Disk Image & System Reserved Partition

[whs]

Macrium users should always save the 100MB system reserved in their partition set. They don't have to select it in recovery but they will need it if they are recovering to a new disk

True, but you only need to image it once - just to be prepared for a Hardware problem. Not every morning when you take an image - as I do.

 

[mjf]

Macrium users should always save the 100MB system reserved in their partition set. They don't have to select it in recovery but they will need it if they are recovering to a new disk

True, but you only need to image it once - just to be prepared for a Hardware problem. Not every morning when you take an image - as I do.

Even with that rate of imaging a virus may find your system reserved (if you had one) very tasty.
I would do it every single time.

 

[whs]

Macrium users should always save the 100MB system reserved in their partition set. They don't have to select it in recovery but they will need it if they are recovering to a new disk

True, but you only need to image it once - just to be prepared for a Hardware problem. Not every morning when you take an image - as I do.

Even with that rate of imaging a virus may find your system reserved (if you had one) very tasty.
I would do it every single time.

I miss the logic. If I have an image of a good and safe SRP that I took long time ago, why can I not recover from that?

 

[mjf]

True, but you only need to image it once - just to be prepared for a Hardware problem. Not every morning when you take an image - as I do.

Even with that rate of imaging a virus may find your system reserved (if you had one) very tasty.
I would do it every single time.

I miss the logic. If I have an image of a good and safe SRP that I took long time ago, why can I not recover from that?

In a sense you may be correct. But there is a system volume folder in there and the OS does use the partition.

The system reserved partition is so small I think it's just easier to keep a copy each time included in your backup set.
Now I only have a couple of copies of my hidden factory recovery partition because that is larger and is static.

 

[Ponmayilal]

Inasmuch as including the SRP in the image does not hurt much (phew.... its only 100MB), I go with mjf, that it is a good practice.

(Paragon Software does give me the option to select and include the first sector (MBR) and I always do that. (I do not have SRP.) ShadowProtect automatically includes it (first sector) in the system image (no choice) and gives me the choice to restore that too or leave it during the restore process. Default is restore that too.)

 

[hairycactus]

System Reserved Partition vs System Repair Disc

[If System Reserved is deleted] You lose having the Repair My Computer console placed on the F8 Advanced Boot Tools menu. You'll need the DVD or Repair CD to access it.

Hi, I'm relatively unfamiliar with the architecture of the "100MB System Reserved" partition.

1) Is it possible to perform Startup Repair using a Windows 7 SP1-U.iso burnt to DVD ?

2) I understand that the size of the System Repair Disc created from within the Windows environment is ~165MB for Win 7 (64 bit) & ~143MB for Win 7 (32 bit). How then do the system repair tools fit into the "100MB System Reserved" ? Do the said tools exist in inactive compressed form while inside the System Reserved partition ?

3) My System Reserved partition (Win 7 Home Premium SP1, 64 bit) is 199MB in size (with 166MB free space). Why the size discrepancy ? I have not done anything to it before, & I don't use BitLocker.

4) Incidentally, I had experienced unexpected bootup failure in mid-Dec 2014 (the 1st ever after 4 years of very active use of my OEM laptop), & had to repeatedly run Startup Repair via Windows Recovery environment.

Since then, I have no idea if all the bootup & other system files had been repaired or not. sfc /scannow initially kept showing unrepairable corrupt files, but oddly enough, the CBS logs provided no indication of the said corrupted files but merely said that 0 files had been repaired — this & other problems are identical to those described in this thread. Then miraculously a week ago, it suddenly reported zero integrity violations, although all that while, I had (out of apprehension) deliberately avoided restarting the system, as well as avoided Windows Update until the newly-arisen OS problems are resolved.

Unfortunately, ever since recovery from the said bootup failure, the OS has started to fall apart bit by bit. The symptoms & errors are wide-ranging, quite severe, & very coincidentally enough, identical to the long list of various problems reported for the buggy Windows Update KB3004394 (09 Dec 2014 Patch Tuesday), although I do not have KB3004394 (the pulled update) &/or KB3024777 (the hotfix) installed. My Windows Update is turned off by default, because my SOP is to keep watch before attempting updates 1 or 2 weeks after Patch Tuesday or the issue of any out-of-band patches.

Bearing (4) in mind, is my current System Reserved partition itself in good condition ? I am planning to clean-install over my obviously-failing Windows 7 (OEM with manual SP1 upgrade), & I'm wondering whether the installation would retain the current System Reserved partition, or write over it.

Thanks !