Windows 10: fix unallocated space mistake

My daughter asked me to do a fresh install of win 10 on her win7 Samsung laptop but I installed it in the unallocated space without pressing the new button which I now know sets primary and system partitions.
I then transferred all her data, music, photo, and videos from external HD back on to the laptop with win 10 now installed.
Can anyone tell me how to fix this or do I need to start from scratch, or would it cause any problems to just leave it as it is.
*Redface

:)

 

Windows 10 clean install with USB

Make sure Setup is creating the Partitions and not you before hand. It might want a drive with nothing on it just "Unallocated space" in order to do its' own thing via Setup. If the whole drive is already Partitioned it might pay you to Delete the Partitions
(on there) and return the drive to "Unallocated space".

Choosing "format" on the new primary partition might be your mistake? See if staying away from the "Format" option and choosing the "New" option gets you going?

How to Install Windows 10 on a PC

How to Install Windows 10 on a PC - Windows 10 - Tom's Hardware

 

How to expand drive c in windows 10

The reason for why the "Extend Volume" option greyed out is that only when there is an unallocated space very behind c drive, can it be extended. Azaruddin
Syed may make a mistake. Shrink drive c will create an unallocated space right behind c and make "Extend Volume" available. Yet, since you guys want to expand drive c, to shrink free space from it and then extend it to the free space does not enlarge
c drive; this make no sense.

To extend c drive with disk management, in most users' case, you need to move data of d drive (usually the drive very behind c drive is d drive) to other place and delete it to make it unallocated space. Then, you can extend drive c with the unallocated
space.

To shrink d drive make no sense either for the shrunk out unallocated is located very behind d drive not c.

Yet, you guys can rely on third party software to extend c drive without formatting d drive. As far as I know, the aomei partition assistant provides several ways to help users to

extend c drive even without unallocated space created. And, it has a free edition.

Just for reference! No matter which one you guys choose, disk management or third party software, hope you good luck!

 

It depends.

How large is the partition you installed to?

If you still have the data on the external drive, I'd do another fresh install, but that's just my OCD.

 

The hard drive is 1 Terabyte so 931 GB unallocated space.

 

My experience? Redo it. Or maybe check Computer Management, Disk Management to see if you can Extend the C: partition into that unallocated space. It usually works as none of the OS files have to be moved.

[On the other hand, shrinking an OS partition to allow for creating another partition can be problematic as some of the OS files can't be moved which can limit how much shrinking can be done.]

As for the OS files themselves, there's usually 1 or maybe more that get 'fixed' during the OS install as to location in the partition that can't be moved.

 

How is your Win 10 going to be activated?
Do you have a retail license for Win 7 which you can use? (rather than an OEM license)?

I'd allow a 70Gb partition for Win 10 without added data or installed programs. Why? Well, it seems large initially, but upgrading Win 10 (the major builds, which come out periodically) creates a copy of Windows as Windows.old - say 20Gb each. Allow 20Gb spare.

When you've installed it correctly you will see a Recovery and an EFI partition as well as your Windows partition.

 

It is activated with the win 7 serial No. that came with the Samsung laptop. I cant check if there is a recovery partition or EFI as my daughter has taken her laptop home. I don't understand about Partitions EFI, etc. I just saw a video on this site that said press New and the unallocated space became Primary partition and System partition but I viewed this video after I had done the fresh install in the unallocated space on my daughters laptop so whatever I have to do to fix it will have to wait till I next see her.
But I have the same laptop as her and I am going to do the fresh install on mine so can you tell me exactly how to deal with this stage
bearing in mind my knowledge is low.*Redface

 

I'm not sure what the issue is. Installing to the unallocated space is the best way to do a clean install of Windows 10. Let Windows setup create the partitions it wants. Then if you want a separate data partition just use MiniTool Partition Wizard free to shrink the OS partition and create a data partition.

If you post a screenshot of disk management, we can see what is going on.
Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of - Windows 10 Forums

 

You can shrink the 931 down to, say, 128, with Disk Management if there is nothing at the tail end of that partition. Else, you'll need MiniTool and use the "Split" option. TC

 

I cant post a screen shot I don't have the laptop here ,are you saying that I have done right by installing it in the unallocated space and that windows may have created the primary and system partitions it needs anyway.

 

Absolutely yes. I've done probably 10 clean installs of Windows 10, each time when I want a brand new install, I select the custom install option, delete every partition on the hard drive, select the unallocated space and install to it. You get 3 or 4 partitions depending on if it is UEFI or legacy bios - a system reserved or EFI system partition containing the boot files, an OS partition, and a Windows Recovery Environment (RE) partition. UEFI will also get a small Microsoft System Reserved (MSR) partition.

 

So when I do a clean install on my laptop I don't have to press the New button and just install in the unallocated space.*Redface

 

That is correct.

 

Thanks for your help*Smile