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I've recently had a system disk failure, so as well as switching to a larger SSD for the system disk, I took the opportunity to install a new 4TB data drive.

Windows 7 x64 Ultimate has been installed to the SSD (showing as Disk #1 in disk manager), the new data drive is disk 0...

Disk management

As you can see, the unallocated space has been split into two. I can create a partition in the first unallocated block (of up to 2TB) but I have no options for the second.

I'd prefer 1x4TB volume, but can live with 2x2TB.

How can I get windows to use all the drive?

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Make sure the partition style is GUID Partition Table (GPT).

You see this in the disk properties (Right-click on disk), Volumes tab.

If the disk has Master Boot Record (MBR) you need to convert it to GPT (Right-click on disk). However, within the Disk Management this is only possible if there are no volumes on the disk.

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  • What's the impact of deleting the System Reserved partition? or do I need to reinstall windows? Edit: Yep, it's MBR
    – Basic
    Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 15:45
  • The System Reserved partition has boot information on it, deleting would render your Windows not bootable (not that Windows would let you delete it). Either reinstall windows (without the 4TB disk attached, to make sure Windows installation places the files on your SSD) or convert the disk with a third party tool (like AOMEI Partition Assistent).
    – Acrklor
    Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 15:56
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    Yeah, as soon as I saw that it wouldn't offer to let me delete the partition, I unplugged everything, reinstalled and am now back up. Switched drive to GPT and now have a 4TB partition. Thanks for your help. I'm lucky I dealt with this first before reinstalling drivers/software.
    – Basic
    Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 16:34

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