Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them

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  1. Posts : 20
    W8.1
       #1

    Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them


    hi,

    I just bought two SSD drives and installed Win 10 on the 250gb one.

    I don't know what happened (what I did!) but when I opened the SSD 500gb W10 got installed there too.

    I didn't install any programs on the 250gb - So how do I safely remove Windows from it.

    Thank you.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-contents-4.png   Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-2-4.png  
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Disk 4 has a recently upgraded Windows installation on it (see Windows.old).

    If you are saying you did a clean install using a Win 10 bootable medium, booting your PC from that and deleting any existing partitions, then the installation you did is presumably that on Disk 5.

    Disk 5 also has - correctly- a recovery partition, whereas Disk 4 doesn't. That's not always a good guide, but a clue.

    If you inspect the date the folders/files were created, I would think Disk 5 will show today's date.

    Which build of Win 10 have you installed?

    And I'm wondering why you chose MBR rather than GPT - does your PC only have legacy BIOS and not support UEFI?
    And did you make sure AHCI protocol was enabled (rather than IDE) to get the best out of your SSD?

    An easy check would be to disconnect /remove the 250Gb drive, and see if your PC still boots.

    Were the drives new or second hand?

    For reference:
    Clean Install Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 30,117
    Windows 11 Pro x64 Version 23H2
       #3

    Disk 4 may have Windows but is not mark Active. (MBR Boot)

    Disk 2, the 500GB is active as is disk 5.

    If this is a clean install just do it over with only your 250GB installed.

    Then clean up up disk 5 by removing recovery and marking partition 1 on Disk 5 as Inactive

    If this is not a clean install, @dalchina, you had that neat trick where Macrium was used to copy out c: partition, you cleaned installed and then copied back. Would this be a candidate for that process?


    @redbourn - When you said you installed Windows 10 on 250GB what was there before - Win 7 / Win 8. Wonder how you got a windows.old on new ssd.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 20
    W8.1
    Thread Starter
       #4

    [QUOTE=dalchina;1485464]Disk 4 has a recently upgraded Windows installation on it (see Windows.old).

    If you are saying you did a clean install using a Win 10 bootable medium, booting your PC from that and deleting any existing partitions, then the installation you did is presumably that on Disk 5.

    Disk 5 also has - correctly- a recovery partition, whereas Disk 4 doesn't. That's not always a good guide, but a clue.

    If you inspect the date the folders/files were created, I would think Disk 5 will show today's date.

    Which build of Win 10 have you installed?

    And I'm wondering why you chose MBR rather than GPT - does your PC only have legacy BIOS and not support UEFI?
    And did you make sure AHCI protocol was enabled (rather than IDE) to get the best out of your SSD?

    An easy check would be to disconnect /remove the 250Gb drive, and see if your PC still boots.

    Were the drives new or second hand?

    Thank you so much for the reply.

    I think it was Windows 1803 which MS recently allowed you to download for free if you had a previous authenticated version.

    5 is not SSD and is from my previous set up.

    "And I'm wondering why you chose MBR rather than GPT - does your PC only have legacy BIOS and not support UEFI?"
    "And did you make sure AHCI protocol was enabled (rather than IDE) to get the best out of your SSD?".

    Because although I reasonably computer literate with software I have close to zero inexperience with hardware.

    An easy check would be to disconnect /remove the 250Gb drive, and see if your PC still boots.

    Will try that that. When I tried to format it I got a message saying, "Can't do because it's in use".

    Message was from Windows 10 and not Minitool partition which I only downloaded today.

    Drives were brand new from the factory.

    I was being offered and option of which SSD drive I wanted to boot from but I changed that to only the 500gb drive.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 20
    W8.1
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Caledon Ken said:
    Disk 4 may have Windows but is not mark Active. (MBR Boot)

    Disk 2, the 500GB is active as is disk 5.

    If this is a clean install just do it over with only your 250GB installed.

    Then clean up up disk 5 by removing recovery and marking partition 1 on Disk 5 as Inactive

    If this is not a clean install, @dalchina, you had that neat trick where Macrium was used to copy out c: partition, you cleaned installed and then copied back. Would this be a candidate for that process?


    @redbourn - When you said you installed Windows 10 on 250GB what was there before - Win 7 / Win 8. Wonder how you got a windows.old on new ssd.
    Well I don't want to do a clean install. The 500gb is fine and now has lots of programs on it and it's what I'm using now.

    Disk 5 is not one of my new SSD drives but is from before I updated the system a few days ago.

    I just want to format the 250gb drive.

    It was a clean install on new disks from the factory. A local store installed them and showed me that the PC
    was working so he must have installed a version - the plot thickens !!!

    Thanks for the reply,

    Michael
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 30,117
    Windows 11 Pro x64 Version 23H2
       #6

    So did you try what dalchina suggested, disconnect 250GB.

    I'll bet if you disconnect the 250GB it won't boot.

    This will tell you it cannot be fully formatted.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 20
    W8.1
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Caledon Ken said:
    So did you try what dalchina suggested, disconnect 250GB.

    I'll bet if you disconnect the 250GB it won't boot.

    This will tell you it cannot be fully formatted.
    Thanks for the reply.

    Have been working with PCs since the mid 90's and am very comfortable with software.

    But like many users I have almost no experience with hardware. Once changed a modem and once a fan.

    So embarrassing as it is, I have to confess that I'm nervous about disconnecting all the drives. Or nervous about reconnecting them.

    Will do if I have no choice!

    Maybe these two additional screen grabs will share more light.

    The reason that a previous version of windows showed is because a dealer installed the two new drives and more ram.

    He put his version of Windows on the PC to show that it was all working. Didn't want his version because it was in Portuguese.

    Thanks,

    Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-disc-f.png

    MichaelWindows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-disc-c.png
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 20
    W8.1
    Thread Starter
       #8

    redbourn said:
    Thanks for the reply.

    Have been working with PCs since the mid 90's and am very comfortable with software.

    But like many users I have almost no experience with hardware. Once changed a modem and once a fan.

    So embarrassing as it is, I have to confess that I'm nervous about disconnecting all the drives. Or nervous about reconnecting them.

    Will do if I have no choice!

    Maybe these two additional screen grabs will share more light.

    The reason that a previous version of windows showed is because a dealer installed the two new drives and more ram.

    He put his version of Windows on the PC to show that it was all working. Didn't want his version because it was in Portuguese.

    Thanks,

    Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-disc-f.png

    MichaelWindows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-disc-c.png

    continue.jpg - Google Drive

    One more jpg
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 30,117
    Windows 11 Pro x64 Version 23H2
       #9

    Can you show us what is on the 500GB...

    as I look at this Disk 1 (Disk Management) is your boot drive so my statement it wouldn't boot if 250GB removed is incorrect, or could be incorrect.

    Please show us the directories on you 500GB ssd.

    If indeed the 250 GB drive is just your vendors old stuff and not yours you may be able to just clone / move the 500GB drive to the 250.

    Thanks for the additional screen shots.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #10

    What we really need to see a screenshot of disk management with all the drives and columns expanded so we can see all the data:
    Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of | Windows 10 Tutorials

    Until we see the data in the columns, we are largely just guessing.

    Windows installed on 2 drives and need to format one of them-capture.jpg
      My Computer


 

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