New
#1
Need to Change Windows System Partition Drive Letter
Hello,
My first post here so I hope I am in the correct place.
Here is my problem...
I installed Windows 7 Pro 64 bit on a new Seagate 1TB drive. During the Windows 7 install I created a 250GB partition where the Windows files would be installed. I also left an unallocated partition that I would later use as a data drive (for storing music, videos, docs, etc).
As normal, the Windows 7 installer stated it would need to create a system partition where the boot files and other mysterious files would be stored. Indeed, after installation it had created a 100mb system partition (which I believe is normal).
In Windows I used the Disk Management utility to make the Unallocated partition useable. As a result I had the following partitions:
System partition (no drive letter assigned)
C: Boot and Page File partition (where Windows is installed)
D: Data partition (where music, videos, docs, etc will be stored)
So far all is well :) However...
What I needed to do was follow the simple procedure in the following link to move my C:\Users folder to D:\Users...
Move All User Folders to Another Hard Drive – Windows 7 > How - To @ MaxMakeDesign.co.uk
After following the instructions to get to the dos command prompt via the Windows install/repair DVD I was bemused to find that the system partition (that had no drive letter in Windows) was drive C:, my boot partition where Windows is installed (drive C: in Windows) was drive D:, and my data drive (drive D: in Windows) was drive E:. As such, performing the C:\Users to D:\Users process is impossible. In fact I tried it by substituting C for D and D for E but when I went to boot into Windows it claimed that no user could be found (which is understandable).
So, how do I make the system partition in the dos command prompt (i.e. outside of Windows) be another drive letter (i.e. NOT C: ) or make it hidden so my boot partition (where Windows is installed) is C: and my data partition is D: like they are in Windows?
In this thread I am using Microsoft's way of naming the partitions - System partition = where the boot files are stored. Boot partition is where Windows is installed. Stupid how Microsoft managed to make things confusing by labelling these partitions in a non-logical (opposite) way!
I hope someone can help!
BTW: I don't mind if I have to do a complete reinstall of Windows!
Cheers,
Mark.