Non-system drive appearing when creating system image.


  1. Posts : 71
    Windows 7 Professional, 64bit
       #1

    Non-system drive appearing when creating system image.


    hi,

    I tried to take a system image today for a newly installed windows and was surprised that it offered me to create an image for C: and E: listing E: as a system drive and no option to change... with E: really being a full 500 gb separate disk. it has no system files that I know of... why is it doing this?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #2

    Hello hatemf23,

    If you moved or turned on a page file to/for the E: drive, or moved your user folders to the E: drive, then it would be considered a system drive and would be included in a system image by default without being able to unselect it.

    In addition, could you post a screenshot of your Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) window showing your HDD's layout to see if anything may stand out as why this may be.

    Hope this may help some,
    Shawn
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 71
    Windows 7 Professional, 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I see, how do I turn off page file for E? here you go:


      My Computer


  4. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #4

    The links in my post above will show you how to, but page file is not your issue here.



    It appears that you need mark your C: partition as active, and mark your E: drive as inactive.
    Afterwards, you may need to run startup repair at boot on your C: (Vista) partition.

    Hope this helps,

    Shawn
    Last edited by Brink; 14 Nov 2011 at 01:51. Reason: updated with new tutorial
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 71
    Windows 7 Professional, 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Ok, I marked C active and marked E inactive, and had to use system repair like you said, cause I got a "BOOTMGR is missing" but then system repair made E active again.. why is the boot manager in E to begin with?

    This is strange actually, right after windows finished installing, the Disk 1 (now named E) didnt even have a letter and wasnt showing up on on my computer, I manually assign a letter to it and it turns into the system partition... lol
    Last edited by hatemf23; 14 Nov 2011 at 06:35.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,781
    Windows 7 Professional SP1 32-bit
       #6

    That's unusual indeed!

    It might be a good idea to follow Brink's advice again, but this time, after you make C: active and E: inactive, physically disconnect the E: harddisk before you start running the startup repair 3 times.

    That way it won't have any choice but to place the boot files on the first drive. One can only hope that it doesn't just go for the D: partition instead. LOL
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #7

    That is strange. Must have been some weird setup issue when you installed previously for it to use E like that.

    I'd recommend doing what Corazon posted above as well by disconnecting the E: drive afterwards.

    When you mark the E: drive as inactive, does it remove the "System" status as well afterwards?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 71
    Windows 7 Professional, 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Worked like magic E is not system partition any more.

    The question is though, would this happen again with another install? putting boot manager in E and all of that?

    How do I make sure E doesnt have any system files?
      My Computer


  9. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #9

    Yeah, it can happen any time. The installer seems to have strange ways grabbing random partitions to place the bootmgr - usually the first one it finds. On one of my systems it grabbed a data partition on another drive (I was unable to unplug that drive. The plugs seemed to be "welded" to the HDD. So much for Dell).

    I understand you can control that by making the drive on which you install #1 in the BIOS boot sequence. But I have not yet tried that.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 71,959
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
       #10

    That's great news Hatemf. :)

    Other than not moving your page file or system/user folders to the E: drive, having the C: drive listed first in the boot order as WHS posted should help prevent E: from becoming a system drive again.
      My Computer


 

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