13 Posts
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2301
Software Swapping Disk 0 and Disk 1 in an XPS 17 (9700).
Is it possible to swap Disk 0 and Disk 1 in an XPS 17 (9700) in Software? If not will a physical swap do the job?
13 Posts
0
2301
Is it possible to swap Disk 0 and Disk 1 in an XPS 17 (9700) in Software? If not will a physical swap do the job?
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NikolayT
20 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 09:00
I got the same issue. My OS 2TB SSD became Disk 1 and 4TB for media files is currently Disk 0.
Doesn't effect the system booting or performance, but just annoying.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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October 1st, 2021 13:00
Anyway, the Dell Hardware Support Manager agreed to try the drive swap to determine for sure whether it would or would not correct the issue. So he scheduled a visit by a technician who arrived a day later and swapped the drives.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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October 1st, 2021 13:00
Actually, I discussed this issue with a Hardware Support Manager at Dell and proposed trying to see if swapping the drives will correct the assignments of Disk 0 and Disk1. Everybody on both sides of the support teams, hardware and software, had one or more of these three positions:
1. Swapping the drives will not change anything.
2. Windows is oblivious to the Disk 0/1 assignments.
3. The only solution is to re-install Windows on the new drive, which is now Disk 0, along with all the apps and programs programs installed on the old drive, then once the new drive has the complete content of the old drive, then it can be emptied and used for the original purpose the upgrade was desired.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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October 1st, 2021 14:00
As evident from the Disk Management display in the previous message, swapping the two drives does solve the problem; at least it did in my case. The solution proposed by NikolayT also works and does need a drive swap. The bottom line is that reassigning Disk 0 and Disk 1 is possible even if it the "incorrect" assignments does not cause any serious issues.
aelaan
16 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 07:00
What is the intend? Did you have a faster, or larger drive added? With PCIe gen 3 I would think the swap would not make much difference.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 07:00
No, both drives are 1TB. I just want my OS C-Drive to remain Disk 0 not become Disk 1 after 2nd drive is added.
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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September 26th, 2021 09:00
The system usually sets that up and it really doesn't make any difference. If you had an M.2 and SATA drive it would probably make the SATA drive Disk 0..
You used to be able to set drive priority in the Bios which is not the same as boot priority..
zzscarab
13 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 10:00
So there’s no rule for whether the OS drive should be in Slot 1 or Slot 2, though I would think this would be a factor in the system deciding whether that drive would become Disk 0 or Disk 1.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 10:00
Which slot did you install the 2TB OS drive in?
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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September 26th, 2021 12:00
About the only thing you could try is remove the current drive 0 and let the other one take its place. Reboot a couple of times like that and then try reinstalling the other drive.
It may go back to the way it was but at least you would know. UEFI systems are not as bad about such things as the older Legacy systems were.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 13:00
Is it ok to do that when the second drive is still unpartitioned and empty? Then when I add the old drive, do you think it will push the unpartitioned drive to Disk 1 and take over Disk 0 to itself?
zzscarab
13 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 15:00
Also, which slot do I install the new drive? And does it matter?
NikolayT
20 Posts
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September 26th, 2021 20:00
I got it fixed and the solution is quite simple.
1. Reboot the PC and enter the BIOS (F2).
2. Go to Storage and disable SSD-2.
3. Save the changes and boot up the Windows.
4. Check that there's only OS (C:) drive visible and it's detected as Disk (0).
5. If it's like this, then happy days. Reboot the system again, enter BIOS and enable the SSD-2 drive back, save the settings.
6. When you boot up the windows it become Disk 1 and the OS will remain as Disk 0.
Hope it helps! Some pic below.
p.s. Obviously the OS drive has to be phisically installed to SSD-1 slot and the second drive to SSD-2.
1. Disable the second SSD-2 in BIOS
2. Second SSD disabled.
3. OS - Disk 0, Media drive 0 Disk 1.
zzscarab
13 Posts
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September 27th, 2021 10:00
Thank you very much NikolayT for your effort and detailed steps. However I still have a couple of questions so I don’t do anything wrong.
1. My XPS shipped with the single drive in SSD2 not SSD1. In your instructions you have that drive installed in SSD1. Does this cause any issues?
2. What if we get Sad rather than Happy Days? Does it mean that no matter which way we go about it, the OS Drive will be Disk 1 and the only solution then is to clone Disk 0 from Disk 1, then boot the OS from the new Disk 0.
Again, thank you so much for your help.
NikolayT
20 Posts
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September 27th, 2021 23:00
Hi zzscarab, if you have OS drive in SSD-2 slot, you can try to disable the SSD-1 storage interface in the BIOS, boot up the Windows and check if you have OS drive detected as Disk 0. After that you can enable the SSD-1 in BIOS back, so it should become Disk 1 as required.
I don't think there's any issue to have OS drive in SSD-2 slot.