Windows 10: Single SSD showing up as two separated drives.

A year ago, I bought a PC with a 480 GB NVMe SSD. Back then, in the store from I bought it, they asked me if i wanted to split the drive into two partitions of equal capacity 223223 GB which I accepted. Today I was trying to reinstall windows from a usb recovery media, and I notice that in the custom installation part, where you can delete the disks, the partitions stayed separated into two drives. then, I tried to install windows on another disk to see if I could merge both parts into one failing in the attempt. I also notice that in the BIOS in "Boot Priority" only one disk partition appears

:)

 

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.

 

SSD as Boot Drive? How?

Well, I have Windows installed on the SSD, along with the drivers and browser. Now, I'm trying to install other stuff (Steam, games, etc.), but the mechanical drive isn't showing. I'm sure I missed a step?

 

SSD storage keeps filling up on its own

Hi Ash,

There's a possibility that the files are just hidden. As an initial troubleshooting, we suggest following the steps below on how to display hidden files that's eating space of your SSD:

• On the Search bar, type folder, and then select
  Show hidden files and folders from the search results.
• Under Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives,
  and then select OK.

Keep us in the loop with the result.