system reserved partition on second drive

gregrocker said:

I explained in post #10 why you do not want an Active partition on a data drive.

It can confuse the Repair utility to prevent repair when Win7 will not start.

Install free Partition Wizard, rightclick 1tb partition, Modify>Set to Inactive, OK, Apply.

I didn't know that Partition Wizard could do this. Good to know.

OP you have the option of which backup program to use, Macrium I found is SUPER easy and the process of creating an system image and recovery process is really fast.:)

Thanks Greg, I misunderstood your previous post about active partitions. I see now that could have caused me problems later on. I used the free partition wizard to fix the issue--nice program. Thanks for saving me from having to move data just to reformat.

I think I have everything straight now.:)

No prob, looks good.

Hope this thread still active.
I have two WD hard drives (Win-7, SATA0) and (Win-10, SATA1).
No SSD is on the system.
MOBO (ASUS H97 Plus) is UEFI / BIOS configurable but because processor is
64 bit and I'm running 32 bit OSes, per Microsoft BIOS is only applicable.
So system is set to use AHCI, CSM and Other OS.


Neither drive has a reserved partition. I originally cloned the XP drive and then installed Win-7 (32 bit) on that drive. For Win-10, I cloned the Win-7 drive and then used Microsoft Free Update which installed Win-10 on that drive.
I have never been able to use my MOBO (ASUS H97 Plus) to select an Alternate Drive to boot from.
However, if "ONLY" one drive is in the system (other physically removed), I can boot from that particular drive. If I have two drives in the system, system will boot the Primary Drive (SATA0) and make the other drive a DATA drive or keep it Offline if the signatures are the same. However, if I try to selectively Boot the 2nd drive (either by selecting F8 and the drive from the boot list) -- OR -- selecting the drive from OVERRIDE, I get a BSOD Error: 0x0000007B, 0x80786A48, 0xC0000034.
In tracing this Error it points to AHCI versus IDE, but changing the suggested registry keys (msahci, pcide, and iaStoreV as well as some others) Start values to 0, did NOT solve the problem and allow one to boot from either selected drive. Someone suggested putting a Reserved Partition might resolve this issue -- however -- my reading indicates it is really not needed (only if BitBlocker is used).

----------------
My Questions
----------------
1) Are the iaStoreA, iaStoreF, and iaStoreV keys only if one has an SSD)?
Logic says msahci applies if AHCI is selected and logic says pcide (also have an intelide) applies if IDE is selected in the UEFI/BIOS.
2) Since I want both drives to be separate and bootable, would I need a reserve partition on each drive -- OR - is a Reserved Partition even needed?

3) Can someone explain how the Reserved Partition factors into selecting and booting either drive as logic says making that selection from the UEFI / BIOS (boot menu or Override) would dictate which drive would be used for booting prior to the Reserved Partition even being discovered?
4) Anything else anyone has to offer appreciated.

dw85745 said:

Hope this thread still active.
I have two WD hard drives (Win-7, SATA0) and (Win-10, SATA1).
No SSD is on the system.

MOBO (ASUS H97 Plus) is UEFI / BIOS configurable but because processor is
64 bit and I'm running 32 bit OSes, per Microsoft BIOS is only applicable.
So system is set to use AHCI, CSM and Other OS.
Why are you running 32 bits if your system requires 64Bits OSs?


Neither drive has a reserved partition. I originally cloned the XP drive and then installed Win-7 (32 bit) on that drive. For Win-10, I cloned the Win-7 drive and then used Microsoft Free Update which installed Win-10 on that drive.

Disk Manager doesn't show MS reserved partition but Its probably there.

I have never been able to use my MOBO (ASUS H97 Plus) to select an Alternate Drive to boot from.

Fast boot must be disabled on BIOS

However, if "ONLY" one drive is in the system (other physically removed), I can boot from that particular drive. If I have two drives in the system, system will boot the Primary Drive (SATA0) and make the other drive a DATA drive or keep it Offline if the signatures are the same. However, if I try to selectively Boot the 2nd drive (either by selecting F8 and the drive from the boot list) -- OR -- selecting the drive from OVERRIDE, I get a BSOD Error: 0x0000007B, 0x80786A48, 0xC0000034.
In tracing this Error it points to AHCI versus IDE, but changing the suggested registry keys (msahci, pcide, and iaStoreV as well as some others) Start values to 0, did NOT solve the problem and allow one to boot from either selected drive. Someone suggested putting a Reserved Partition might resolve this issue -- however -- my reading indicates it is really not needed (only if BitBlocker is used).
Only Bitlocker (on Win 7 ultimate and Win 10 pro) uses the MS Reserved Partition. If you're not using Bitlocker you don't need MS Reserved Partition.

----------------
My Questions
----------------
1) Are the iaStoreA, iaStoreF, and iaStoreV keys only if one has an SSD)? No, Intel drivers for SATA are needed on HDD and SSDs.
Logic says msahci applies if AHCI is selected and logic says pcide (also have an intelide) applies if IDE is selected in the UEFI/BIOS. Yes. ON your computer AHCI is to be used, not ide.
2) Since I want both drives to be separate and bootable, would I need a reserve partition on each drive -- OR - is a Reserved Partition even needed? No, read above.

3) Can someone explain how the Reserved Partition factors into selecting and booting either drive as logic says making that selection from the UEFI / BIOS (boot menu or Override) would dictate which drive would be used for booting prior to the Reserved Partition even being discovered?

Only Bitlocker (on Win 7 ultimate and Win 10 pro) uses the MS Reserved Partition. If you're not using Bitlocker you don't need MS Reserved Partition.

4) Anything else anyone has to offer appreciated.

Your issues are not related MS Reserved Partition, and you probably have it despite you don't need it if you're not using Bitlocker
Are you with the latest (none Beta) BIOS?
On BIOS, is fast boot disabled?
Does Win 7 and Win 10 are both 32 bits?
On your specs it says you have 8 G of memory, is that correct?

Megahertz07: Thanks for responding

Why are you running 32 bits if your system requires 64Bits OSs?

I code mostly using Classic Visual Basic which is 32 bit. Yes I know can be used in 64 bit, but various issues.

Disk Manager doesn't show MS reserved partition but Its probably there.

Interesting. Anyway I can check (diskpart, bcd, etc). Is so, howto syntax would be most helpful.

If you're not using Bitlocker you don't need MS Reserved Partition.

Thanks for confirming as that was I got from my readings.

Are you with the latest (none Beta) BIOS?

Running original American Megatrends v2202. ASUS has a few upgrades -- indicate plug security issues -- but I've never upgraded do to all problems I and others have had with ASUS support especially those who screwed up with a UEFI/BIOS upgrade and could NOT get any support.

Fast boot must be disabled on BIOS

Believe it is but will confirm.

Does Win 7 and Win 10 are both 32 bits?

Yes

On your specs it says you have 8 G of memory, is that correct?

Yes


============================
Hope you might be able to confirm my logic on what's going on:


Once the user sets the various UEFI/BIOS options these should be written to VRAM (CMOS). After (or during POST) those setting are read. With the new UEFI MOBO's everything is first routed to UEFI. IF CSM is "enabled" then the decision tree routes to BIOS mode. Guessing here that part of that logic may be for the VRAM to also read the registry since AHCI and pcide Start and Override settings exist within the registry -- however seems a little illogical at this point as the VRAM table could already contain those values and WHICH disk to use is NOT known yet.
However, at some point the VRAM "Boot" Table is read. Mostly like If User has "NOT invoked" the VRAM setting screen, the code just reads the Boot Table line for last disk used based on a Default flag. That default table entry information would then be used to Boot whatever. IF the User "HAS invoked" the VRAM setting screen and selected either Boot Menu (F8) or selected a particular disk from Disk Override, than that line in the Table would be used. Whether a default flag is set for User last Override for F8 selection is unknown and not significant.
I'm basing the above on how I think the code logic would be implemented to get want's needed to boot.
SO as I see My boot issue lies somewhere in VRAM and NOT the HDD.



MOST important for this thread is to solve the immediate boot problem to allow booting from either drive. The drives are recognized by VRAM, just NOT boot selectable.


ON TOP of that would sure like to know how all this (VRAM settings)and the HDD themselves (both old MBR and new EFI with and without GPT) logically get the info needed to boot.

BIOS has it's own USB and PS2 port driver. If Fast boot is enabled, BIOS doesn't load those drivers and you won't have keyboard and or mouse (and you can't launch boot menu) till the OS (Windows) loads its own.
That is why Fast boot must be disabled. If you cant enter BIOS, unplug the PS cable and reset BIOS by removing the coin battery for 1 minute.
You should go to Asus H-97Plus site and download the latest BIOS and save it to a USB drive. Enter BIOS and launch quick flash. Browse to the BIOS file on the USB drive and run update. DON'T update BIOS under Windows.

Mainly the difference of using Legacy or UEFI is the way BIOS transfer the booting sequence.
- On a Legacy BIOS, BIOS looks for a disk and transfer the boot sequence to the MBR that then transfer to a boot loader on a partition.
- On a UEFI BIOS, BIOS looks for a boot loader on a Fat32 partition and transfer the boot sequence to this boot loader (on the Fat32 partition) that transfer the boot sequence to a OS partition.

You have a very good computer but using 32 bits you will only be able to use 3.2G of memory for the OS. To use all 8G you should install 64bits.