New 4TB drive install..

Hi,

I have a HP Pavilion 23 all in one PC (23-f221ea) and the 1TB hard disk is getting rather full.. I want to change for say a 4TB drive, I know that I can’t clone my 1TB drive to the 4TB drive using something like Acronis as max is 2TB and the new 4TB drive will have to be GPT formatted…I have already updated my PC to W10 with the ISO disk I made from MS update..
Can I install the larger disk GPT formatted and install with the ISO disk I made??? Or will I have to start all again and install with Win8/8.1 first..??

Thx for any help.. Len

Can I install the larger disk GPT formatted and install with the ISO disk I made?

Yes.

If you have already upgraded to Windows 10 and it has activated, then simply switch the hard drives and install the operating system again.
(Don't forget to change the boot order in your BIOS to the CD player.)

If you do happen to have any problems then just stick in the old hard drive back there.

A better solution would be to simply add a new larger HDD as a USB drive.
That way you can use it to make a back up of your Windows installation as well as free up the 1 TB drive by moving stuff over to the new external drive.

topgundcp said:

Why don't you just connect the 4TB in addition to the 1TB you have. Initialize it as GPT disk and use it for data storage. Move personal data from 1TB to the 4TB and do a fresh install of Windows 10 in the 1TB.

Thanks for getting back to me...
As the drive is inside the all in one there is only space for the one drive..Also I was getting disk checking a lot so another reason to I want to change disk...

Thx len

topgundcp said:

If your MB support UEFI installation then yes but if it does not then you are stuck with MBR type installation. However, you really don't need a large HD to install Windows. Ideally, you only need 120GB partition to install it.

Your 2nd question: No, you dont need to go back to Windows 8/8.1 to do upgrade. Your PC is already activated with Windows 10. Just do a fresh install and it will be activated.

Thanks for getting back to me...
As the drive is inside the all in one there is only space for the one drive..As stated in last message kept getting disk checking so really want to change HD..But as you said I could install as I have activated on this PC so did not know that...Would that be the same with a new HD..??

Thx Len

teachermark said:

Yes.

If you have already upgraded to Windows 10 and it has activated, then simply switch the hard drives and install the operating system again.
(Don't forget to change the boot order in your BIOS to the CD player.)

If you do happen to have any problems then just stick in the old hard drive back there.

A better solution would be to simply add a new larger HDD as a USB drive.
That way you can use it to make a back up of your Windows installation as well as free up the 1 TB drive by moving stuff over to the new external drive.

Thanks for getting back to me...But if I can format with GPT then Hopefully I should be OK. but don't want to spend out for new HD if its not going to work...Again as stated I really want to change disk..

Thx len

I believe that to use a GPT disk as a boot drive, the PC must use UEFI.

The good news is that your all-in-one appears to be a UEFI system. If your old HD is GPT, you should be able to clone it to a 4GB GPT disk. I haven't done that, but I have imaged GPT drives with Acronis True Image 2014 and 2015.

bobkn said:

I believe that to use a GPT disk as a boot drive, the PC must use UEFI.

Depends on BIOS support for GPT disks in legacy mode. Both my ASUS Z97 and Intel DZ77 motherboards do it.