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#11
You can try disabling a hard drive or it's port in BIOS to see how that works.
You only need to pull one of the cables off the drive. At least one should be within reach? Just be sure to touch the metal case before ever reaching inside near the electronics, and never work on a carpet in stocking feet.
I have never considered the System Reserved partition to be any type of problem and can take it or leave it. Just make sure it remains marked Active at all times if you keep it. Some imaging/cloning apps give you access to needed settings to mark Active, include MBR and Track0. Macrium automates all of this which is another reason it is a favorite here.