Windows 10: Drive not showing full capacity after installing image backup to new ssd drive.

Hi,

I upgraded to a bigger ssd drive after the old one became quite full. I used an image backup to do this. All works well after the reinstallation of the new drive. Only problem is my new ssd drive does not show it's full capacity. I still says it is full in file explorer. Disk management shows the extra space as unallocated. I tried creating a new simple volume but file explorer still does not see it as part of drive C. Still get the message that it is full...(only seeing the old drive size)

How can I get drive C to show it's full capacity? Please help.

:)

 

Capacity of external system image hard drive

In creating a system image, what capacity hard drive the backup must be saved on?
Should the capacity of the external hard drive equal or exceed that of the source drive?

In the event of a system crash, how is the operating system restored with the system image created?

 

Backup "Create a system image" dialog does not list second hard drive as a target location

I have shrunk my D drive and created a new partition to see if it would let me back up to that partition instead. Now the new partition E is listed in the list, but it says it is on the same physical drive as my installation.





Now on the next 'Create a system image' screen, it does list D: as a 'System' drive that needs to be backed up (even if disk manager does not mention it as a system volume). You do not get a choice to exclude the D: drive. The disk manager gives no indication
that D: is a System drive, so I looked around to figure out what can cause a data disk to be seen as a system drive. Supposedly, having any application installed on the D: drive can cause the whole D drive to be included in a 'System image'.

Robert Aldwinckle's comment suggests that saving file history on your secondary drive might influence it being seen as a necessary part of the system image backup. My D: drive was set as the location for file history, turning it off however had no influence
on it being seen as a necessary part of the system image backup.

This answers my original question: A second drive/volume can be seen as a necessary part of the system image backup even if disk manager says it is not a 'System' volume. The "Create a system image" dialog will not show volumes that it deems part of what
it needs to back up as a valid target. The 'Create a system image' dialog offers no configuration to exclude drives/volumes from its backup.

If I want to use the system image backup system to transfer my installation to a new SSD I will have to find storage large enough to fit the whole backup, C: and D: drive included. It is still unclear to me if the system image restore process will allow
me to restore just the C: drive from the system image and ignore the D: drive, the new SSD isn't big enough to fit 2 partitions matching my old C: and D: drive in size.

Alternatively, I could use third party software to make a backup and restore only my C: volume. Although I am trying to avoid solutions that will require me to boot into windows with both the new SSD and the old C: SSD connected, since I had trouble with
drive letter/boot order reassignment on a windows 7 to 10 upgrade before.

It might be less of a hassle to just use windows recovery to do a fresh install of windows on the new SSD and then manually copy over what I want to save from the old SSD.

 

Cloning to SSD then swapping drive letters


@SamHobbs
What you want done is very simple and can be done in short period of time. Here's my suggestion:
There's 2 modes that Windows can be installed: UEFI and the old legacy MBR. Open Disk Management, look at the disk where your C drive is, if there's a

1. EFI System Partition, your Windows was installed using UEFI.
2. System Reserved partition, your Windows was installed using MBR

Next, Connect your SSD to an available Sata port (no need to format or do anything). Download: Macrium Reflect Free . Install and run. Follow the steps below:

1. From Macrium, click on image this disk under your C drive and save it to either an Internal or External Drive. This will create a single backup image of the whole disk containing your C drive.
2. Again, from Macrium, click on Restore tab and select the image created from step 1, Select your SSD as the destination drive, click Next->Finish
3. Exit Macrium. If your Windows was installed using MBR, Open disk management and make sure the SSD is marked "Active" else go to next step.
4. Shutdown your PC. Disconnect the HD containing Windows C drive then connect your SSD to it.
5. Reboot. Your PC should boot and the Windows should have C as the drive letter.

NOTE: The procedure above is to backup your Windows to an image file then copy it back to the SSD. This ensures proper cluster size aligment for the SSD. In addition, Macrium also perform Trimming for the SSD. This is more preferable than cloning.