Windows Server Essentials 2016 problem adding second drive for client backups

[samsquared2]

I've been successfully using WSE2016 since 2023 only for personal use to back up several PCs. A couple of months ago it failed, possibly the result of multiple power outages here in Florida. After trying to recover I gave up and did a new install using the same two 1TM SSDs as before. Initially I disconnected the 2nd one just for simplicity and I eventually got the backup working on all 3 laptops to the leftover area on the 1st drive after allocating 120GB for the C: drive. The initial client backups ran successfully but have used up that initial space. I reconnected the 2nd 1TB SSD to expand the client backup pool but it shows as being 1.62TB in size (!) and is not usable. Is this a vestige from the initial install? I tried connecting that drive using USB to another PC and it isn't recognized. I've done a clean and created a primary partition but it still shows as a 1.62TB drive. Attempts to format it yield a generic error saying that the format failed and I have no idea how to proceed. I'll be glad to provide additional pics from server manager if that would help. I've attached a pic from Disk Management.

I'm guessing that if I could format the drive from another PC, that work but I don't know how to do that if it's not recognized from the other PC.

 

[ChatGPT]

Thanks — this looks like a Storage Spaces / leftover-pool metadata issue rather than a normal “bad SSD.” The 1.62 TB / 1.58 TB numbers and the Server Manager screenshot show the disk is being treated as part of a Storage Spaces pool (ClientBackup), so Windows is exposing pool/virtual-disk metadata instead of a clean NTFS volume. That’s why the drive looks “weird” in Disk Management and why the USB enclosure/another PC may not show it normally. Storage Spaces leaves headers on drives that make them participate in (or be claimed by) a pool even after reinstalling the OS. su want to keep any data that might be on that 2nd SSD? If yes — stop and tell me; we’ll try recovery steps.

• If you don’t need the data (sounds likely given you reinstalled and are trying to reuse the drive) — the simplest is to remove the disk from the pool/erase the Storage Spaces metadata and reinitialize the disk.

Safe, recommended workflow (if you’re OK erasing the drive)
1) Backup any important data on the server first (don’t delete pools until you have current backups). Deleting pools/virtual disks destroys data.
2) Try the GUI method (easiest)

• Open De any volume on that Disk 4 (right‑click > Delete Volume).
• Open Server Manager → File and Storage Services → Storage Pools.
• Under Storage Pools: delete the Virtual Disk related to ClientBackup, then delete the Storage Pool. Once the pool/virtual disk are removed the physical disks should show as “Primordial” and you can initialize/format them normally. Many members have resolved similar cases by deleting the Storage Space/Pool first, then reinitializing the drives.

3) PowerShell (clean + reinitialize) — run as Administrator
-ool ; Get-PhysicalDisk | ft FriendlyName,Size,Usage,CanPool,OperationalStatus

• If you already removed the virtual disk/pool, wipe and reinitialize the physical disk (replace X with the disk number from Get-Disk / Disk Management):
  • Clear the disk metadata:
    Clear-Disk -Number X -RemoveData -Confirm:$false
  • Initialize and create a volume:
    Initialize-Disk -Number X -PartitionStyle GPT
    New-Partition -DiskNumber X -UseMaximumSize -AssignDriveLetter | Format-Volume -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel "ClientBackup" -Confirm:$false
• If you prefer diskpart:
  • diskpart
  • list disk
  • select disk X
  • attributes disk clear readonly
  • clean
  • convert gpt
  • create partition primary
  • format fs=ntfs quick label=ClientBackup
  • assign letter=E
    These commands remove Storage Spaces/partition headers and will give you a normal 1 TB NTFS disk.

If you can’t remove the disk from the pool / commands fail

• You may see errors like “disk still in use” / “could not relocate data” when trying Remove-PhysicalDisk; that means Storage Spaces can’t move data off the disk and blocks removal. Typical responses are to set the physical disk Usage to Retired and Repair the virtual disk first — or, if the data is expendable, delete the virtual disk and pool. See the forum discussion where Remove-PhysicalDisk is blocked because the pool couldn’t relocate data.

Why the other PC didn’t see it over USB

• Storage Spaces metadata can make a drive r unrecognized in consumer Windows when attached to another machine, and some USB enclosures also hide/alter drive presentation. If you want to wipe the drive and it won’t appear over USB, connect it directly to a SATA port on a desktop or use a different USB adapter/enclosure. If it’s truly not visible at all in BIOS/another machine, try a different cable/port — the enclosure itself could be the problem.

Diagnostics I’ll need if you want me to walk you through it

• Tell me whether you want to KEEP any data on that second SSD.
• If you’re happy to wipe it, tell me whether you want GUI or command-line steps. I can paste exact PowerShell / diskpart commands and explain what each does.
• If you want to preserve data, I’ll need these outputs (paste them or screenshots): in an elevated PowerShell on the server run Get-StoragePool ; Get-PhysicalDisk ; Get-Disk (copy/paste output). Those let me see pool membership, health, and exact disk numbers.

Quick next step (if you want to wipe and reuse the disk now)

• Tell me the disk number for that 1.62 TB disk (from Disk Management or run in an elevated PowerShell: Get-Disk) and say “wipe it” — I’ll give the exact Clear-Disk / Initialize-Disk commands to run.

If you prefer, post the Server Manager → Storage Pools screenshot (the pool details) or paste output from:

• Get-StoragePool | Format-List *
• Get-PhysicalDisk | Format-Table FriendlyName,UniqueId,HealthStatus,OperationalStatus,Size,Usage

I’ll guide you step‑by‑step.

 

[samsquared2]

Yes, the drive is meant to be re-used. I followed the GUI instructions and the drive (I assigned letter G is now showing the correct size in Disk Management and is active but I have been unable to add it back for client backup. It appears in Server Manager: Disks but if I try to create a new storage pool it says "there are no groups of available disks".

 

[ChatGPT]

Good — thanks for the follow‑up. What you describe (disk visible and sized correctly in Disk Management but the Storage Pool wizard says “no groups of available disks”) is exactly the normal result when Windows still sees that disk as having a volume/partition or otherwise not eligible to be pooled. In short: the disk must be unallocated and show CanPool = True before Storage Spaces will offer it when you create a pool. Several users have had the same behavior and resolved it by removing the volume/Storage Space metadata and then re‑pooling. ‑follow (includes both GUI and PowerShell). These steps assume you want to reuse the drive (you said you do) — they will destroy any data on G:.

• Confirm current state (one command to run in an elevated PowerShell)
• Open PowerShell as Administrator and paste:
  Get-Disk | Format-Table -AutoNumber Number,FriendlyName,SerialNumber,Size,PartitionStyle,OperationalStatus
  Get-PhysicalDisk | Format-Table FriendlyName,CanPool,Size,BusType,Usage,OperationalStatus

This tells us the Disk Number to operate on and whether Windows already marks it CanPool = True.
2) If the disk still has a drive letter / partition (GUI)

• In Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) right‑click drive G: → Delete Volume.
• If you get warnings about Storage Spaces or that it will affect the pool, you can continue because you intend to reuse it. After deletion the disk should show as Unallocated (no partitions).

(If Disk Management will not delete the volume or the Delete option is greyed out, do the next step with diskpart/PowerShell.
3) Clean the disk with PowerShell / diskpart (exact commands — run as Administrator)

• Identify the server Disk number from step #1 (we’ll call it X below).
• PowerShell method (recommended):
  Clear-Disk -Number X -RemoveData -RemoveOEM -Confirm:$false
  Initialize-Disk -Number X -PartitionStyle GPT

do NOT create a partition/volume if you want to add it to a Storage Pool​

After Clear-Disk the disk should show as Online and with no partitions.

• diskpart alternative:
  diskpart
  list disk
  select disk X
  clean
  exit

Note: Clear-Disk / clean removes partition/volume data and any leftover metadata that prevents pooling.
4) Re-check CanPool

• Run:
  Get-PhysicalDisk | Format-Table FriendlyName,CanPool,Size,BusType,Usage
• If CanPool is True for the disk(s) you want to use, the Storage Spaces wizard will see them. If CanPool is False, note the Usage and BusType — USB/externally-attached disks or disks still claimed by a subsystem can be listed CanPool=False.
• Create the Storage Pool and Virtual Disk (PowerShell example)
• Get the physical disks you want to add:
  $pd = Get-PhysicalDisk -CanPool $True
• Create a new pool:
  $subsys = (Get-StorageSubSystem).FriendlyName
  New-StoragePool -FriendlyName "ClientBackupPool" -StorageSubsystemFriendlyName $subsys -PhysicalDisks $pd
• Create a virtual disk (example: simple/one-disk, fixed provisioning):
  New-VirtualDisk -StoragePoolFriendlyName "ClientBackupPool" -FriendlyName "ClientBackupVD" -Size 1TB -ResiliencySettingName Simple -ProvisioningType Fixed
• Create a volume and format it:
  Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "ClientBackupVD" | Get-Disk | Initialize-Disk -PartitionStyle GPT
  New-Partition -DiskNumber (Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "ClientBackupVD" | Get-Disk).Number -UseMaximumSize -AssignDriveLetter | Format-Volume -FileSystem NTFS -NewFileSystemLabel "ClientBackup" -Confirm:$false

(If you prefer mirrored redundancy, use -ResiliencySettingName Mirror and at least two physical disks.
6) If the disk is attached via USB and CanPool still shows False

• Some USB enclosures present drives in ways that make them ineligible for Storage Spaces; if Get-PhysicalDisk shows BusType = USB and CanPool = False, temporarily connect the drive to an internal SATA port (or a different enclosure/adapter) and retry Clear‑Disk. Many forum cases require internal connection to make the disk poolable.
• Final checks & Server Manager
• After nPool = True, you can also use Server Manager → File and Storage Services → Storage Pools → Tasks → New Storage Pool to create the pool; the wizard will now list the eligible disks.

If something fails or you get an error

• Paste the output of these two commands (run in elevated PowerShell) and I’ll read the outputs and tell you the exact follow‑up:
  Get-Disk | Format-Table Number,FriendlyName,Size,PartitionStyle,OperationalStatus -AutoSize
  Get-PhysicalDisk | Format-Table FriendlyName,CanPool,Size,BusType,Usage,OperationalStatus -AutoSize

If you’d like, tell me the Disk Number for the G: drive now (from Disk Management or Get-Disk) and I’ll provide the exact Clear‑Disk / New-StoragePool / New-VirtualDisk commands you should run next.