Windows 10: How do I move a secondary OS partition to a new hard drive without moving the primary one?

Hello. I have a bit of a unique situation. I just now got a 3 TB hard drive I plan to run Virtual Machines on. On the existing 1 TB hard drive that came with my Dell XPS 8900, I have a dual-boot setup with Windows 10 (OEM install) and Windows 7 (manual install). The Win10 partition is 726.83 GB in size, with the Win7 partition being 190.65 GB. My aim is to move the Win7 partition to the new 3 TB drive and restore the 1 TB drive back to its OEM partition state. However, I do not know how to do so. Acronis True Image WD Edition (the cloning software the hard drive manufacturer recommended) appears to copy all partitions, which isn't what I'm aiming for. I also cannot confirm that any other related software will provide different results.


Here is a screenshot from Disk Management:



If all else fails, I can simply reinstall Windows 7 on the new drive. I haven't used it that much since its installation anyway, and all programs I installed on it can be easily reinstalled. However, I worry that I might mess up the boot record, since Windows 7's version of Windows Boot Manager handles the OS selection, and not Windows 10's. Additionally, I want to avoid any extra hassle of installing the drivers again if I can, and I don't want to overuse my Windows 7 Product Key.


So, if it is possible, how do I move the Win7 partition to the new drive without getting the Win10 partition as well?


Thanks,

SamJoe404.

:)

 

W7 Hard drive partition issue

to get rid of that 100 meg windows partition that setup creates for you on a new install on a blank hdd:

- press shift+f10 when on the partition management screen in setup <-- this opens a command prompt
- diskpart <-- start the windows command line partition management tool
- list disk <--- list the installed hdds in this computer for the next step
- select disk 0 <- might have to replace 0 with the number of the correct disk
- clean <-- this will erase all data on the disk you selected one step up- dont use the wrong disk!
- create partition primary <- creates a primary partition taking up all space on the drive, adjust the command if necessary
- exit, exit to exit diskpart and the command prompt
- click refresh in partition manager and select your newly created partition and install to that

 

New primary drive

Most new retail hard drives include software and instructions for moving the entire contents of your old hard drive to the new hard drive. You can also find the instructions on the hard drive manufacturer's website, and their technical support will help
you because this is the most common reason for buying a new hard drive.

In a nutshell, you will be backing up your hard drive and restoring it to the new hard drive. The type of backup you will make is called an image, which includes everything on the drive. Essentially, your computer goes to sleep on one drive and
wakes up on another drive. Everything is exactly the same, only on a new hard drive.

A hard drive is not primary - a partition is primary. A primary partition is a type of partition that can hold a bootable operating system. The term only applies to the older Master Boot Record method of organizing a hard drive. For the newer GUID Partition
Table method, every partition is a primary partition, so the term loses its meaning.

 

Partition or multiple hard drives?

As the title suggests. Is it worth installing say a 36GB drive for the OS soley or partitioning an existing larger drive with either 2 or more partitions? I am currently running Vista 32bit and want to try out 64bit and am sick of reformatting the whole drive. Any suggestions?