Deleting OLD system partitions

[Martinr36]

Ok I will stress the OLD before i go any further.

So I recently replaced both the drives in the laptop, which gave me 2 spare drives that i can use in caddies, an SSD and a 1TB PCS M.2, I've formatted the SSD so that is fine and usable, however the M.2 was the old system drive so even if i format it, its still going to end up with the system partitions on it, so what i want to know is what's the best way of getting rid of them so i can just make one simple partition on it?

 

[SpyderTracks]

however the M.2 was the old system drive so even if i format it, its still going to end up with the system partitions on it, so what i want to know is what's the best way of getting rid of them so i can just make one simple partition on it?

Just delete existing partitions, don't think you can do it from within disk manager in windows, doesn't allow you to delete system partitions. You can either use the windows installer and do it through that at the very first part, or something like GParted or personally, I'd recommend MiniTool which is a really good free partition tool.

MiniTool Partition Wizard review

Partition your hard drives seamlessly

www.techradar.com

Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Wizard Free

As an all-in-one free partition manager and disk manager software, MiniTool Partition Wizard Free helps manage disk space safely on Windows 11/10/8/7.

www.partitionwizard.com

Just delete all partitions, then create a new simple volume on the spare space and do a long format if you want to properly wipe it.

 

[Martinr36]

Just delete existing partitions, don't think you can do it from within disk manager in windows, doesn't allow you to delete system partitions. You can either use the windows installer and do it through that at the very first part, or something like GParted or personally, I'd recommend MiniTool which is a really good free partition tool.

MiniTool Partition Wizard review

Partition your hard drives seamlessly

www.techradar.com

Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Wizard Free

As an all-in-one free partition manager and disk manager software, MiniTool Partition Wizard Free helps manage disk space safely on Windows 11/10/8/7.

www.partitionwizard.com

Just delete all partitions, then create a new simple volume on the spare space and do a long format if you want to properly wipe it.

Cheers @SpyderTracks , I'll take a look at minitool

 

[ubuysa]

Open an elevated command prompt.
Enter the diskpart command.
Enter the list disk command.
Identify the required drive based on it's size an in-use numbers. Be CERTAIN you have the right drive.
Enter the sel disk n command, when n is the number of the appropriate drive. Be CERTAIN to get this right.
Enter the list part command to see the partitions on the drive - in order to confirm it's the right drive.
Enter the clean command. This will erase everything from the drive, including all partition tables.
Enter the exit command to leave diskpart.

Now you have a completely empty drive.

 

[Martinr36]

Open an elevated command prompt.
Enter the diskpart command.
Enter the list disk command.
Identify the required drive based on it's size an in-use numbers. Be CERTAIN you have the right drive.
Enter the sel disk n command, when n is the number of the appropriate drive. Be CERTAIN to get this right.
Enter the list part command to see the partitions on the drive - in order to confirm it's the right drive.
Enter the clean command. This will erase everything from the drive, including all partition tables.
Enter the exit command to leave diskpart.

Now you have a completely empty drive.

Thanks @ubuysa

 

[Martinr36]

All sorted, used minitool, did the job a treat, thanks both

 

[SpyderTracks]

All sorted, used minitool, did the job a treat, thanks both

It's a great tool, I really like it, nice modern interface, does the job well.

Don't buy it though, apparently the licensing is a real catastrophe, despite how good the product is.

 

[Martinr36]

It's a great tool, I really like it, nice modern interface, does the job well.

Don't buy it though, apparently the licensing is a real catastrophe, despite how good the product is.

No just got the free version, does the job in a couple of clicks, other stuff I've got Acronis for

 

[SpyderTracks]

No just got the free version, does the job in a couple of clicks, other stuff I've got Acronis for

I'm a huge fan of Acronis also, that's my go to, but I'm still on a really old version, need to upgrade. Amazing bit of software.

 

[ubuysa]

Diskpart is an amazing (and free) bit of software when you know how to use it.