I have a StarTech SDOCK2U313R. I tried to clone an 8TB drive to a larger 16TB drive. It continually broke the 16TB up into 2 separate drives (and the computer recognized them), but I want the entire 16TB. What is the limitation on this docking/cloning device for hard drive size limitation for cloning?
Hello Jay,
I hope you’re well!
When you clone a disk partition from a smaller source drive to a larger target drive, the created partition will be the same size as the original. You simply need to use Disk Management to expand the partition to fill empty space on the larger target drive.
We have an FAQ related to this situation for you to follow:
Hard Drive Duplicators Extending After Duplication | StarTech.com
How do I get the full size of my hard drive after a duplication?
The hard drive duplicator copies the exact partition from the source drive to the target drive. Since it is required that you use a target drive that is equal or larger in size than the source drive a portion of the target drive appears as free space. You can append free space to the live partition on the target drive so that the full size of the drive can be utilized.
Note: A partition cannot be extended on an operating system drive that is in use. You must extend the partition when it not being used by the operating system, and ideally when it is still connected to the duplicator.
Extend a partition on a computer running Windows
Note: Do not extend a System Reserved partition. Only extend the primary partition, which is typically the largest in size and formatted with NTFS or FAT32.
After you have successfully duplicated a drive and the target drive is still connected to your computer system (for example, through the duplicator), complete the following:
- Press the Windows key + R.
- Type compmgmt.msc and click Ok.
- In Computer Management, on the left side of the screen, click Disk Management.
- Find the target drive. It will most likely be at the bottom of the list, have a partition that is the same size as the source drive, and have an unallocated area on the drive.
- On the target drive, right-click the last partition on the right side of the screen and click Extend Volume.
- In the Extend Volume wizard, click Next. By default, the remaining drive area is the amount of space used.
- Click Next > Finish.
The primary partition on the drive now uses the entire drive area.
Let us know how that goes!
All the best,
Brent
Hi Brent.
Thank you for the prompt reply. I think, perhaps, my issue was not stated clearly enough. I build my own computers and create clones, RAID’s, etc. I also know how to “extend” a partition using Windows Storage Manager. Remember, I was using an 8 TB drive and cloning it to a 16 TB drive.
Try it. Please use the hardware I used and let me know if you actually are able to get a drive cloned and can “extend” the uncloned 8 TB to the full 16TB.
I wish I could send you a screen-shot or a video of what the issue is. The 8 TB is cloned. No issue there. The remaining 8 TB will not extend and, interestingly, it does not show a “recognizable” format type (GUID, MBR, etc.). Windows just shows it as another drive letter–and treats it as a separate 8TB drive (even AFTER I tried to extend the partition).
Remember: Source drive 8 TB; Destination drive 16 TB.
I think the hardware has a “size” limit when it comes to cloning. Either way, I am not going to use the docking hardware (model number above) to clone anything larger than a 6 TB Drive.
I hope this makes sense. Again, thank you for reaching out.
Hello Jay,
I appreciate the additional context!
I would like to grab the make / models of the two storage drives you’re using for this application, as well as some screenshots of the issue for some further context. You can upload screenshots to the Community directly, or post an external link for review.
Just for some clarity, I did take the time to configure a similar setup:
SDOCK2U313R
8TB HDD: Seagate ST8000AS0002
16TB HDD: Seagate ST16000VE000
I was able to copy an 8TB NTFS partition to the 16TB drive. Ignoring a warning from Windows about multiple signatures present when connected to a host system via USB, I was able to extend the 8TB partition to fill the full 16TB space:
Likewise, I’d love to help toward a resolution, we just need to continue investigating.
All the best,
BrentD