Windows 7: clean win 7 install to ssd: avoiding 100 mb loss, not sure if i am

chedderslam · 24 Dec 2011

hello friends. Merry Christmas Eve!

finally getting around to my first win 7 install on my new 120 gb mushkin chronos deluxe.

I am using tweakhounds win 7 install guide found here:
TweakHound - Installing Windows 7

particullary, I am trying to avoid the 100 mb loss:

Quote:

Code:

*Avoiding the 200MB partition: Folks have discovered that on an unpartitioned drive Windows 7 will create a 200MB system partition. This is easily avoided by creating a partition before attempting to install Windows 7 (see above). (for some this partition will be 100MB)
**Exception for SSD drives to avoid the 200MB partition and partition / format the drive.
Partitioning is a little different for SSD (Solid State Drives). This is because of something called NTFS partition alignment. Basically this refers to where on the drive the partition starts. Vista and 7 will create a single partition optimally for SSD's. XP and most program boot disks will not. If possible you should partition the disk under an already installed Windows 7 or Windows Vista machine and then proceed with the usual installation steps. If not then this is the way to do it:

Windows 7 Installation Advanced Drive Formatting
1 - Boot up from the Windows 7 installation disc.
2 - Choose Repair your computer.
3 - In the System Recovery Options screen, choose Use recovery tools... and click Next.
4 - Open the Command Prompt.
5 - Type diskpart and hit Enter.
6 - Type list disk . Find the disk you wish to install Windows 7 on. If you only have one disk then it will show as disk 0. If you have multiple disks find the drive you wish to install 7 on.
7 - Type select disk 0 (or use the number of the disk you wish to install Windows 7 on)(note - that is a zero)
8 - Type list partition. There shouldn't be any.
9 - Type create partition primary.
10- Type select partition 1.
11- Type active.
12- Type format quick.
13- When finished reboot and begin your installation.
( DiskPart Command-Line Options )

After reboot, the ssd shows as having 100 mb used and is listed as a system drive.
Am i doing it wrong, or am i misinterpreting what I see, and i am saving the space...

Am i not getting the expected result(saved 100 MB) or am I misunderstanding what windows is showing me?

ignatzatsonic · 24 Dec 2011

Are you attempting to do a clean install on a brand new drive?

If so, you wouldn't do steps 2 and 3 that you posted.

If it's a clean install on a new drive, try the steps below.

First: disconnect all other hard drives.

Then, boot from the Windows install disc.

1. Once Windows 7 Setup is loaded, press Shift + F10 keys at the first setup screen (which allows selection of language, keyboard and locale). A Command Prompt window will be opened.

2. Run Diskpart, the built-in disk partitioning tool of Windows 7, with the following command:

diskpart

3. Type in the following commands one by one, followed by the Enter key to create a partition (text in brackets are comments only):

list disk (to show the ID number of the hard disk to partition, normally Disk 0)

select disk 0 (change 0 to another number if applicable)

clean (this deletes all existing partitions and is not necessary on a new unused drive that has no partitions; this command does not write zeroes to drive; use clean all to write zeroes)

create partition primary (use a similar command to create more partitions if needed or create in Windows 7 after installation)

select partition 1

active

format fs=ntfs quick

exit

You will then be dropped back into the Windows installation and should not have the 100 mb partition.

gregrocker · 24 Dec 2011

If it installed with the 100mb System Reserved partition anyway then I'd not worry about it - it's only 100mb and there is no downside to having it.

If you really have the need for the 100mb, boot free Partition Wizard to mark Windows 7 partition Active, click on Disk to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, Apply, reboot. If Windows 7 doesn't start boot into DVD Repair console to run Startup Repair 3 times until Windows 7 starts.

You can then boot back into PW CD to delete 100mb partition, Resize Windows 7 partition to the left onto its space.

theog · 25 Dec 2011

First check to see if your new MOBO has a uEFI BIOS.
As most new MOBO's now have a uEFI BIOS.

How to install Windows 64 bit on a uEFI BIOS:
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with

richnrockville · 25 Dec 2011

FWIW:

Personally, I don't see a big problem with losing 100megs of disk space. the gotcha is that if you use an image program to backup your c drive. It is a good idea to also include the image of your system drive of the 100megs.

This makes it much easier to replace your boot drive..

Rich

Windows 7: clean win 7 install to ssd: avoiding 100 mb loss, not sure if i am

clean win 7 install to ssd: avoiding 100 mb loss, not sure if i am problems?