Great — thanks for the details and the screenshot. You’re almost there. Summary of the situation and the safe path forward:
- What happened: you created a second storage pool for the newly-cleaned disk (ClientBackupPool with G
. Windows now has two separate pools, which 1) doesn’t automatically combine free space across pools and 2) means the original backup pool (ClientBackupOld) is still full. Storage Spaces does not let you “merge” two pools into one — you must remove one pool and add its physical disk(s) to the other pool (or move data off and recreate a single pool). This is the normal behavior others have hit as well. ion A — Non-destructive if you can move data temporarily (recommended if you need to preserve existing files)
- Move the backup files from ClientBackupOld to a temporary location (external disk / another server) so ClientBackupOld has free space.
- Delete ClientBackupOld (virtual disk + storage pool).
- Create one single pool using both physical disks (the original 1 TB and the G: 1 TB).
- Recreate a single virtual disk/volume sized to the combined capacity and copy your backup data back onto it.
This preserves data but requires temporary storage and downtime for the backup service while you move files.
Option B — Fast/destructive (if you don’t need to keep whatever’s on the new pool)
- Remove the new pool you created (ClientBackupPool). This will delete the virtual disk inside it — make sure it contains no needed data.
- Add the freed physical disk to the original pool (ClientBackupOld).
- Resize/expand the virtual disk and then extend the filesystem/partition so the backup volume gains the added capacity.
If the data on ClientBackupOld must be preserved, Option B is still okay because you are only deleting the new pool (ClientBackupPool). You are not deleting ClientBackupOld.
Exact steps for Option B (GUI + PowerShell mixed; adjust names to match yours)
1) Double-check names and contents (run in elevated PowerShell)
Get-StoragePool | Format-Table FriendlyName,Health,Size,AllocatedSize
Get-VirtualDisk | Format-Table FriendlyName,StoragePoolFriendlyName,Size,ResiliencySettingName,HealthStatus
Get-PhysicalDisk | Format-Table FriendlyName,Size,CanPool,Usage,OperationalStatus
2) Delete the new pool (ClientBackupPool)
- In Server Manager → File and Storage Services → Storage Pools:
- Under Virtual Disks, select the virtual disk that belongs to ClientBackupPool (confirm name).
- Tasks → Delete Virtual Disk (confirm).
- Then select the storage pool ClientBackupPool → Tasks → Delete Storage Pool.
OR PowerShell:
$vd = Get-VirtualDisk -StoragePoolFriendlyName "ClientBackupPool"
Remove-VirtualDisk -InputObject $vd -Confirm:$false
$pool = Get-StoragePool -FriendlyName "ClientBackupPool"
Remove-StoragePool -InputObject $pool -Confirm:$false
3) Verify the physical disk is now available to pool
- Run:
Get-PhysicalDisk | Where-Object CanPool -eq $True | Format-Table FriendlyName,Size,BusType
- You should see the disk that was in ClientBackupPool marked CanPool = True.
4) Add that disk to the original pool (ClientBackupOld)
- GUI: Server Manager → Storage Pools → select ClientBackupOld → Tasks → Add Physical Disk → select the disk you just freed and Add.
- PowerShell (example):
$pd = Get-PhysicalDisk | Where-Object CanPool -eq $True
Add-PhysicalDisk -StoragePoolFriendlyName "ClientBackupOld" -PhysicalDisks $pd
5) Expand the virtual disk and the filesystem
- First expand the virtual disk to use the added space:
- PowerShell example (replace names):
$vd = Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "ClientBackupVDisk" # change to the actual virtual disk name for ClientBackupOld
Calculate a new size (example adds ~1TB). Replace the numeric value with the bytes you want:
$newSize = $vd.Size + 900GB
Resize-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName $vd.FriendlyName -Size $newSize
Note: if PowerShell in your environment doesn’t accept units like “900GB”, use the byte value (900 * 1024^3). If you prefer GUI, some Server Manager versions let you extend the virtual disk via the Virtual Disk Tasks menu.
- Then extend the partition/volume so Windows sees the extra space:
- Disk Management: right‑click the backup volume → Extend Volume → follow wizard.
- Or PowerShell:
$disk = Get-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "ClientBackupVDisk" | Get-Disk
$part = $disk | Get-Partition | Where-Object DriveLetter -EQ 'G' # or use the correct drive letter for your backup volume
Resize-Partition -PartitionNumber $part.PartitionNumber -DiskNumber $disk.Number -Size ( (Get-Disk -Number $disk.Number).Size )
6) Verify everything
- Check Server Manager → Storage Pools to ensure ClientBackupOld shows increased capacity and free space.
- Check the volume (File Explorer / Disk Management) to confirm the new free space is usable.
Important warnings
- Removing a pool or virtual disk is destructive for that pool — be 100% sure the pool you delete contains no needed data. (You said the disk is meant to be reused, so sounds OK.)
- Always have a backup of critical data before reconfiguring pools. Storage Spaces changes can be irreversible without backups.
- If a physical disk shows BusType = USB,isallow pooling for that disk — use an internal SATA connection if necessary.
- If Remove-PhysicalDisk or Add-PhysicalDisk fails with “disk d not relocate data,” that usually means the pool can’t move data. The usual remedy is to remove the virtual disk (if empty) or to move files off the pool first.
If you want, I can:
- Produce the exact PowerShell commands using your pool/virtualscreenshot (ClientBackupOld, ClientBackupPool, ClientBackupVDisk, etc.), or
- Walk you step‑by‑step while you run each command (I’ll wait for your “OK” after each destructive step).
Which do you prefer? If “go ahead,” say “Delete ClientBackupPool and add disk to ClientBackupOld” and I’ll generate the concrete commands tailored to the exact names in your setup.
