Low disk space on System Reserve

[g160689]

I installed Windows 8 dual booting with windows 7. I followed easyBCD method to solve installation issue.
Now everything is fine except the system reserve itself is running low on disk space.
What should I do?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

What's the total capacity and the occupied space of the System Reserved partition on your PC?

Why is it a problem?

 

[g160689]

Its 100mb. Actually I was unable to install Windows 8 because the system reserved was too small for it. Then from the suggestion of few members, I followed this
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/209885-bootmgr-move-c-easybcd.html
which magically solved the issue.
But now I am running low in space.

 

[FliGi7]

You should do nothing. You only use that system reserve space to boot into Windows 7, you never save anything there and it doesn't start filling up with data because nothing should be writing to it. It's usually only present on default installations of Windows 7 and many people delete it upon reinstallation of the system as it's rather unnecessary to split the boot manager from the main partition/drive. When you attempted to install Windows 8, it probably tried to load the boot manager onto that same partition, causing some more space to be lost on an already small partition.

 

[alphanumeric]

The system reserved partition contains the Windows Recovery Environment, among other things. I personally wouldn't call it unnecessary. I extended the 100 MB system reserved that windows 7 setup to 200 MB when I setup my dual boot with Windows 8 RP. The last time I tried to setup a dual boot with Windows 8 I got that same not enough free space message. Right now disk management is showing 166 MB free so I have no idea why 100 MB wasn't enough?

 

[FliGi7]

You can make a recovery disk within Windows that doesn't take up any hard drive space or require a separate partition and is thus less subject to corruption. I suppose some people find not having to use a separate disc for repair more convenient, so that could be something useful it does provide. It does also hold the partition space for BitLocker encryption if you use that, but you can also just create a partition for this at the time you start using it. So, the usefulness of that partition is beyond my purposes and seems to cause more problems than it solves with people multi-booting that don't know how to handle such a partition.

 

[alphanumeric]

I agree, it seems to cause problems with dual booting to Windows 8. I just wanted to point out that it does have a purpose and wasn't something Microsoft did just for the fun of it.

 

[FliGi7]

Right, I don't think it's inherently a terrible idea, rather terrible execution. I think they tried to combine too many disparate and critical things into one secluded partition on the system that gets little to no attention until something goes wrong. Cramming 3 critical services (boot mgr, recovery, and encryption) into one partition pretty much violates all logical reason of why you implement partitions (and ideally separate drives) in a system. Getting rid of it and implementing recovery and encryption partitions on your own seems way more secure and logical to me, not to mention way less complicated.

 

[alphanumeric]

To each his own. I for the most part just leave it alone and hope I never need it.

 

[g160689]

Considering the system reserve 100mb space is still the same, then why in the first place Windows 8 refuses to install?
Some member says, using the EasyBCD method just copies the system reserved file as a backup to drive c. So, I would assume that the file are still there intact in that 100mb space. So, how Window8 was installed.
A question here, is it possible to expand the partition of SR to something like 300mb at fresh installation. And if I avoid or delete the partition totally by using some backup method, will there be problems in future??

 

[alphanumeric]

I'm also wondering why I got the "not enough free space in the system reserved partition" message. I didn't get that message this time around, I just assumed it was going to happen based on past installs. I expanded mine to 200 MB, but I had to start with a clean slate to do it. I started the Windows 7 install, deleted the Windows 7 partition, then expanded the system reserved into the free space. Then I created my partitions for windows 7 and Windows 8. Right now there is only 33 MB being used in my system reserved? Starting to wonder why I bothered expanding it? I ended up installing Windows 8 from Windows 7 and did a custom install. My PC wouldn't boot from the Windows 8 DVD for some reason.

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Mgmt drive map and listings, using Snipping Tool in Start Menu. Attach file using paper clip in reply box.

If SysReserved is given a letter it will sometimes fill up with crap written there. But it seems you cut it out by marking C Active to run Startup Repair until C became System flagged, correct?

Did you correctly boot the Win8 installer to install to a second partition. Do you now have the metro-style Win8 Dual Boot menu?

 

[g160689]

Yes I do have the metro dual boot menu.

 

[gregrocker]

You can recover the disk space from SysReserved into D (as shown in screenshot) using free Partition Wizard
bootable CD - not the Home version which like all other 3rd party managers can fail.

Partition Wizard Move/Resize Partition Video Help.

Or you can just delete System Reserved in Disk Mgmt. Have your repair disk handy since resizing or deleting on the boot sector can in rare cases require running Startup Repair.