Partition - Mark as Inactive

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    Partition - Mark as Inactive

    Partition - Mark as Inactive

    How to Mark a Partition as Inactive in Windows 7 and Vista
    Published by
    Designer Media Ltd


    How to Mark a Partition as Inactive in Windows 7 and Vista


       Information
    Marking a partition as active on a basic disk means that the computer will use the loader (an operating system tool) on that partition to start the operating system. Marking a partition as active if it doesn't contain the loader for an operating system may cause your computer to become unbootable.

    This tutorial will show you how to mark a partition as inactive in Windows 7 and Vista in case you marked it as active by mistake.

       Tip
    If you mark the wrong active partition as inactive by mistake and can no longer boot from it, then you can do a startup repair to fix it.


    EXAMPLE: Partition Marked as Active and Inactive
    NOTE: This is an example of my D: data partition shown as active by mistake in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc). I used the steps in this tutorial to mark it as inactive since my System Reserved partition is my true active partition instead.
    Partition - Mark as Inactive-active.jpg

    Partition - Mark as Inactive-inactive.jpg



    Here's How:
    1. Open a elevated command prompt, or a command prompt at boot.

    2. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 6)

    3. In the command prompt, type list volume and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 6)
    NOTE: Make note of the volume number or letter that you wanted to mark as inactive. At boot, the drive letters may not be the same as they are in Windows.

    4. In the command prompt, type select volume # or select volume letter and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 6)
    NOTE: You would substitute # for the volume number listed, or letter for the volume/partition letter. For example, I want to mark my D: partition as inactive, so I would type either select volume 2 or select volume D and press Enter.

    5. In the command prompt, type inactive and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 6)

    6. In the command prompt, type exit and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
    Partition - Mark as Inactive-cmd.jpg
    7. Close the elevated command prompt in Windows, or restart the computer if at boot.
    That's it,
    Shawn








  1. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #1

    Nice one, Shawn.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 8,679
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #2

    Excellent tutorial Brink !
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 71,978
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thank you guys. :)
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 6
    California
       #4

    I can't seem to figure this out like you guys.


    I'm trying to mark O as inactive. This is my removable usb hard drive.
    Last edited by Lopy; 19 Aug 2012 at 18:07. Reason: more info
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 71,978
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Hello Lopy, and welcome to Seven Forums.

    See if using the command below at step 4 may work instead. :)

    select volume 7

    Hope this helps,
    Shawn
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6
    California
       #6

    Thanks.
    This is the result I get. It doesnt seem to work

    DISKPART> list volume

    Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
    ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
    Volume 0 E DVD-ROM 0 B No Media
    Volume 1 C HP NTFS Partition 583 GB Healthy System
    Volume 2 D FACTORY_IMA NTFS Partition 13 GB Healthy
    Volume 3 G Removable 0 B No Media
    Volume 4 H Removable 0 B No Media
    Volume 5 I Removable 0 B No Media
    Volume 6 J Removable 0 B No Media
    Volume 7 O FAT32 Partition 466 GB Healthy

    DISKPART> select volume 7

    Volume 7 is the selected volume.

    DISKPART> inactive

    There is no partition selected.
    Please select a partition and try again.

    DISKPART>
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 71,978
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Could you post back with a screenshot of your Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) showing all of your HDDs' full layout?

    Do you have anything on the HDD that you need to keep? If so, do you have space on another HDD to move it to temporarily?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6
    California
       #8

    Yes, I can back it up to my main hdd.

    Last edited by Brink; 19 Aug 2012 at 23:09. Reason: embedded image
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 71,978
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Ok, good.

    After backing up the contents of O, you could run the clean (not "clean all") command on the O drive to wipe it out and leave the HDD as "unallocated space". Afterwards, you can just format it again without it being "active", and copy the data back to it. :)

    Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command
      My Computer


 
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