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:

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 Win7 partition Active, click on Disk to highlight it, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, Apply, reboot. If Win7 doesn't start boot into DVD Repair console to run Startup Repair 3 times until Win7 starts.

You can then boot back into PW CD to delete 100mb partition, Resize Win7 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