Shifting System reserved partition to other HDD .!

Hi,

I've two HDD connected to my system , a 1TB & an 160 GB .!

But now i want to remove the 160 GB HDD . But i noticed a weird problem when i opened disk management . Here is a screenshot :




As you can see my OS ( Win 7 ) is installed on C: drive which is on Disk 1 . While its System reserved partition is on Disk 0 .

Now since I have to remove Disk 0 , The System reserved partition has to be moved to Disk 1 .

I don't wanna reinstall the OS , so how can i shift the System reserved partition (With all its contents ) from Disk 0 to Disk 1 .?? :-?

You need to write the System boot files to Win7 partition. Follow these steps:

Mark Win7 partition Active so Repair knows where to write the System boot files: Partition - Mark as Active

Power down, open the case, unplug Disk0, swap its data cable to Disk1 so that it becomes Disk0 and remains set to boot first in BIOS setup.

Now boot the Win7 DVD Repair console or System Repair Disk, run Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times to write the System boot files to Win7 partition until it starts on its own and holds the System Active boot flags.

You can now power down to plug back in the other HD to Disk1 to access its data or wipe with Diskpart Clean Command to clear the boot sector to prepare for repartitioning in Disk Mgmt..

If i shift Bootmgr to C:\ , can i then remove System reserved partition from Disk 0 then .?

Will i be able to use recovery console after removing System reserved partition then .?

sasha007 said:

If i shift Bootmgr to C:\ , can i then remove System reserved partition from Disk 0 then .?

Will i be able to use recovery console after removing System reserved partition then .?

Good question, Sasha.

One reason we've evolved here in thousands of similar cases to always recommending Startup Repair x3 method of rewriting the System boot files is because it also writes the System Recovery Options to the F8 Advanced Boot Options menu which you would almost certainly be missing otherwise.

It's not that the System Reserved partition holds the WinRE file since it is in the Windows/System 32 folder on C, however it is the link to F8 which must be rewritten and only Startup Repair will do that when run the requisite number of times.

gregrocker said:

sasha007 said:

If i shift Bootmgr to C:\ , can i then remove System reserved partition from Disk 0 then .?

Will i be able to use recovery console after removing System reserved partition then .?

Good question, Sasha.

One reason we've evolved here in thousands of similar cases to always recommending Startup Repair x3 method of rewriting the System boot files is because it also writes the System Recovery Options to the F8 Advanced Boot Options menu which you would almost certainly be missing otherwise.

It's not that the System Reserved partition holds the WinRE file since it is in the Windows/System 32 folder on C, however it is the link to F8 which must be rewritten and only Startup Repair will do that when run the requisite number of times.

Okay . But there is slight a problem with my system . My DVD drive is dead , so i cannot have Windows 7 DVD to boot into the repair console . What should i do then .?

And do you mean that using the startup repair x3 method would rewrite the link to f8 ( which actually is in System reserved partition ) to the c:\ drive .? After that would the System reserved partition be still required .?

whs said:

Once you moved the bootmgr, the system reserved partition is no more required.

Regarding system recovery, I do not see a recovery partition on your disks. But that should not be a big problem. Images are a lot easier to deal with. I would make images instead. Imaging with free Macrium

By system recovery i meant the recovery options in the Repair console . Those reside in the System reserved partition as well right .?

As I said before the WinRE Recovery Tools are in the WIndows folder on the Win7 partition not the System Reserved partition. A link is written to the F8 Advanced Boot Options menu during install or using Startup Repair to rewrite the System boot files to the partition marked Active.

You can make a System Repair Disc - Create which is why I had a blue link in my post for it.

Or if you don't have a working CD drive you can extract the DVD ISO on another computer using ImgBurn then write it to flash stick using Universal USB Installer with Win7 in dropdown menu, boot the stick under USB, Removable or HD's, follow the steps I gave.

You'll know it's done correctly when Win7 starts with the other HD unplugged and holds the System Active flags. You can then reboot to test that F8 has the Repair choice on it.

If you want to get rid of the system reserved partition you can get the F8 functionality (access to the OS Winre) quite simply
100 MB Partition