Question I'm trying to merge partitions on my disk in Disk Management so my storage will show up in Windows ?

[decoyz]

Today I purchased a new 1tb drive to upgrade from my old 500gb nvme. I cloned my drive onto the new one and finally got it to boot and function normally. I noticed that when I went into storage settings to check if I had my 1tb, that it only showed my old 500gb still. I went to disk management and I have 455gb of unallocated space, I tried merging them together on the same disk but it wouldn't let me expand the other C drive due to a 600mb partition. I was wondering if there's any way to merge the unallocated onto the regular C drive so it shows up as 950gb instead of multiple drives. I'll include a pic of the disk mngmnt. When I tried to create a new simple volume for the unallocated space it tells me I don't have enough storage on the drive either.

https://imgur.com/a/fPdF4ye

View: https://imgur.com/a/fPdF4ye

https://imgur.com/a/IK2Nkft

View: https://imgur.com/a/IK2Nkft

 

[faalin]

What software did you use to clone the drive? Most of them you can tell it to add the unallocated portion to the main c drive.

You could try the free version of EaseUS partition manager https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html to move the 600mb partition to the end and then attach the unallocated section to the C drive. I have the Pro version and do this all the time with it.

 

[USAFRet]

In Disk Management, you can only merge to the right, and only if there is nothing in between.

You can delete the 600MB 'Recovery' partition, and then Extend the C into that single unallocated space.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I cloned my drive onto the new one and finally got it to boot and function normally.
I tried merging them together on the same disk but it wouldn't let me expand the other C drive due to a 600mb partition.

You have made a serious mistake by converting your drive to dynamic.

Do you still have your old 500GB OS drive?
I'd suggest you redo cloning.

Then delete 600MB recovery partition and extend C: drive.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes.
If the original drive still exists, redo the clone.

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[abufrejoval]

In Disk Management, you can only merge to the right, and only if there is nothing in between.

You can delete the 600MB 'Recovery' partition, and then Extend the C into that single unallocated space.

Not sure I'd recommend deleting the recovery partition, even if I can't remember it ever helping me.
But perhaps there is even some tool somwhere in Windows, which would allow you to re-create it?

I bought a Paragon Software Systems disk manager more than a decade ago and TrueImage about as old.

They still work just fine, that was before they forced you into subscriptions or paying extra just because you were using a server edition of Windows.

I have an older notebook with USB, NVMe and SATA ports, as well as USB-NVMe/SATA adapters just to cover the full physical range for these operations.

And it allows me to create a backup before I do anything risky. Saved my ass plenty of times, but I guess I don't need to tell you that.

Both software tools come with variants which can boot from USB, and that's where you can also use Clonezillla, which is free, and has relatively rich Linux support (I say relative, because it doesn't do thinks like VDO or ZFS).

I don't think there is anything I haven't been able to do with that mix, just moving the recovery partition towards the end is easy with Paragon's disk manager, while Windows itself will then allow you to enlarge the C: partition.

 

[USAFRet]

Not sure I'd recommend deleting the recovery partition, even if I can't remember it ever helping me.
But perhaps there is even some tool somwhere in Windows, which would allow you to re-create it?

I bought a Paragon Software Systems disk manager more than a decade ago and TrueImage about as old.

They still work just fine, that was before they forced you into subscriptions or paying extra just because you were using a server edition of Windows.

I have an older notebook with USB, NVMe and SATA ports, as well as USB-NVMe/SATA adapters just to cover the full physical range for these operations.

And it allows me to create a backup before I do anything risky. Saved my ass plenty of times, but I guess I don't need to tell you that.

Both software tools come with variants which can boot from USB, and that's where you can also use Clonezillla, which is free, and has relatively rich Linux support (I say relative, because it doesn't do thinks like VDO or ZFS).

I don't think there is anything I haven't been able to do with that mix, just moving the recovery partition towards the end is easy with Paragon's disk manager, while Windows itself will then allow you to enlarge the C: partition.

That recovery partition will be recreated during the next major Feature upgrade.

But, either a partition management tool, or simply redo the clone, as indicated above.
The C partition now being dynamic will be problematic in the future. Hence....redo the clone.

 

[decoyz]

You have made a serious mistake by converting your drive to dynamic.

Do you still have your old 500GB OS drive?
I'd suggest you redo cloning.

Then delete 600MB recovery partition and extend C: drive.

I am back to the cloning process but when im trying to clone now, it says "Nothing copied. Dynamic volume not found." when i try to clone again

 

[decoyz]

Yes.
If the original drive still exists, redo the clone.

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Magician (which includes Data Migration), if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

Hey thanks for the help, but when im trying to reclone the original nvme drive its now telling me that its unable to and "Nothing copied. Dynamic volume not found." pops up

https://imgur.com/a/BDN3VyP

View: https://imgur.com/a/BDN3VyP

 

[USAFRet]

The original drive still works and boots up as before?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

The original drive still works and boots up as before?

Looks like he didn't clear the destination and drag the partition/s to be copied from the source.

 

[decoyz]

The original drive still works and boots up as before?

Yeah I put it back in and it loaded up the same as usual, still have files etc. i messed with some stuff and then the cloning phase randomly worked and it’s currently loading. When I finish it, should I just use diskpart to try to get rid of that recovery partition then extend?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

There's no need to be copying that extraneous recovery partition in the first place. Just drag the "C:" partition from the source to the destination and resize it to fill the drive, then start the clone process.

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah I put it back in and it loaded up the same as usual, still have files etc. i messed with some stuff and then the cloning phase randomly worked and it’s currently loading. When I finish it, should I just use diskpart to try to get rid of that recovery partition then extend?

WAIT.

If you read the instructions above, it explicitly tells you how to manage the space on the Target drive.

Macrium Reflect lets you expand the clone to use the entire drive.

 

[decoyz]

WAIT.

If you read the instructions above, it explicitly tells you how to manage the space on the Target drive.

Macrium Reflect lets you expand the clone to use the entire drive.

Okay I canceled it bc I did lowkey realize that I forgot that part. When I choose "copy partitions" it gives me two options. 1: "Exact partition offset and length." and 2: "Shrink or extend to fill the target disk." Should I be clicking number two and then begin the cloning process?

 

[USAFRet]

Okay I canceled it bc I did lowkey realize that I forgot that part. When I choose "copy partitions" it gives me two options. 1: "Exact partition offset and length." and 2: "Shrink or extend to fill the target disk." Should I be clicking number two and then begin the cloning process?

Screencaps of exactly what you see?


But generally, assuming you are using Macrium Reflect, #2...Extend

 

[decoyz]

Screencaps of exactly what you see?


But generally, assuming you are using Macrium Reflect, #2...Extend

Yeah im using macrium, heres the pic w the extend option selected

https://imgur.com/a/JGxARwj

View: https://imgur.com/a/JGxARwj

 

[USAFRet]

Yeah im using macrium, heres the pic w the extend option selected

Yes.