Advice/help on changing system drive

Atilla · July 15, 2022

Hello everyone, I am having all sorts of dilemmas. So I recently got a new pc (upgraded everything) and got a new ssd. My current ssd only had 128gb and I want to make the new one my system drive.

Currently, I used a program to copy my old ssd to my new one. This resulted in an exact copy (partitions and all) where only around 128gb is used on the bigger drive with a lot being unallocated. I am unable to expand the storage and looked up solutions which some did not work and some look complicated. But before I wanted to try, I need advice.

My end goal actually was to start fresh. For some reason I went to the copy drive to drive even though I wanted to start with a clean c drive (idk why maybe it is not worth it anymore). So I have an installation usb for windows 10 ready at my side and will need to do a copy drive to drive again to my old ssd. But if I go to the path of starting fresh, I worry how it effects everything on my big hdd drive with games/programs. Because there are always files in the c drive that those programs use right? If I start fresh do I need to reinstall/manage every file that I need? Because I feel like starting fresh could result in a lot of work (which is why I wanted to start fresh in the first place so I don't have to keep cleaning my messy old ssd).

What would be the best thing for me to do:

- fix the unallocated storage space and call it a day (not that I currently know how)

- reset the copy (by trying the third party or using my system image) and start 'fresh' with a clean system drive (which I don't know what the results will be on other programs already installed on my hdd)

A friend and I have spend a lot of hours trying to find the best way, what works, checking if it is what I want and we got the copy but still I lack storage because I can't expand. My head is gonna explode haha any advice?

Isuck Assimov · July 15, 2022

you can definitely clone your disk to a larger disk and expand the system partition. I did this last week with acronis true image when i cloned a 256gb sata m.2 to a 1TB NVME including boot partition etc.

Not sure how much of an impact a fresh install would have on your PC's speed in times of nvme ssds.

Atilla · July 15, 2022

29 minutes ago, Assimov said:

I did this last week with acronis true image when i cloned a 256gb sata m.2 to a 1TB NVME including boot partition etc.

Did you use that to expand the storage? Because currently I can't use it via basic windows functions, it is greyed out. Could I use the free version/trial or is that limited.

Isuck Assimov · July 15, 2022

Yea it expanded the storage automatically when selecting a larger disk that the source.

However sadly the cloning function seems to be disabled in the test version so its behind a paywall

edit: did you try diskpart yet ?
https://qualitestgroup.com/insights/technical-hub/how-to-extend-a-disk-in-windows-using-diskpart/

DigitalGoat · July 15, 2022

4 minutes ago, Atilla said:

Did you use that to expand the storage? Because currently I can't use it via basic windows functions, it is greyed out. Could I use the free version/trial or is that limited.

You can't expand into the greyed out unallocated area because the recovery partition is in the way, unless you use some app to manipulate the partitions the easiest way is to disable the recovery environment (I forget the command, should be a simple google lookup), this should place recovery in the Windows partition, you can then delete the recovery partition, extend into the unallocated to increase C: size, then re enable the recovery environment.

You could use a third party app or try tenforums, elevenforums or any similar tech forum which should have tutorials on how to do all the steps needed using just Windows command prompt.

Atilla · July 15, 2022

59 minutes ago, Assimov said:

edit: did you try diskpart yet ?
https://qualitestgroup.com/insights/technical-hub/how-to-extend-a-disk-in-windows-using-diskpart/

Just gave it a try but it is saying there is not enough space. It might be the issue @DigitalGoat mentioned.

edit: removed something because it was something else, forgot to delete

I did the following to disable the recovery env:

59 minutes ago, DigitalGoat said:

this should place recovery in the Windows partition, you can then delete the recovery partition, extend into the unallocated to increase C: size

Besides the operation successful in my prompt I don't see anything changed. I see here https://www.lifewire.com/delete-windows-recovery-partition-4128723 how to delete it and it mentions to save it on external disk. Should I do that & if so where do I find it?