Windows 10: New 4TB drive install..

Hi,

I have a HP Pavilion 23 all in one PC (23-f221ea) and the 1TB hard disk is getting rather full.. I want to change for say a 4TB drive, I know that I can’t clone my 1TB drive to the 4TB drive using something like Acronis as max is 2TB and the new 4TB drive will have to be GPT formatted…I have already updated my PC to W10 with the ISO disk I made from MS update..
Can I install the larger disk GPT formatted and install with the ISO disk I made??? Or will I have to start all again and install with Win8/8.1 first..??

Thx for any help.. Len

:)

 

Windows 10 Automatic Startup Repair not Repairing Startup

I took a look at another computer with the same 4TB drive and it is only seeing or using 2TB. The original drive in both machines was 500 GB. I cloned each to the new 4TB drives, installed them in the computers, and then extended the volumes so that the
4TB could be used. I suppose I didn't see at the time that only 2TB were actually being used. But either way, I did not change anything else so however Dell set them up is how they are now. I assume they are set as MBR to boot from Legacy BIOS.

The screen shot is from the working computer with a 4TB drive. As you can see, the disk is not GPT, is 4TB, but only returns a size of just over 2 TB (I think 2.2 TB is the actual max size on MBR). I did nothing different with this computer when I replaced
the 500 GB drive with the 4TB drive than the computer I have problems with. I have to assume they are the same.

Hopefully this is what you were looking for.

 

Windows 10 not initializing hdd

My friend get a new 4TB HGST drive. Drive is detected in BIOS. Drive is not displayed in disk management, device manager, or third party tools within windows. HGST driver tool does not detect the drive and will not install.

Only option I can think of is booting into install media and attempting a format to GPT from there. Are there any other routes to check that I'm missing?

 

Why don't you just connect the 4TB in addition to the 1TB you have. Initialize it as GPT disk and use it for data storage. Move personal data from 1TB to the 4TB and do a fresh install of Windows 10 in the 1TB.

 

Yes.

If you have already upgraded to Windows 10 and it has activated, then simply switch the hard drives and install the operating system again.
(Don't forget to change the boot order in your BIOS to the CD player.)

If you do happen to have any problems then just stick in the old hard drive back there.

A better solution would be to simply add a new larger HDD as a USB drive.
That way you can use it to make a back up of your Windows installation as well as free up the 1 TB drive by moving stuff over to the new external drive.

 

If your MB support UEFI installation then yes but if it does not then you are stuck with MBR type installation. However, you really don't need a large HD to install Windows. Ideally, you only need 120GB partition to install it.

Your 2nd question: No, you dont need to go back to Windows 8/8.1 to do upgrade. Your PC is already activated with Windows 10. Just do a fresh install and it will be activated.

 

Thanks for getting back to me...
As the drive is inside the all in one there is only space for the one drive..Also I was getting disk checking a lot so another reason to I want to change disk...

Thx len

 

Thanks for getting back to me...
As the drive is inside the all in one there is only space for the one drive..As stated in last message kept getting disk checking so really want to change HD..But as you said I could install as I have activated on this PC so did not know that...Would that be the same with a new HD..??

Thx Len

 

Thanks for getting back to me...But if I can format with GPT then Hopefully I should be OK. but don't want to spend out for new HD if its not going to work...Again as stated I really want to change disk..

Thx len

 

I believe that to use a GPT disk as a boot drive, the PC must use UEFI.

The good news is that your all-in-one appears to be a UEFI system. If your old HD is GPT, you should be able to clone it to a 4GB GPT disk. I haven't done that, but I have imaged GPT drives with Acronis True Image 2014 and 2015.

 

I would recommend simply doing as topgundcp had advised as far as the requirement to go with the GPT type primary as well a backing things up from the 1tb drive using an external usb enclosure. With the large capacity and the 2tb limitation you might also want to consider a split to see a separate OS partition and a second for storage/backup. You can still use the 1tb for storing system images of the first OS partition and actuatlly see a much larger second since 1tb will provide plenty of space on the first.

 

Depends on BIOS support for GPT disks in legacy mode. Both my ASUS Z97 and Intel DZ77 motherboards do it.

 

Thanks for getting back to me...Is there any way to tell if my PC is formatted GPT and UEFI a system..Thx for any help..

 

Hi All,

As you can tell hard drives are not my speciality... I think I will go for a 2TB HD I can't afford to waste buying a 4TB although it would be good...As this PC is an all on one, its a drag taking out the HD..Not like a desktop...Has anyone tried one of these for cloning and would it work???? USB 3.0 to IDE ATA SATA ATAPI Hard Drive Disk HDD Cable Connector Adapter UK | eBay .

Not sure if the link is allowed..the item number is 251763510050 USB 3.0 to IDE ATA SATA ATAPI Hard Drive Disk HDD Cable Connector Adapter.
Thanks All for your help..Len

 

I have this one and it works great:
SATA 7 15 22 Pin to USB 2 0 Adapter Cable for 2 5 HDD Laptop Hard Disk Drive Ka | eBay

oops...just noticed mine is for 2.5" drives, don't know if it would work for full size 3.5" drives. The adapter you linked to should work just fine. Something to consider is just getting a full USB enclosure - then you can use your old drive as an external USB drive.
Samsung D3 Station USB 3 0 3 5 SATA Hard Drive Enclosure Desktop External Case | eBay

When upgrading, I've even purchased a desktop external USB drive and taken the drive out of the USB case, put it in the desktop, and the drive from the desktop went into the USB case.