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Problem on changing hdd to GPT

Tags:
  • Windows
  • SSD
  • Storage
  • Hard Drives
  • Windows 8
Last response: in Storage
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October 15, 2014 12:07:54 PM

Hello everyone,

Yesterday I built a new PC and installed Windows 8.1 on a SSD. The SSD and the HDD of 4TB are both recognized in the BIOS and in the Windows Disk Manager.

I know that Windows can't use more than 2.2TB of the HDD without converting it to GPT, so I went ahead and tried to do this. The problem is that the Option "Convert to GPT Disk" is greyed out!

The HDD is not partitioned and entirely empty. 350MB are system reserved (blue color) and there are two other parts in black color - 2047GB and 1678GB. I just gave it the Name (A:)  and that's it.

Several websites now suggested to go to the command menu and do the whole step via diskpart -> list disk -> select disk -> convert gpt

This doesn't work however. It says the selected drive is not convertable and that CD-ROMS or DVDs are examples for non-convertable drives. I didn't find anyone with the same problem on the web.. can you guys help me please?

More about : problem changing hdd gpt

October 15, 2014 12:13:18 PM

do you have data on the 4tb drive?
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a b G Storage
October 15, 2014 12:16:00 PM

well that's because there's already the "system reserve" partition. you need to delete that partition first. you could try a linux live cd and delete the partittion there. than boot in windows then try again.
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October 15, 2014 12:27:41 PM

Yes there seems to be data on it. The system reserved part is a bit filled (314MB free of 349). But I don't understand with what. How can I delete that, I don't know linux live cd..
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October 15, 2014 12:53:14 PM

I don't know why, but I installed windows new and now I could select delete the system reserved part and convert it to gdt! Did a restart and everything seems to still work.. Is this ok?
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a b G Storage
October 15, 2014 11:15:06 PM

Lowen said:
I don't know why, but I installed windows new and now I could select delete the system reserved part and convert it to gdt! Did a restart and everything seems to still work.. Is this ok?


System reseved contains two data
1: The Boot Manager and Boot Configuration Data :
2. The startup files used for BitLocker Drive Encryption
well you should have delete that before you installed windows. then converted it to GPT now it may contain files needed to boot to windows.
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October 16, 2014 1:11:10 AM

qazzi said:
Lowen said:
I don't know why, but I installed windows new and now I could select delete the system reserved part and convert it to gdt! Did a restart and everything seems to still work.. Is this ok?


System reseved contains two data
1: The Boot Manager and Boot Configuration Data :
2. The startup files used for BitLocker Drive Encryption
well you should have delete that before you installed windows. then converted it to GPT now it may contain files needed to boot to windows.


Do you think this will cause problems later on? I booted windows 3-4 times after this and had no problems starting it up

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a b G Storage
October 16, 2014 2:22:45 AM

for now just leave it alone...unless your willing to re install everything.
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a c 388 G Storage
October 16, 2014 6:31:28 AM

When installing a windows OS, make sure only the drive the OS is going on is connected to the PC. This forces windows to put the system reserved partition on the same drive as the OS. This also avoids boot problems if you later decide to clone to a new or larger SSD/HDD. After windows installation, connect any remaining drives.
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October 16, 2014 10:17:07 AM

@hawkeye22: thanks for the anwer. I haven't installed no software yet, just drivers and testing if everything works.
I booted windows several times and had no problems, it starts up very fast.

I don't think I will clone my hdd or ssd later on, just copy everything important to an external hdd and then copy it from there to the new hdd.. That's how I always did it anyways.

If I check the diskmanager however, there is now no system reserved partition. Do you recommend me to install windows new (with the steps you said)? Can I even install Windows as many times as I want from this cd?

I'm not so experienced in this and kinda scared to mess something up (as it seems to work now, but I don't want any problems in the future).

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a b G Storage
October 16, 2014 11:15:40 AM

Lowen said:
@hawkeye22: thanks for the anwer. I haven't installed no software yet, just drivers and testing if everything works.
I booted windows several times and had no problems, it starts up very fast.

I don't think I will clone my hdd or ssd later on, just copy everything important to an external hdd and then copy it from there to the new hdd.. That's how I always did it anyways.

If I check the diskmanager however, there is now no system reserved partition. Do you recommend me to install windows new (with the steps you said)? Can I even install Windows as many times as I want from this cd?

I'm not so experienced in this and kinda scared to mess something up (as it seems to work now, but I don't want any problems in the future).



windows diskamager hide the system reserved partition.
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a c 388 G Storage
October 16, 2014 11:28:42 AM

It doesn't hurt to have that partition on a different drive than the OS. It only causes issues when trying to clone to a new disk. You should be fine.
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October 16, 2014 5:42:46 PM

also if you cant extend the data from the partition after you delete it use wiping software but obvi you gotta do it from another drive then convert it to gpt after everything in one part. if your like me and have that part. ocd lol
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