System Reserved partition on wrong drive - how do I move it?

Hi, here's a screenshot of my drive setup:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13583891/Diskmgr.jpg

Now, the problem is (apart from me being an idiot!) is that when I installed Win 7 onto Disk 2 (my SSD disk), I didn't disconnect the other two drives from the machine. Therefore the System Reserved partition is on Disk 1, while the OS is on the SSD.

How can I re-partition Disk 2 and squeeze the 100Mb System Reserved partition onto the front?

I have an external USB drive I can use to image the partitions on to, however I'm concerned that backing up / re-partitioning / restoring the partitions wil render the machine unbootable.

I'm looking for a step-by-step guide on the best way to do this without having to do a full OS re-install.

Thanks in advance,

Jock in a Frock

1) Open a command prompt as admin, then type the following:

bcdboot C:\windows /s C:

Hit Enter.

This command places boot files on the C: partition which is your windows.

2) Now open disk management, right click C: and click Mark active. Right click System reserved and click Mark Inactive (unless its already showing inactive).

Reboot. Once all this is successfully completed, use partition wizard boot cd to delete system reserved and pull E: to the left to use up all the space on the disk.

Follow this base tutorial:
Help me get windows 7 to boot (again)

Mark Win7 partition Active using DIskpart: Partition - Mark as Active (Method Two)
Then mark SysReserved Inactive using Diskpart.

Reboot into BIOS setup, set Win7 HD as first HD to boot, after DVD drive.

Now boot the Win7 DVD Repair console or REpair CD, accept any offered Repair. If Win7 doesn't start, boot back in to run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times until Win7 starts on its own.

You can then plug back in SysReserved HD to delete and format that partition.

Why don't you want to do a reinstall? Because you've already got your apps installed too? I can understand that. I thought maybe you noticed it right away and therefore your C: drive was basically empty except for Windows. If that is the case then personally I'd just start over. There's much less room for error if you just zero out the drive and reinstall the OS.

The other posters have given you good options but of course everyone has a slightly different recipe.

I opted to get rid of that 100MB partition completely when I installed Win7. I figure if I need to recover from a nasty infection or a bad system stop I'll be better off reinstalling the OS anyway.

Good luck with it!

rcanino said:

Why don't you want to do a reinstall? Because you've already got your apps installed too? I can understand that. I thought maybe you noticed it right away and therefore your C: drive was basically empty except for Windows. If that is the case then personally I'd just start over. There's much less room for error if you just zero out the drive and reinstall the OS.

The other posters have given you good options but of course everyone has a slightly different recipe.

I opted to get rid of that 100MB partition completely when I installed Win7. I figure if I need to recover from a nasty infection or a bad system stop I'll be better off reinstalling the OS anyway.

Good luck with it!

Theres no need to reinstall just to change the boot drive. Sure, there're different ways to do things but one doesn't need a bazooka to kill a fly.