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Format secondary drive

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I just made an entire computer backup, and recovered it to a larger drive. Now I am running the new drive as the master, with the second drive disconnected because I read that booting with 2 drives that are the same, could cause problems. It would be nice if I could format the smaller drive to use. Is there a safe way to do this? Can I reconnect the secondary drive (even though it is the same as the other, except for size), and boot up so I can format it?

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Hi Ed,

if you are running a SATA disk you can simply plug it in while your PC is running in Windows. It will detect the attached drive and you can format it.

 

Or, a SATA to UsB 3.0 connector can be very handy too.  I will often take older drives (especially if they're SSD) and use them as external portable drives with a USB 3.0 to sata connector (no case necessary).  They're $10 bucks on Amazon and when using an external USB drive, Windows has no chance to try and boot since Microsoft prevents it.

I have a couple of these at the house and at work - they work well for 2.5" disks and SSD's.  Not enough USB power to power a 3.5" disc on their own, but there are cases and/or docks that can do those with dedicated power.

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Adapter-Optimized-EC-SSHD/dp/B0…