(MBR/GPT) 2TB instead of full 4TB (need help)

[Midevil Chaos]

I bought an SSD and an 4TB HDD (for gaming), and at the time, I did not realize that I could not format my HDD from an MBR to a GPT drive, as it won't allow me. At that point, I had a lot of stuff on it, and I didn't have a spare external drive to backup that specific drive as it was. The thing about the HDD, is that it only utilizes 2TB instead of the full 4TB, due to the MBR limitations. The issues, as you might have guess, is that the drive itself has a System Reserved hidden partition. According to Google, if I delete that, my drive won't boot. Assuming I can backup my data as is (after purchasing an external drive), what can I do to restore my missing 2TB so I can have a total of 4TB on my HDD drive? Just to be clear, the OS does NOT boot from the HDD, it boots from the SSD.



In case you need it, here is the build that I have (minus some of the peripherals) included in this link for pcpartpickers:

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor	$220.75 @ Vuugo
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	$149.99 @ Canada Computers
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$103.44 @ Vuugo
Storage	Western Digital SN750 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$104.75 @ Vuugo
Storage	Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$219.99 @ Newegg Canada
Video Card	MSI Radeon RX 580 8 GB ARMOR OC Video Card	$262.13
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$131.50 @ Vuugo
Case Fan	Corsair Air Series AF140 Red 66.4 CFM 140 mm Fan	$24.99 @ Corsair
Case Fan	Corsair CO-9050016-RLED 52.19 CFM 120 mm Fan	$23.99 @ Amazon Canada
Monitor	AOC CQ27G1 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$332.99 @ Amazon Canada
Keyboard	Corsair K57 RGB Bluetooth Wireless Gaming Keyboard	$118.99 @ PC-Canada
Custom	iVanky DisplayPort Cable 6.6ft DP Cable Nylon Braided [2K@165Hz, 2K@144Hz, 4K@60Hz] Display Port Cable High Speed DisplayPort to DisplayPort Cable Compatible PC, Laptop, TV, Gaming Monitor - Grey	$15.99 @ Amazon Canada
Custom	Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse, Jelly Comb Wireless Mouse 2.4G High Precision Ergonomic Optical Mice (Black and Gold)	$25.99 @ Amazon Canada
Custom	Xbox One Play & Charge Kit	$35.00
Custom	Microsoft Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows 10	$35.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1805.49
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-09 17:34 EST-0500

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Screenshot of disk managemnet?

 

The system partition should be on the ssd, not the hdd, but if thats wrong you may need a reinstall.

 

 

[Midevil Chaos]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Screenshot of disk managemnet?

 

The system partition should be on the ssd, not the hdd, but if thats wrong you may need a reinstall.

 

 

Oh God...


 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Midevil Chaos said:

Oh God...


 

Yea... That partition is on the wrong drive.

 

You hould be able o move that partition to the other drive, there are some guides, google them, but backup first. 

 

Then you can reformat the hdd.

[Midevil Chaos]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea... That partition is on the wrong drive.

 

You hould be able o move that partition to the other drive, there are some guides, google them, but backup first. 

 

Then you can reformat the hdd.

God, thank you lol XD


I will research that. Should I backup both drives, or only the HDD?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Midevil Chaos said:

God, thank you lol XD


I will research that. Should I backup both drives, or only the HDD?

Id do both, whenever you mess with partition, there is a good chance of losing lots of data.

[Midevil Chaos]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id do both, whenever you mess with partition, there is a good chance of losing lots of data.

Ok. Thanks.

[nick name]

There might be a program or two out there that can extend that partition to include that unallocated bit.  I've done it before, but it's been a while.  I also can't remember if I had anything on the drive at the time, but I don't remember there being anything destructive to the process.  

 

Edit:

I think MiniTool can do it.  

[nick name]

https://www.partitionwizard.com/help/extend-partition.html

[Midevil Chaos]

Just now, nick name said:

There might be a program or two out there that can extend that partition to include that unallocated bit.  I've done it before, but it's been a while.  I also can't remember if I had anything on the drive at the time, but I don't remember there being anything destructive to the process.  

Really? I have one software to mess around with the partition and all, but I don't recall it being able to do that, since it is using an MBR table, and not a GPT table. I mean, I know I can definitely do that once I get the reserve files on the SSD

[Midevil Chaos]

1 minute ago, nick name said:

https://www.partitionwizard.com/help/extend-partition.html

Thanks. I will take a look at that.

[nick name]

Windows can also change a drive from MBR to GPT without destroying anything.  

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, nick name said:

Windows can also change a drive from MBR to GPT without destroying anything.  

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt

The other issue is that hdd is the boot disk now and windows doesn't support legacy boot from gpt disks.

[Midevil Chaos]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

The other issue is that hdd is the boot disk now and windows doesn't support legacy boot from gpt disks.

What do you mean exactly? Not sure I follow.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Midevil Chaos said:

What do you mean exactly? Not sure I follow.

your hdd is currently your boot disk

 

You are setup to boot in legacy mode(instead of uefi, which is what should be used now for all modern pcs)

 

You need mbr for legacy, and gpt for uefi.

[Midevil Chaos]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

your hdd is currently your boot disk

 

You are setup to boot in legacy mode(instead of uefi, which is what should be used now for all modern pcs)

 

You need mbr for legacy, and gpt for uefi.

Oh ok. But, I should be able to modify the boot to uefi through mobo though, right?

[nick name]

9 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The other issue is that hdd is the boot disk now and windows doesn't support legacy boot from gpt disks.

That's just a switch in BIOS though.  

[Midevil Chaos]

2 minutes ago, nick name said:

That's just a switch in BIOS though.  

So... I should be fine by booting up the bios screen and modding it to uefi then?

[nick name]

1 minute ago, Midevil Chaos said:

So... I should be fine by booting up the bios screen and modding it to uefi then?

I guess that depends on when you do it.  If you're gonna do the MBR to GPT then you'd do it after that.  

[Midevil Chaos]

6 minutes ago, nick name said:

I guess that depends on when you do it.  If you're gonna do the MBR to GPT then you'd do it after that.  

Yup. That's plan, converting first and then modifying it to uefi through the mobo bios. Won't do it right now, so hungry right now lol.  But, I will most likely look later after supper.

[nick name]

When I used the MBR to GPT command it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  Hopefully, that's helpful info.  

[Enderman]

When you installed windows you should have only had the SSD isntalled, nothing else.

[nick name]

2 minutes ago, Enderman said:

When you installed windows you should have only had the SSD isntalled, nothing else.

How dumb is the Windows installer where having multiple drives installed confuses it.

 

Is there any downside (other than being inconvenient) to having the partition on the wrong drive?  

[Enderman]

Just now, nick name said:

How dumb is the Windows installer where having multiple drives installed confuses it.

 

Is there any downside (other than being inconvenient) to having the partition on the wrong drive?  

Very dumb.

 

And the main issue is that you can't boot windows if the other drive is unplugged.

Other issues include worse performance, longer update times, and sometimes failed windows updates.

[Midevil Chaos]

7 hours ago, nick name said:

When I used the MBR to GPT command it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  Hopefully, that's helpful info.  

Well... I would maybe need to re-install the OS? This System Reserved drive (with files NOT hidden) has nothing inside after I labeled it as drive H. Like, what the hell (I was following the instructions on the website below)...
https://www.diskpart.com/articles/move-system-reserved-partition-4348.html

This site says there should be XD That's not good...