Is it safe to delete an almost empty partition?

Layback Bear · 20 Nov 2014

Tracy I not going to try and help you solve this problem because you are already getting great help.

What I will try to do is help you understand what you have and what you need.

Your Reserve partition is on Disc (0) which has your boot manager in it. Your boot manager has directions in it that directs how your system boots.

When you boot your computer that is the first thing your system sees and that is why it staying Disk (0).

The boot manager needs to be on the same drive as Windows 7. Either in a Reserve partition or included with Windows 7.

What these good folks are trying to help you with is getting this done.

Please read back through the thread and if you have question, as Greg posted please just ask.

If you do your own tinkering and disable either Drive you will not be able to boot as your system is set now.

Tracey Lowndes · 20 Nov 2014

You are confusing me! On the one hand the computer expert told me "Don't remove the System reserved partition from Disk 0, it'll cause major problems if you do so" and on the other hand you're telling me to remove it from Disk 0. I don't know what to do!

Layback Bear · 20 Nov 2014

No that is not what anybody here is telling you.

What everybody here on this forum is saying is you need your system reserve (boot manager) and Windows 7 on the same drive.

If you follow Greg's instructions he will be able to guide you.

gregrocker · 20 Nov 2014

You want Win7 to be booted on its own drive, not by another hard drive which could fail which would then unnecessarily cause Win7 to stop booting. It is also wasting the other hard drive to keep a tiny boot partition for the sole purpose of booting another hard drive's OS which should be booting itself.

You said this "expert" moved the boot files to C which would have made the System Reserved partition useless and ready to delete. He did not, or C would be labeled System. So if he told you that you needed System Reserved to boot Win7 and also told you he moved the Boot Manager to C then you either misunderstood him or he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Please follow the simple steps to move the Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD - Windows 7 Forums which I gave you above.

If you're afraid to do this then you can leave it the way it is, partition the Unallocated space next to System Reserved for storage. But it is not correct for the reasons given.

Tracey Lowndes · 20 Nov 2014

Should I set the System Reserved partition as inactive, as suggested further up the thread?

AddRAM · 20 Nov 2014

Once again, no one told you to delete the system reserved partition, you are going to unplug that drive, you are not going to do anything else to it until you get windows booting on it`s own on the other hard drive. Why are you having such a hard time understanding this ?

Once you get windows booting on it`s own, you are then gonna hook the other drive back up and format it, so don`t worry about setting it inactive yet.

Just listen to our advice. :)

This is how it will look when you`re done, look at the difference between it and your C partition.

gregrocker · 20 Nov 2014

Tracey Lowndes said:

Should I set the System Reserved partition as inactive, as suggested further up the thread?

It won't be necessary to do that if you wipe the old HD once Win7 is booting on its own without it. The only way to know for sure it will boot on its own though is to test this after you move the Bootmgr by unplugging it. If C boots on its own then you can plug the other HD back in and wipe it as suggested which gets it cleaner than deleting its old partition since there is hidden boot code on it that can possibly interfere later.

There are two methods to move the Bootmgr:

Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD
uses EasyBCD to move it to C, set C Active and System Reserved Inactive.

Or Mark C Partition Active,
power down to swap the Disk0 data cable to C,
and then run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

Tracey Lowndes · 20 Nov 2014

OK, how do I open the computer to access the drives? And then how do I swap the cables around?

gregrocker · 20 Nov 2014

I see you have a laptop. What is the exact model?

Reboot and tap the key to enter BIOS setup. Look for where the Hard drives are listed, probably under Storage or SATA drives and possibly by their Serial Numbers which you can google to determine which is which.

Is there a way to disable either drive on any BIOS setup tab?

Now look for how to set the smaller drive as Primary since it will now be secondary. If this isn't shown on any tab in BIOS, look at the Boot tab to see if you can choose which hard drive to boot first there.

Pictures will help if you can take them: Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums - Windows 7 Forums

Report back what you find.

Tracey Lowndes · 25 Nov 2014

gregrocker said:

I see you have a laptop. What is the exact model?

It's from a "build to order" company called PC Specialist, here in the UK.

Reboot and tap the key to enter BIOS setup. Look for where the Hard drives are listed, probably under Storage or SATA drives and possibly by their Serial Numbers which you can google to determine which is which.

They are listed in the Main menu.

Is there a way to disable either drive on any BIOS setup tab?

No.

Now look for how to set the smaller drive as Primary since it will now be secondary. If this isn't shown on any tab in BIOS, look at the Boot tab to see if you can choose which hard drive to boot first there.

There is no way to do that.

But I can tell you the boot sequence.

1. USB KEY
2. USB ODD
3. SATA HDD P1: WDC WD10JPVT-00A1YT0
4. SATA ODD
5. USB HDD
6. USB HDD
7. USB KEY
8. PCI BEV JMC25X Gigabit Ethernet Controller

Pictures will help if you can take them: Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums - Windows 7 Forums

Report back what you find.

As well as the above, a bit of further information.

My disk drives are both Western Digital.

The first drive's model number is WDC WD7500BPVT-00HXZT3, and the serial number is WD-WX11E8195032.

The other has a model number of WDC WD10JPVT-00A1YT0, and the serial number is WD-WXB1A91E8008.

In the BIOS, the Main menu has these entries:

SATA Port0 WDC WD10JPVT-0 (1000.2GB)

SATA Port1 WDC WD7500BPVT (750.1GB)

The BIOS is from American Megatrends and is version 1.01.07.

If you need any further information, I will be happy to provide it.