Problem after having cloned drive. (showing incorrect space on drive)

yup tried both. same result (minus my second hard drive now not showing up)

DarkRider2k3 said:

So here is the problem. I had a Western Digital 300 GB SATA drive that was starting to quit on me. So using an Ubuntu live CD I cloned the 300 gig drive onto the 240 gig drive (I only had used approx. 120 GB on the old drive so had LOTS of free space).

However, I just noticed that it's showing the space on the drive as incorrect. It shows up as 126GB free of 297 GB (so pretty much the same size as the old drive). the motherboard's bios shows it correctly, and my linux CD shows it correct as well.

Any way I can fix this in windows without a reinstall of the OS?

As was already suggested, your use of Ubunto Live CD is probably at fault as the "culprit" here. And the likely best solution would be to re-clone from your original spinner to the SSD, using Macrium Reflect assuming you have the original spinner in its original format. Of course if your DISK0 is that spinner, now wiped clean, well it looks like this re-clone using Macrium option is no longer an option.

From your DISKMGMT screenshot we can see the inconsistent numbers, where it shows (a) 43% free (which does correspond to your approximate in-use number on the original 300GB spinner vs. the new 240GB capacity of the SSD), and yet (b) also shows 298GB of capacity which is clearly just a copied value from the old spinner MBR rather than a newly set value from the new SSD.

I'd like to see what Partition Wizard shows as "Disk Properties" (right-click on the SSD in the GUI, and select "Properties"). Same for "Partition properties" (right-click on the C-partition in the GUI, and select "Properties").

Now both Macrium Reflect and Partition Wizard have standalone boot CD versions of themselves, so you don't need to be booted to Windows and running the products under Windows in order to use them. In fact using the standalone boot CD versions of either product allows you to perform all functions fully and completely right then and there, instead of forcing a re-boot from Windows to complete any functions which require that you not be operating under Windows at the moment so that the C-partition can be adjusted as required for your operations.

Partition Wizard has "copy partition" functions, from a current allocated partition to an unallocated free space on the same or other drive. And Macrium Reflect can also "clone partition" to achieve the same "copy" result.

So, I'd use your now totally free spinner as an intermediate storage "backup" drive, to perform an "out and back" sequence of COPY PARTITION operations (probably using Partition Wizard) for BOTH partitions currently on your SSD (a) from SSD (as mal-partitioned as it appears to be, with a larger capacity showing in DISKMGMT than it truly has) to spinner using Partition Wizard, (b) then delete all partitions on the SSD using Partition Wizard, then (a) copy BOTH copied partitions back from spinner to SSD. The SSD should now show as 240GB, not 300GB in its capacity.

Then confirm with Partition Wizard that the 100MB "system reserved" partition is still marked "active" (since that's where Boot Manager lives). You should now be able to boot to the SSD, and use Partition Wizard to delete the temporary copied partitions on your spinner, to make it re-available for use as a second internal drive (and ready for any partitioning you might want to do).

I've never used Partition Wizard's "Rebuild MBR" function, but that may be all it takes to recreate the correct "total disk capacity" value which is currently incorrect as shown by DISKMGMT. But I can't be sure.

WORD TO THE WISE: you should have a reliable "backup" (i.e. "system image" taken with Macrium Reflect, to a usable backup drive... like an external USB 3.0 drive), anytime you perform "radical" operations such as you're now about to try. You don't want to require a full reinstall if something goes wrong, although your heart was in the best place. Having a proper "system image" backup is your insurance against this, also providing an opportunity to have a second try at the recovery you're attempting.

Before I go ahead and shut down windows to do all this here is the screenshot of the drive in partition wizard:

DarkRider2k3 said:

Before I go ahead and shut down windows to do all this here is the screenshot of the drive in partition wizard:

Interesting. So PW understands it's a 240GB SSD. But DISKMGMT is "fooled" somehow, by something done by the Ubunto copying.

Anyway, I suspect the copy-out and copy-back with PW should cure things. Good luck.

dsperber that worked!

Windows is now showing correctly!



Thank you all for the help!! Problem is solved!

edit:

to note for others, I used the "out and back" sequence. Rebuild MBR did not solve the issue.

Terrific!! Glad it all got resolved.

Partition Wizard is a terrific tool, as is Macrium Reflect. They do have some overlapping functionality, but independently they're both superb products.

Don't know what you plan to do with the spinner now, but as I mentioned earlier if you don't already have an existing external USB 3.0 backup drive and a regimen of automatic "system image" backups (say taken every week), you really might consider using a portion of the spinner (say to a partition that you create on it with PW) for use as as a target "backup drive" for Macrium Reflect "system image" backups, scheduled to run automatically each week (or more frequently if it's critical).

Note that the non-free version of Macrium Reflect also has "folder/file DATA backup" capability, in addition to the "system image" functionality that is part of the free version. Taking regular folder/file DATA backup (say monthly FULL and daily INCREMENTAL) guarantees you'll never lose any data, and you could set up the same suggested "backup partition" on the spinner for the target of these DATA backups. This would put that spinner to good use, and also protect you fully against future disasters so that you would never be exposed to irreplaceable data loss.


Anyway, current case closed. You have emerged victorious.

Is Marcum Reflect better to use for backups then windows backup? I currently have windows backup set to backup to that old drive...

DarkRider2k3 said:

Is Macrium Reflect better to use for backups then windows backup? I currently have windows backup set to backup to that old drive...

No comparison.

For example, Windows can only take store "system image" per target drive, and it is in the root directory of the drive. Macrium Reflect takes its "system image" backup as individual files, stored in any folder you want, with as many versions/generations as you want, with "automatic pruning" of older generations (either by maximum count or maximum age) when you create new generations.

Plus, Macrium is a superb software company that stands behind their superb "active" product and provides superb support if you need it.

Plus, for the modest price of the non-free version you also get "selective folder/file DATA backup/restore" capability which really is a whole different kind of backup functionality that is invaluable.

That's awesome to know! Thanks a lot for the help!!