How can I switch the names of my original C: drive ad its cloned copy?

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  1. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    How can I switch the names of my original C: drive ad its cloned copy?


    I apologize in advance for any misuse of technical terms; I don't have too much experience with the innards of hardware and operating systems.

    So I recently bought a new, 1TB hard drive and using Clonezilla, cloned the contents of my original, smaller (160 GB) C: drive. This didn't go without hiccups (Clonezilla could be only booted in safe mode, and had to use the win7 recovery tool to boot the new drive), but now it seems to work: the files on the two drives are the same, and when I choose to boot the "recovered" OS, the command prompt displays "G:\Windows\system32> instead of C:\Windows\system32>, so I presume it's entire mechanism works from the new partition.

    Here's a screenshot of Disk Management, taken while I was booted from the C: drive:

    How can I switch the names of my original C: drive ad its cloned copy?-diskmanagement_004.png

    (The lines under Állapot (=Status) are the following:
    C: | Healthy (Boot, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
    G: | Healthy (Page File, Primary Partition)
    System Reserved | Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition)
    System Reserved (F: ) | Healthy (System, Primary Partition)
    )

    Now, what I want to do is to rename the current G: partition (1TB) into C:, and the current C: partition (160 GB) into something else. Also, if possible, disable the booting from the smaller drive in order to skip the dual boot screen when starting the computer, but that would be just icing on the cake.

    The problem is, most threads I read said that renaming the C: drive isn't possible without reinstalling Windows, and the one person who did have the same problem received a solution so vague, I dare not to use it for the fear of inadvertently wrecking my computer.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 13,576
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #2

    The other partition will always be a different letter then C.

    You have to boot into it for it to show as C

    Whichever drive you decide to keep, has to boot on it`s own.

    Then you simply format the other drive, then create a new partition or partitions out of it, then assign it whatever letter/letters you want.

    You say you are booted into the C drive, but you don`t specify if it`s Disk 0 or Disk 1, right now you have to be using Disk 1, because it`s showing as C

    Boot into Disk 0, and it should show up as C and Disk 1 (the 160 GB drive) will have another letter.


    You have to unplug Disk 1 to see if Disk 0 boots on its own before you do anything else.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Okay, after some further testing, I realized that I mixed things up in my previous post. The screenshot I posted was actually from a booting from disk 0 (1TB). When I do that, the machine offers me a choice between loading the two available op system: "Windows 7" and "Windows 7 Ultimate (recovered)". The screenshot was from choosing the former. Choosing the latter results in this:

    How can I switch the names of my original C: drive ad its cloned copy?-diskmanagement_005_wd_recov.png

    While actually booting from disk 1 (160GB) doesn't offer a choice, just boots into this:

    How can I switch the names of my original C: drive ad its cloned copy?-diskmanagement_006_s_nochoice.png

    This left me even more confused.

    I will try disconnecting disk 1, as soon as I can find a screwdriver.
      My Computer


  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #4

    C is always the partition from which you run. No fiddling with the letters will change that.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 13,576
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #5

    But he`s saying that when he boots into Disk 0 (931 GB) it shows as D, and still shows Disk 1 (160 GB) as C

    I would`ve just kept windows on the 160 GB and used the 931 GB for storage.

    160 GB is more then enough for windows and your programs.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #6

    The reason I want to do this is that disk 1 is quite old, and I don't want to have anything important on it if (more like when) it fails.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #7

    wertuias said:
    I will try disconnecting disk 1, as soon as I can find a screwdriver.
    You don't have to physically remove the disk drive.
    If you disconnect either the sata (data) connector or the power connector for that drive, it will "remove" the drive from the PC.

    You can disconnect the sata connector from either the drive or the motherboard, whatever is easiest.
    You can PROBABLY only disconnect the power connector from the drive, that cable is probably wired into the the PSU.

    Make sure everything is turned off before unplugging any cable !!!!

    For the drive/partition letter issue, i would "nuke" the new drive, and create/restore an image using Macrium Reflect Imaging.

    To me it sounds like the Clonezilla CLONE did something wrong.
    I've used Macrium and Acronis imaging many times to "transfer/copy/move" my OS's to a new storage device.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Okay, I tried to boot from disk 0 with disk 1 disconnected, and the OS sorta booted up... but the Desktop was just a blank blue slate, with no icons or taskbar. Now I'm going to make a new clone, this time using Macrium Reflect (the free version), and try to boot it first time without the other drive connected. Is there any tips or tricks I should be aware of?
    Last edited by wertuias; 28 Jan 2016 at 02:45. Reason: added an extra line
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #9

    My responses are in blue.

    wertuias said:
    Okay, I tried to boot from disk 0 with disk 1 disconnected, and the OS sorta booted up... but the Desktop was just a blank blue slate, with no icons or taskbar.

    I've seen that happen if multiple monitors are used or enabled and screen resolution is set to "Extend these displays".
    Sometimes Windows is displaying the desktop/taskbar on a monitor that is not available.
    The "quick-fix" is to change screen resolution to "Duplicate these displays", or turn on the other monitor
    .

    Now I'm going to make a new clone, this time using Macrium Reflect (the free version), and try to boot it first time without the other drive connected. Is there any tips or tricks I should be aware of?

    I haven't used Cloning, I use Imaging.

    The System/Active partition is where the boot-loader is stored.
    The Boot partition is where Windows is installed and running from.

    Each drive should have a System/Active partition, in your case this should be the System Reserved partition.
    Each drive should be able to start Windows with the other drive disconnected, and the Windows (Boot) partition should always be [C].
    I apologize, i can't read your Disk Management screen prints.
    I don't know the language
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 6
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    I added some subtitles:

    How can I switch the names of my original C: drive ad its cloned copy?-diskmanagement_008_wd_orig.png

    If I understand correctly, using an image would require a third drive where I could place the image file that I would later restore to disk 0. Or you just saying this to show that you have no experience with cloning?
      My Computer


 
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