How do I re-create the 100mb partition?

[M R]

Hello guys, I'm new to this forum.



I need your help desperately:


I had system file corruption and had to reinstall Win7. The problem is that I formatted the 100mb partition.


I know this is an important part of the system and want to have it back. It complies with size (100mb) and position requirements (the first partition).

There are a lot of post dealing with getting rid of it. I want the opposite. Howw do I do it?


Now, there are some constraints: I cannot delete the entire disk because I have a Linux installation in another partition. And if I delete the 100mb partition to try and lure Win7 into creating it, it'll change the partition table and my bootloader won't be able to locate Linux.


Can you help me please.

 

[gregrocker]

Be aware that having GRUB on the HD can corrupt Win7 at any point so this may not work although it is proven to create the SysReserved partition by tests done by BareFootKid and has worked for others:

Boot the Win7 DVD Repair Console or Repair CD, access a Command line to mark the 100mb partition Active: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html

Now boot the DVD repair console or Repair CD, accept any offered repair. When Win7 doesn't start, boot back in, click through to Recovery Tools list to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots until Win7 starts. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105541-startup-repair-run-3-separate-times.html

If this fails you can try doing a partition-specific wipe of 100mb, in case it has been corrupted by GRUB, using free Partition Wizard bootable CD which can also Modify>Set as Active. Then run Repair x3. You can also use PW CD to shrink Win7 to create the 100mb if it isn't already created as it appears from your post. http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

If it won't work then it is likely because of GRUB corruption on the HD, which is why it is best to Dual Boot Linux on another HD via the BIOS to avoid GRUB corruption of Win7.

 

[M R]

I have deleted grub for now. So I don't think it will interfere.


Can you elaborate a little bit on that one? How does it Break Windows 7?




I have deleted grub for now. So I don't think it will interfere.


Can you elaborate a little bit on that one? How does it Break Windows 7?


I mean: I have to have both Windows and Linux. Is there any way of preventing corruption of Win7's bootloader (what gets corrupted is the boot loader, not Windoiws 7 itself, right?)

This has raised another worry in my head: perhaps I have to go back to WinXP?

 

[gregrocker]

Not sure as I am not a Linux man - just that we see it here all the time.

Do you still have the formatted 100mb partition? Is it empty now? Did Win7 mark itself System Active?

Follow the steps above to move Active flag to 100mb and run Startup Repair repeatedly to move boot-critical files to it.

If you need to shrink Win7 to create 100mb Primary NTFS partition use free Partition Wizard CD which will also mark it Active for you.

 

[M R]

I have formatted everything but Linux.


I reinstalled Windows 7 in its corresponding partition. It seems to me that the 100MB partition is now NTFS as I can see it from My PC and it has nothing.


I am currently creating the rescue CD from a friend's computer. Does it matter that it's another computer?

Update: so far I've done alsmost everything you told me. So far it seems to be working, I guess, but I have a problem: what are the three system repairs you talk about? I got a menu with several options, which three do I need?

Edit: Ah, wait, you said three startup repairs, not system repairs. I realize now I have to click on the first option three times. Silly me...

 

[M R]

Am I doing it right?

Hi again.


I did what you told me. I now have several questions:


* How do I know I did it right?
I run the startup recovery until it started telling me that no problems were
found.
Check this: Prior to this horrible incident, I had set up GRUB to contact the Windows bootloader in the 100MB partition and then fire it up. After
formatting the partitions (C: and the 100MB partition) I noticed that grub
could no longer start Win7. After doing all this, I notice that it can start it
again. Does it mean that I got it right? How do I tell that the 100mb partition
has been restored?
I read that it has some backup utilities there, how do I run these to check
they are there?

* Should I mark the 100MB partition as inactive again or should it stay like that?

* Finally I have a weird problem: At first (at the very beginning, long ago, before installing Linux) the 100MB partition had no drive letter and was invisible in Windows. I want it to be like that again should I remove the letter? What do I do to hide it? I'd like to remove the letter too.

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk Mgmt drive map with listings, using SNipping tool in Start menu. We can tell you if it is correct.

If 100mb is marked System Active, then you recovered it. You should now have your boot files on that partition, and the Repair console conveniently placed on the F8 Advanced Boot Tools menu.

What makes you think it is GRUB which is booting Win7 now? It should be System Reserved partition which is booting Win7. Is GRUB booting Linux now?

Do not ever move the Active flag without having a clear reason to do so, as your computer will become unbootable.

 

[M R]

Screenshot

Here it is. Please tell me... I'm anxious :shock:



Both Windows and Linux are booting now.


I think GRUB is booting Windows because I reactivated it and had it boot Windows without telling it to look for the boot files inside C. Before, when I deleted the 100MB partition, it could not boot Windows from there. Now it can again, which leads me to think this is restored, but you tell me.

Oh, and please show tell me how to remove the letter and make it invisible in MyPC so that nobody can touch it.

 

[craney5]

Hi mate,

Do you still have the windows disk that you installed from? if you do there is no real need to install the 100mb partition as you can always use it to repair any issues you have. Anyway what i would do is at the installation screen go to the command prompt and use diskpart to create an active partition of say around 80gb for windows. Leave the rest of the space as unallocated for now. Once that has been done install windows to this partition, you will see the 100mb partition is no longer there. I understand you want it but just wanna tell you how much easier i have found things by doing this.

Once windows has been installed to the partition i would normally install basic little things like graphics drivers etc i would not connect to the internet yet though as your get updates galore . Then create a disk image of the windows partition so if you now run into any problems you have a nice fresh image you can easily recover. I would then use disk management to create your other partitions however many you require, of course you would only be able to use a max of 3 more.

Thats just the way i like to go about a fresh install, i like to have 4 partitions so that 100mb one that windows creates only leaves me with 3 . Windows will install its MBR file to you windows partiton instead of the 100mb one its just personnal prefrence but i like to keep every together. Once you have created all the partitions you would like and installed all your applications games music etc i would then create another image of all the partitons so you now have the choice to recover to a nice fresh install or afresh install with all your applictions etc installed with all the most up to date updates.

There are some fab windows guru's on these forums who will put me right im sure if i have missed something, but like i said this is just the way i like to do things, everyone is different.

Hope this might have helped

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello M R, welcome to Seven Forums!



It is not possible as Windows will not allow the drive letter of a drive that is marked as "System" to be changed or removed; I only read English but it seems the 100MB "System Reserved" partition is the "System" partition now and should work as intended for Windows 7.

Here are other options at these links below.


System Reserved : Create Using Disk Management

System Reserved : Create for Dual Boot

 

[M R]

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you it was in Spanish.


Here is a rough translation (because I don't know the exact terms in the English version of Windows):


From left to right:


Disc0
465,76
On screen

E:
100MB NTFS
Correct (System

C:
180,57 GB NTFS
Correct, Boot, Pagefile, Dump (not pretty sure about this translation)


-No letter-*
180,60 GB
Correct (Primary partition)

Data (D
99,00 GB NTFS
Correct (logical drive)

-No letter-**
5,48 GB
Correct (Primary partition)



* This is Linux's partition. The filesystem is ext3
** This is Linux's swap partition (for memory swaping)


That's it.


So, was it a success then? Can't I make it invisible at least? I have managed to do so under Linux, so that people don't mess with it from Linux (I just discovered that, since it appearas as just another drive, people were saving things to that partition).


Another question: I want to delete the provisional Windows I installed to C. Any advice? Will it automatically detect and use the 100MB partition or do I have to delete it too and start over? What's the best practice when formatting Wijndows 7 regarding that partition?

 

[gregrocker]

It looks correct since SysReserved is marked System Active.

So far it appears to be playing well with GRUB if you see evidence that GRUB is still managing the Dual Boot.

However be aware that GRUB can corrupt Win7 at any time and make it unbootable.

The solution to this if you want a Dual Boot with Linux is separate HD's booted via either the BIOS Boot Order or BIOS one-time Boot menu.

 

[M R]

Do you know what GRUB corrupts exactly? Does it corrupt the 100MB partition or C:?

If it corrupts the reserved partition it's as simple as having an image of that partition and restoring it every time GRUB corrupts it, since I have no way of getting a separate HD and most of the time I'm using Linux.

Also, if I format C: again, will I have to repeat all these steps again?

 

[gregrocker]

Good idea to save a Win7 backup image now so you can easily get back to where you are.

Keep in mind that I'm not a Linux guy, but we see cases here regularly where GRUB appears to corrupt the Win7 bootloader because normal repair methods won't work. For all we know this is a rare exception when you take into account all of the Linux Dual Boots and the small number we probably see here which are corrupted.

However in your case Win7 repairs did work and you apparently can even still boot via GRUB. So I wouldn't worry too much about it. I just didn't want you to be surprised if it fails to boot some time.

In addition you are skilled enough to have determined you needed the SysReserved partition for GRUB to function correctly, something which I can't ever recall an OP knowing before. I thought this was a longshot, but you were ahead of me on that and thus are probably more knowledgeable about GRUB working with SysReserved.

Stick around and help others with these issues.

 

[M R]

Let me share what I know:

When you install Windows AFTER Linux, it deletes GRUB and its bootloader takes over, which means Linux will still be there but be unbotable because Windows is not gentle enough to detect and add an entry for Linux.

Now, when you install Linux AFTER Windows, GRUB tries to locate Windows' boot information, creates an entry for it (if successful) and takes over. So every time you start up your machine, the Bootloader that is executed is GRUB. Now if you select the Windows entry, it seems to me that GRUB actually boots Windows using the previously collected information. It's either that or that GRUB call Windows' bootloader and steps back.

Either way, GRUB needs to know where the Windows bootloader resides, otherwise it won't be able to do anything.


You have been of great help guys. Thank you a lot. Now Windows and Linux are working again. However, I want to delete Windows and reinstall it properly again (that was a temporary installation to see if your directions would work). what do I do? Is it OK to delete just C: and reinstall the OS there or should I do something to the reserved partition? Will Windows recognize and use the reserved partition? That would be my final doub in this thread, you have been of a great help.


Thank you

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again.



You can use Option Three in this tutorial at the link below to do a partition specific wipe (secure erase) to both the "System Reserved" and the Windows 7 partitions and then Windows 7 could be reinstalled to it's partition and the SysResv should be made the "System" partition.

Be sure to use the installer to format both partitions as the wipe will leave them as "Raw" space and that may cause file system errors during the Windows 7 install process.

Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD

 

[M R]

Will the 100MB partition become the SysRes partition if there are still other 2 partitions that won't be touched?

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

With the SysResv partition present and Windows 7 being installed to the second partition there should be no issues, that's the way Windows 7 was designed.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

The "System" partition drive letter cannot be removed, Windows will not start if that's done.

 

[M R]

I just did...

I removed it and everything continued to work just fine. If I can I'll do it next time too (after wiping both partitions, I'm still at that step). My guess is that you are right and it won't boot because Windows' bootloader looks for the necessary files to boot in that partition by referring to it by its drive letter. However, since I'm using GRUB to boot Windows, and Linux does not need drive letters at all as it refers to partitions by device name (HD number 0, partition number 1, HD number 0 partiotion number 2, etc.), so I guess it just goes to the partiotion, fetchs the files and runs the boot process. That must be the reason why nothing bad happens when I change it. If I restore the MBR using Windows it will be a different story though.