.8TB unallocated space in the disk (attached screenshot). How can I merge the unallocated space so I have a single 4TB disk? I remember merging in the past but it was a while ago and don't want to mess with the boot drive. Thanks

SSD upgrade from 1TB to 4TB/Size issue-2023-11-29_20-34-39.jpg

UPDATE: I right clicked the C partition and chose "Extend Volume", and now it's all fine I guess (attached screenshot)

SSD upgrade from 1TB to 4TB/Size issue-1.jpg

Macboatmaster · 29 Nov 2023

You have as you say solved it by using the unallocated space to extend C

However on a gpt partitioned drive you should to ensure compatibility with windows 10, updates, recovery and upgrades to 11 for example as well as for other aspects of windows have the following partitions

Partition 1 - System - The EFI System partition that contains the NTLDR, HAL, Boot.txt, and other files that are needed to boot the system, such as drivers.
Partition 2 - MSR - The Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition that reserves space on each disk drive for subsequent use by operating system software.
Partition 3 - Primary - Where Windows is to be installed to.
Partition 4 - Recovery -

Without the recovery partition, as the name suggests your recovery options will be limited and the windows recovery environment will not work as it should

The MSR partition is not as vital, but would have been better being kept when you backed up

======
So the important question is - Did you have these partitions on your 1TB drive.
You can manage without them, but lets establish first if you did have them

antares · 29 Nov 2023

Macboat, I did not erase the original drive, this is how it looks in Disk Management:

SSD upgrade from 1TB to 4TB/Size issue-3.jpg

NavyLCDR · 29 Nov 2023

Just right click on C: drive in disk management and select the extend option. Or command line (with admin privileges):

Code:

diskpart
select volume c
extend

Macboatmaster said:

Partition 4 - Recovery -

Without the recovery partition, as the name suggests your recovery options will be limited and the windows recovery environment will not work as it should

That is not necessarily true. The Windows Recovery Environment can easily be located in C:\Recovery and be 100% functional:

Code:

C:\>dir /a
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 1651-2E51

 Directory of C:\

08/19/2023  09:32 PM    <DIR>          $Recycle.Bin
08/25/2023  07:11 PM    <DIR>          $WINDOWS.~BT
09/29/2023  02:45 PM    <DIR>          $Windows.~WS
10/26/2023  07:11 PM                 0 $WINRE_BACKUP_PARTITION.MARKER
08/19/2023  09:17 PM    <JUNCTION>     Documents and Settings [C:\Users]
11/29/2023  06:37 PM            12,288 DumpStack.log.tmp
09/29/2023  02:51 PM    <DIR>          ESD
11/29/2023  06:37 PM    <DIR>          Intel
08/20/2023  09:02 AM    <DIR>          OneDriveTemp
11/29/2023  06:37 PM     2,147,483,648 pagefile.sys
05/06/2022  09:24 PM    <DIR>          PerfLogs
11/27/2023  07:34 PM    <DIR>          Program Files
10/05/2023  07:07 PM    <DIR>          Program Files (x86)
10/05/2023  07:07 PM    <DIR>          ProgramData
11/04/2023  08:26 AM    <DIR>          Recovery
11/29/2023  06:37 PM        16,777,216 swapfile.sys
11/27/2023  03:34 PM    <DIR>          System Volume Information
08/19/2023  09:32 PM    <DIR>          Users
11/26/2023  10:11 AM    <DIR>          Windows
               4 File(s)  2,164,273,152 bytes
              15 Dir(s)  377,661,050,880 bytes free

C:\>CD Recovery

C:\Recovery>dir /a
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 1651-2E51

 Directory of C:\Recovery

11/04/2023  08:26 AM    <DIR>          .
11/27/2023  03:36 PM    <DIR>          ..
08/19/2023  09:17 PM             1,106 ReAgentOld.xml
11/04/2023  08:26 AM    <DIR>          WindowsRE
               1 File(s)          1,106 bytes
               3 Dir(s)  377,661,042,688 bytes free

C:\Recovery>cd WindowsRE

C:\Recovery\WindowsRE>dir /a
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 1651-2E51

 Directory of C:\Recovery\WindowsRE

11/04/2023  08:26 AM    <DIR>          .
11/04/2023  08:26 AM    <DIR>          ..
05/06/2022  09:19 PM         3,170,304 boot.sdi
11/04/2023  08:26 AM             1,106 ReAgent.xml
10/26/2023  07:11 PM       729,077,192 Winre.wim
               3 File(s)    732,248,602 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  377,661,042,688 bytes free

C:\Recovery\WindowsRE>reagentc /info
Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configuration
Information:

    Windows RE status:         Enabled
    Windows RE location:       \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk1\partition3\Recovery\WindowsRE
    Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: b55ec758-3f18-11ee-b0d5-e4bf6b2589ed
    Recovery image location:
    Recovery image index:      0
    Custom image location:
    Custom image index:        0

REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

cereberus · 30 Nov 2023

Frankly, having a 3.5+ TB C drive is not really the best idea.

The drive will just grow and grow with stored data.

This means image backups (assuming you do these) will grow as well, and you end up backing up same files again and again.

In my opinion, it is far better to have a C partition (OS + programs) and a D partition (data).

You might like to keep critical data on C drive and less critical data e.g. downloaded videos that you can re-download.

Then you can keep image backups more lean and mean. Of course, you still need to back up data on D drive but you can use tools like robocopy, freefilesync, Windows own File History Backup etc. but you only need to backup a file (after initial backup) if it has changed.

dalchina · 30 Nov 2023

It's not clear if you actually have a MSR partition. This is not shown by Disk Management by design. You can confirm that exists by other means.

Turning to disk imaging and data- as cereberus has said, it's far better to have personal data off C: as far as possible.

Why? When restoring a disk image of a partition EVERYTHING is taken back to the date the image was created.

If most of your data is on a separate disk or partition and you need to restore Windows, then far less of your data will be affected.
You need to plan ahead for this.

MisterEd · 30 Nov 2023

FYI, I have Acronis True Image. If you would have selected Automatic clone mode then Acronis True Image would have automatically extended the C: partition to 4TB for you.

SSD upgrade from 1TB to 4TB/Size issue-ati-clone.jpg

antares · 30 Nov 2023

MisterEd said:

FYI, I have Acronis True Image. For cloning there is an option to automatically extend target drive to fill whole drive. In other words Acronis True Image would have automatically extended the C: partition to 4TB for you.

I don't see a cloning option, only a Backup/Restore that don't offer the partition resizing. I'm using the Acronis boot disk to do both backup and restore

MisterEd · 30 Nov 2023

antares said:

I don't see a cloning option, only a Backup/Restore that don't offer the partition resizing. I'm using the Acronis boot disk to do both backup and restore

Here is a screenshot of the Acronis True Image 2018 boot disk. Cloning is in the Tools menu. However, your menus may be a little different.

SSD upgrade from 1TB to 4TB/Size issue-ati-menu.jpg

Acronis True Image OEM
https://dl.acronis.com/u/oem/b-oem-s...uide_en-US.pdf

antares · 30 Nov 2023

MisterEd said:

Here is a screenshot of the Acronis True Image 2018 boot disk. Cloning is in the Tools menu. However, your menus may be a little different.

Acronis True Image OEM
https://dl.acronis.com/u/oem/b-oem-s...uide_en-US.pdf

As I mentioned, I do the backup/restore using the Acronis boot disk, never from within Windows. I know that the Windows version has the Clone Disk feature, but I (wrongly) assumed that the Acronis boot disk only had the backup/restore option. Next time I'll look for the Clone disk tool under "Tools&Utilities tab" , I'm sure the boot disk has that option too. Thanks