Question What partition is my SSD located on ?

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SiameseCatz

SiameseCatz

Feb 21, 2023
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I need to wipe this PC, it's becoming disgustingly slow and an overall pain to use. Last time I did this I did it via re-uploading Windows10 via USB key.

However, it did not inform me of which partition my SSD was located on (the partition I'm assuming I was supposed to have uploaded Windows10 onto?) and I'm assuming I uploaded Windows10 onto my harddrive because I used to love this laptop, it used to be SO fast but now I just hate it and want to put my first through the screen whenever it takes ten minutes to load something!

It simply offered me three choices: partition1, partition2, and partition 3.

Which of the three partitions do I upload Windows10 onto?
 
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SkyNetRising said:
Depends on motherboard BIOS.
Did you provide model name of your motherboard?

Oh. It's a laptop.
Secure Boot settings are in
Advanced Mode/Security/Secure Boot - section.
Click to expand...
Okay so I've disabled it. It's giving me the option to save & exit. Do I select that? Or do I want to proceed with trying to boot from the USB key?
 
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Lafong said:
save; exit; shut down; re-insert USB key; reboot; choose USB key from boot menu; see if it will boot from the key.

What are the names of the various choices shown to you on the boot menu?
Click to expand...
It booted from the key. The key I was using was broken; it had tails os on it and for whatever reason wouldn't show up on any pc when I plugged it in. I thought I had windows on it, I was wrong. My apologies.

I went and got another usb and installed windows PROPERLY this time. It did not take long at all for my PC to recognize the device and boot from it. I got windows installed, I will upload some pics for you to see that I took with my camera. My aplogies for the wait, I had to track down alcohol because my fans and the inside of my device was extremely dusty, I cleaned it the best I could.

Windows installed, hdd taken out. I am a little concerned however. My SSD is supposed to be 512GB, when I installed windows I selected the other install and it showed one partition. However, it said there was less than 500GB available. Is this normal? How do I delete whatever is on the SSD?

Edit: sorry imgur seems to be down atm, or it's not loading on my device. Will upload the photos here whenever possible.
 
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SiameseCatz said:
Windows installed, hdd taken out. I am a little concerned however. My SSD is supposed to be 512GB, when I installed windows I selected the other install and it showed one partition. However, it said there was less than 500GB available. Is this normal? How do I delete whatever is on the SSD?
Click to expand...

I don't follow that, but never mind for now.

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management so we can evaluate.
 
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That's not an ideal picture, but.............

It appears to show this:

A "disk 0" containing 3 partitions: C, partition 1, and partition 4.

C has a capacity of 476 GB, with 446 GB free; therefore, by subtraction, about 30 GB used

Partition 1 has a capacity of 100 mb, with 100 mb free

Partition 4 has a capacity of 522 mb, with 522 mb free.

All three are "healthy".

Do you see signs of any other disks or partitions??

I assume that picture was taken with ONLY 1 drive connected. Is that true?

What complaints or questions do you have?

Does the PC boot and seem to operate OK with ONLY this 1 drive connected?
 
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Lafong said:
That's not an ideal picture, but.............

It appears to show this:

A "disk 0" containing 3 partitions: C, partition 1, and partition 4.

C has a capacity of 476 GB, with 446 GB free; therefore, by subtraction, about 30 GB used

Partition 1 has a capacity of 100 mb, with 100 mb free

Partition 4 has a capacity of 522 mb, with 522 mb free.

All three are "healthy".

Do you see signs of any other disks or partitions??

I assume that picture was taken with ONLY 1 drive connected. Is that true?

What complaints or questions do you have?

Does the PC boot and seem to operate OK with ONLY this 1 drive connected?
Click to expand...
I'm concerned that there could be malware somewhere inside my system. Someone 'problematic' in my life has enlisted the help of a hacker to spy on my system, finding out all of my social media accounts, my textnow phone number, etc. so I'd like to wipe anything malicious, if it's there.

I just shut the pc down and restarted it. It loads INSANELY fast, it's nice to see it again. And yes, only the SSD is connected. I have the HDD sitting on my table beside me.

And to answer your first question, I do not see any signs of any other partitions or anything. What was shown in the photo and what you typed is all that I see. Is there another method I can use to try and obtain where the missing data went? Pardon my ignorance, but I'm going to assume it's spyware somewhere on the system.
 
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SiameseCatz said:
I'm concerned that there could be malware somewhere inside my system.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,so I'd like to wipe anything malicious, if it's there....................

.................yes, only the SSD is connected. I have the HDD sitting on my table beside me...................

.....................Is there another method I can use to try and obtain where the missing data went?..................
Click to expand...
"Wipe".................??

What drive?

If the SSD is new and not previously used, it had nothing on it to wipe.

If the SSD was NOT new and had something on it, I assume you deliberately chose to delete any and all partitions on it when shown that option during your installation procedure from the USB key.

Is that true or is that false?

What "missing data"?? Data previously on the SSD? Data on the HDD sitting on your table? I have no idea what you are referring to.

I have no idea about your tormentors. They could certainly attack your new system just as they attacked your old system.

You can of course "wipe" the HDD if you wish, but that wouldn't be at the top of my priority list yet....I don't fully understand your situation.

Maybe you ought to consider configuring your new system while the HDD continues to sit on your desk.
 
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Lafong said:
"Wipe".................??

What drive?

If the SSD is new and not previously used, it had nothing on it to wipe.

If the SSD was NOT new and had something on it, I assume you deliberately chose to delete any and all partitions on it when shown that option during your installation procedure from the USB key.

Is that true or is that false?

What "missing data"?? Data previously on the SSD? Data on the HDD sitting on your table? I have no idea what you are referring to.

I have no idea about your tormentors. They could certainly attack your new system just as they attacked your old system.

You can of course "wipe" the HDD if you wish, but that wouldn't be at the top of my priority list yet....I don't fully understand your situation.

Maybe you ought to consider configuring your new system while the HDD continues to sit on your desk.
Click to expand...
There was 512GB of data on the SSD, now there is only 476.92. That's over 35GB of data unaccounted for.

When I say 'wipe' I mean delete. Sorry for my vocab, I'm not proficient with computers, pardon my ignorance.

When I installed windows, it gave me two options: install while carrying over all of my other files and various other items, or do an advanced install. I chose the latter. I could not select delete or format. I'll upload a picture to see.

What things do I need to do to 'configure' this system? Explain to me like I'm five please, I'm NOT proficient when it comes to computering.

Also as an aside, I think I understand something. When I want to download games or something, I select the HDD to load onto, correct? What would the SSD be optimized to be used for?

The image https://ibb.co/k5PKBJb
as you can see, I did not have the option to click on delete or format. I hit 'refresh' but it didn't do anything. I didn't know what 'new' or 'load driver' did.

If need be, I can always do this again if I didn't install correctly.
 
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The 512 GB versus 476 GB discrepancy is utterly normal. Ignore it. The same would be true of any HDD or SSD you use in the future. Drives of 1 TB typically have only about 930 GB "available". Ignore it.

There was NO data on the SSD. That was all "unallocated space".

It appears your SSD was new and previously unused.

Is that correct?

Therefore it showed "unallocated space" of 476.9 GB. No partitions to delete. Totally normal.

You did the right thing by choosing advanced install rather than carrying over.

If the SSD had been previously used and had partitions on it, they would have been shown to you at that point and you would have ticked each one and chosen "delete".

It looks like things are in good order as of now.

There are many things you COULD do right now......update Windows through "Windows Update" function, install applications, get your email working; get a backup plan worked out; decide if your HDD should be destroyed with a sledgehammer right now, etc etc etc.


BUT.............I'd think your bigger issue is your "problematic" nemesis and the hacker associate. Why can't they just re-attack you??
 
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Lafong said:
The 512 GB versus 476 GB discrepancy is utterly normal. Ignore it. The same would be true of any HDD or SSD you use in the future. Drives of 1 TB typically have only about 930 GB "available". Ignore it.

There was NO data on the SSD. That was all "unallocated space".

It appears your SSD was new and previously unused.

Is that correct?

Therefore it showed "unallocated space" of 476.9 GB. No partitions to delete. Totally normal.

You did the right thing by choosing advanced install rather than carrying over.

If the SSD had been previously used and had partitions on it, they would have been shown to you at that point and you would have ticked each one and chosen "delete".

It looks like things are in good order as of now.

There are many things you COULD do right now......update Windows through "Windows Update" function, install applications, get your email working; get a backup plan worked out; decide if your HDD should be destroyed with a sledgehammer right now, etc etc etc.


BUT.............I'd think your bigger issue is your "problematic" nemesis and the hacker associate. Why can't they just re-attack you??
Click to expand...
As far as I know, I never used the SSD for anything, save maybe for Windows having been installed on it before I 'deleted' all the partitions on my HDD and re-installed windows there lol.

If you say the SSD is fine, then I can rest with that. I will work on reconfiguring my system and once I do that, I will reinstall the HDD and complete the process that USAFret recommended to completely delete everything.

Good question! What things can I do to protect myself? I don't click on suspicious links, so it wasn't phishing that got me.

What can I do to prevent such attacks and/or attempts in the future? This was a targeted attack, obviously.
 
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Lafong said:
What is your best evidence you were ever the victim of a "targeted attack" or spyware generally?
Click to expand...
As I've already mentioned, they found every one of my social media accounts (I don't use my real name on social media, my Facebook account even used Japanese Kanji for the name). And then, probably even more evidentiary, the textnow account. I was getting harassing messages on ALL of my social media accounts from this individual (they apparently really wanted me to know that they found all of my accounts) so I deleted everything, including the textnow and made a new email to sign up for a new number. Began getting harassing text messages from this individual AGAIN, and I hadn't even given anyone the phone number.

Does that sound like or seem like a targeted attack and/or spyware of some sort?
 
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SiameseCatz said:
...................my social media accounts (I don't use my real name on social media, my Facebook account.....................the textnow account...............harassing messages on ALL of my social media accounts from this individual.........

Does that sound like or seem like a targeted attack and/or spyware of some sort?
Click to expand...
Could be. I know nothing about Facebook or Textnow and virtually nothing about social media accounts.

Do you know or strongly suspect the name of "this individual"??

Someone you personally know in "real life"?

Depending on their dedication and skill level, I assume that person will continue assuming the attacks are targeted at you personally rather than random.

I'm guessing that refraining from Facebook and Textnow is out of the question.

I would not be much interested in re-building and re-configuring a PC as you are doing if I would be under continual attack. That's a personal choice you have to make.
 
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Lafong said:
Could be. I know nothing about Facebook or Textnow and virtually nothing about social media accounts.

Do you know or strongly suspect the name of "this individual"??

Someone you personally know in "real life"?

Depending on their dedication and skill level, I assume that person will continue assuming the attacks are targeted at you personally rather than random.

I'm guessing that refraining from Facebook and Textnow is out of the question.

I would not be much interested in re-building and re-configuring a PC as you are doing if I would be under continual attack. That's a personal choice you have to make.
Click to expand...
Okay fair enough.

So my last question (I think) is, to delete the HDD, I can just reconnect it and turn on the PC? Will my computer boot from the SSD or from the newly reconnected HDD? And can the drive be found under D: ? Or what will the harddrive be called?
 
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SiameseCatz said:
Okay fair enough.

So my last question (I think) is, to delete the HDD, I can just reconnect it and turn on the PC? Will my computer boot from the SSD or from the newly reconnected HDD? And can the drive be found under D: ? Or what will the harddrive be called?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can wipe the HDD.

I have no idea if you need to save anything now on the HDD.

If not................shut down. Reconnect the HDD. Attempt to boot.

You should boot normally from the SSD, with it still showing as C. The HDD should appear as D or E or some other letter.

You should then be able to see the HDD in File Explorer, just as you can see the SSD.

Confirm that through Windows Disk Management. I'd expect you will see "Disk 0" containing C and "Disk 1" containing D and possibly other partitions.

Various ways you could "wipe" the HDD then. You should be able to delete all partitions from it and then format it right there in Windows Disk Management, using the provided menus.

You could also use Diskpart instead, but there's probably greater chance of error due to inexperience.
 
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Lafong said:
Yes, you can wipe the HDD.

I have no idea if you need to save anything now on the HDD.

If not................shut down. Reconnect the HDD. Attempt to boot.

You should boot normally from the SSD, with it still showing as C. The HDD should appear as D or E or some other letter.

You should then be able to see the HDD in File Explorer, just as you can see the SSD.

Confirm that through Windows Disk Management. I'd expect you will see "Disk 0" containing C and "Disk 1" containing D and possibly other partitions.

Various ways you could "wipe" the HDD then. You should be able to delete all partitions from it and then format it right there in Windows Disk Management, using the provided menus.

You could also use Diskpart instead, but there's probably greater chance of error due to inexperience.
Click to expand...
Okay, I'm going to do as you suggested and configure it first. I'm running into some issues, I think I found the correct website to download all the necessary firmware, but when I clicked download, it shows up in my downloads as zip files. How do I apply zip files to my system? I think I tried to do this before, unsuccessfully, because I needed to pay for the software to do such a task. Is there a way to do this for free?
 
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Not sure what this "firmware" is or why you feel you need it, at least right now.

What website are you referring to?

For what it's worth, zipped files have to be unzipped to be useful. I think Windows 10 can do that with a right click??

But I don't know exactly what you are up to with this "configuring" or if you did anything referred to in post 46 or what your plans are.

I guess you have a clean install of Windows 10, so it's up to you to decide what you intend to do with the PC as a general proposition.
 
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Lafong said:
Not sure what this "firmware" is or why you feel you need it, at least right now.

What website are you referring to?

For what it's worth, zipped files have to be unzipped to be useful. I think Windows 10 can do that with a right click??

But I don't know exactly what you are up to with this "configuring" or if you did anything referred to in post 46 or what your plans are.

I guess you have a clean install of Windows 10, so it's up to you to decide what you intend to do with the PC as a general proposition.
Click to expand...
It's ASUS's own website. There is a plethora of things that I need to download for optimal performance. Driver & tools, BIOS & firmware. https://www.asus.com/supportonly/gl702vs/helpdesk_download/

and no, I need something to unzip these files, right clicking on it doesn't work. It gives me the option to open it with firefox or save it (which I already did) but no way to open it. Should I start a new post asking for details on how to proceed with this? Because there's probably close to thirty or forty things I need to download and unzip.
 
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What choices do you see when you right click one of these zip files that you must have?

I see 16 choices on my Windows 10 computer...........including "Extract all", "7-zip", and "Open with".

www.pcworld.com

How to unzip files in Windows 10

ZIP files hold several compressed files inside, reducing how much space they take on your hard drive. They need to be unzipped to use the files, though. Here's how to do it.
www.pcworld.com www.pcworld.com

Tutorial above.

It seems you are off into uncharted territory with these " thirty or forty things I need to download and unzip." Bon voyage.
 
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