Problem reclaiming unused HD space after cloning

[emlyna]

Hi,

I just used HDClone to copy the contents of a 20Gb drive to a new faster 80Gb drive. The operation was successful, but I cannot seem to reclaim the additional unused 60Gb of space on the new hard disk.

(The new hard disk has been installed in the place of the original, same location/connectors etc.)

All of the partition software (PowerQuest Partition Magic, Paragon Partition Manager, Windows XP Disk Management) show approximately 18Gb of space used by the XP OS (NTFS), then another tiny partition of about 30Mb (FAT32).

When I read up about HDClone it said "...you only have to add the gained space on the disk via some partitioning tool..." but I have not been successful with this step. The XP system doesn't seem to know that there is more hard disk space available on the new 80Gb drive.

(Does the partition software need to be run from a separate location when partitioning a disk with the OS?)

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Emlyn

 

[emlyna]

Siiiigh... even the simplest things seem to be elusive. Well, I did find some sort of BIOS version (in the BIOS, not the startup screen) which said:

BIOS VERSION AO4

I rarely ever see the startup screen that includes the system info unless I'm doing an ALT-CTRL-DLT thing (I think??).

Got a question:

I have Paragon partition manager, and one of the things it allows me to do is UPDATE MBR. Would that help?

It would also allow me to "retest surface" (of the HD I'm assuming). Know anything about this?

 

[emlyna]

Siiiigh... even the simplest things seem to be elusive. Well, I did find some sort of BIOS version (in the BIOS, not the startup screen) which said:

BIOS VERSION: AO4

I rarely ever see the startup screen that includes the system info unless I'm doing an ALT-CTRL-DLT thing (I think??).

Got a question:

I have Paragon partition manager, and one of the things it allows me to do is UPDATE MBR. Would that help?

It would also allow me to "retest surface" (of the HD I'm assuming). Know anything about this?

 

[Freestone]

I couldn't resist, and I took time away from other things to try it out.

I took a system unit, and using Cable Select, placed a 7.5GB Quantum hard drive as primary master, and a 20GB Seagate drive as primary slave, deleted all partitions from the 20GB drive, created a partition on the 20GB drive that matched the 7.5GB drive's only partition (though I think this step is unncessary), booted up HDClone's boot diskette and proceeded to clone the 7.5GB drive to the 20GB drive. After a painfully slow hour and a half, all completed with no errors. Rebooted the system, looked in BIOS, and both drives STILL read as a 7.5GB hard drive on the primary master, 20GB drive on the primary slave.

I then powered off, removed the 7.5 GB drive, placed the 20GB in the master position on the cable, and powered up. Windows 98 FDISK and PartitionMagic 7.0 both see the 7.5 GB partition AND around 12GB of unallocated space, all as expected. I can do whatever I want with this unallocated space, and all is as advertised by HDClone.

I am going to find a 80GB drive to try this again, but I don't really expect to see any different results.

 

[garebo]

I read some info just now on HDClone and it says you can boot into windows, right click on "my computer", choose "manage" and then "disk management"
the other 60 gigs are supposed to show up there.

Got it here, right at bottom of page:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=418&page=8

I doubt its a bios version issue, but i have to ask, how old is your computer? You never did tell us what bios and what version of bios.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[emlyna]

Garebo: I have posted my HD info twice--see earlier postings

Freestone:

OK, so the only thing I didn't do was to create a same-sized partition BEFORE doing the clone, otherwise I did exactly what you did. Do you think it's because the boot HD aboslutely MUST be primary master, even with cable select on?

But even beyond THAT: ***MY*** system thinks the "free allocated space" is only 7.8Mb!! If it thinks that there IS free unallocated space, then that space could ONLY be 60Gb, so where is it getting this totally bogus 7.8Mb number from??

To illustrate, FINALLY, my point in wonderous technicolor illustrations, please see the following JPEGs screencaps of the software that I'm using for a REAL understanding of what I'm seeing:

APP: Disk management
PIC:

http://www.ixwa.com/dell4400/disk_management.jpg

PROBLEM: Doesn't see any unallocated space. GREAT.

(Sorry garebo, but the pcstats article doesnt say WHAT, exactly, I'm supposed to DO with windows disk management, 'cuz it ain't giving me s**t. But I appreciate the thought

APP: Max blast
PIC:

http://www.ixwa.com/dell4400/maxblast.jpg

PROBLEM: You can't even SELECT the stupid boot drive to DO anything with it, so why show it to me!? GRRRR!

APP: Partition Magic
PIC:

http://www.ixwa.com/dell4400/partition_magic.jpg

PROBLEM: Reports unallocated space of 7.8Mb. WHAT!? WHERE!? HOW COME YOU DON'T SEE 60Gb then??

APP: Partition Manager
PIC:

http://www.ixwa.com/dell4400/partition_manager.jpg

PROBLEM: Also reports 7.8Mb of free space--BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! It WILL let me change the size of the partition, TO A WHOPPING 8Mb! Woohoo!

So, uhh, does anybody else think that something basically went wrong when I did the HDClone thing, cuz I'm all outta ideas and it doesn't seem like I'm making any headway.

I imagined that it would be a simple matter of telling the system, through some simple keystrokes or freeware, that there is a new sheriff in town, and that he has an extra 60Gb of space. If it can't be done simply, then I'm not terribly motivated in pursuing any other avenues. I honestly, frankly, really, utterly do NOT want to perform the HD clone again anytime soon--I simply can't afford the downtime, and I've been using the new HD without incident (and it's faster, so what am I complaining about?).

Maybe I'll just get myself a third 250Gb drive, clone my boot disk, and make that baby my C: disk. Figure maybe I'll do it... 6 months from now! lol

Thanks for your help guys. I'm exhausted.

 

[Freestone]

I really, really hate to ask this, but are you absolutely sure that the OLD drive isn't still installed in the system? That hidden partition 0 of around 31MB is Dell's pre-installed system utility partition, so how did that get on the new drive?

 

[Freestone]

Never mind my last question, HDClone obviously copies the entire drive, not just a partition, so it faithfully copied over the hidden partition as well.

It still begs the question as to why BIOS thinks there is a Seagate 20GB drive installed. As far as I know, BIOS interrogates hard-coded data contained in a chip on the drive which describes the characteristics of the drive. It would be interesting to see how this drive looks in a different system, but I know that won't happen, emlyna.

I wish I could get my hands on a Dell Dimension 4400 just to see if this problem could be duplicated. Perhaps this system's BIOS behaves differently in the way it determines drive type and capacity, and as garebo suggested earlier, HDClone has changed something on the new drive, similar to overlay software, so that this particular BIOS sees the the new drive as a Seagate 20GB, because that was the type of drive that was cloned.

garebo: you've asked the BIOS manufacturer and level. Dell has their own proprietary BIOS and its manufacturer isn't identified at all. The level of BIOS in emlyna's PC is A04. The current level for this PC is A06, but the minor changes introduced by levels A05 and A06 have no bearing at all on the issue. Besides, the BIOS is recognizing a 250GB drive, so it surely can't have any trouble with an 80GB drive.

emlyna: Thanks for posting the pics though I never doubted what you were seeing. I posted my findings with HDClone because I wanted to let us all know that it does work as advertised. I wasn't trying to imply doubt of your situation, and I apologize if it came off that way to you.

You also asked if I think "it's because the boot HD aboslutely MUST be primary master, even with cable select on?" I don't see how this could be a factor. But the roles of Master/Slave can be swapped between the hard drive and the CD/DVD unit by changing jumpers: from Cable Select to Master on the hard drive, and from Cable Select to Slave on the CD/DVD unit. No physical relocation of the units will be necessary when the jumpers are changed like that.

I've never had any problem cloning drives, and it really has been a "simple matter of telling the system, through some simple keystrokes or freeware, that there is a new sheriff in town, and that he has an extra 60Gb of space."
I will admit to only using Partition Magic or Acronis Disk Director Suite 9.0, never heard of HDClone before this adventure.

"Maybe I'll just get myself a third 250Gb drive, clone my boot disk, and make that baby my C: disk. Figure maybe I'll do it... 6 months from now! lol"

Choose another cloning product next time maybe, huh ;-)

 

[emlyna]

Yep, I'll use a different product next time! Thanks for the info.

Emlyn