Upgrade HDD to a SATA 4TB SDD on HP ENVY 17-ce100 Laptop

[Dagbay]

HP ENVY 17-ce100 Laptop trying to upgrade the 1Tb SATA HDD to a 4TB SSD.

The diskpart utility shows the 4Tb partition style GPT as a 1.7Tb capacity. 

How to  access the full drive size? 

[VikramTheGreat]

Hi @Dagbay,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.
 

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to help you.

Great question! The issue you’re seeing, Diskpart showing only ~1.7 TB for a 4 TB SSD, is not a hardware fault but a partitioning and file system limitation.

Why It Happens

• If the SSD is GPT but formatted with MBR or using an older OS boot mode, Windows may only expose up to 2 TB.
• This typically occurs when the system boots in Legacy BIOS (CSM) mode instead of UEFI.
• Windows can only use the full size of drives >2 TB when: 
  • The disk is GPT.
  • The system boots in UEFI mode.
  • The OS supports large volumes (Windows 10/11 do).

How to Access Full 4 TB Capacity

1. Confirm UEFI Boot Mode
   • Press Win + R, type msinfo32.
   • Check BIOS Mode: 
     • If it says Legacy, switch to UEFI in BIOS settings.
     • Enable Secure Boot if needed.
        
2. Reinitialize the Drive
   • Open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc).
   • Right-click the SSD → Delete all volumes.
   • Right-click again → Convert to GPT (if not already).
   • Create a New Simple Volume using the full size.
      
3. Check File System
   • Use NTFS for large partitions.
   • Avoid FAT32 (limited to 2 TB).
      
4. If It’s the Boot Drive
   • You’ll need to reinstall Windows in UEFI mode.
   • Create a UEFI bootable USB using Rufus or Media Creation Tool.

Verify with Diskpart

Run: diskpart
           list disk
          select disk X
          detail disk

Ensure it shows GPT and full size.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have an amazing day!
 

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Regards,

VikramTheGreat