Question Boot partition is on SSD, system partition is on HDD ?

[Sachin J28]

I recently upgraded my GPU and processor, after the upgrade I had some issues and the storage space on my C drive was filling up for no reason so I decided to just reinstall Windows because I was worried it might be a virus. I created a bootable USB using media creation tool, during the installation process I got into an installation loop but I did some troubleshooting and managed to install Windows. But after Windows booted up I went into disk management and realized that the boot partition was on my SSD (Disk 0) and the system partition was on my HDD (Disk 1) as you can see in this screenshot, is it possible to move the system partition with the boot partition and merge them into a single partition on my SSD (Disk 0)? Or can I keep using my system as it is now and reinstall Windows in the future when I run into any issues? I can't remove the HDD by opening the case and reinstall Windows on SSD because of physical reasons that I don't want to talk about.

 

[SkyNetRising]

is it possible to move the system partition with the boot partition and merge them into a single partition on my SSD (Disk 0)?

Execute following from elevated command prompt. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
If you get any errors, then stop immediately and show screenshot with command output.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

(select 465GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 3​

(select 221GB partition)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition primary size=500​

format fs=ntfs quick​

active​

assign letter=K​

select partition 1​

(select 50MB system reserved partition, we'll delete it)​

delete partition override​

exit​

bcdboot C:\windows /s K:​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully".

Then boot into BIOS, change boot priority settings and
set first boot device to 500GB disk.

 

[Sachin J28]

Execute following from elevated command prompt. Regular command prompt will give error on last step.
If you get any errors, then stop immediately and show screenshot with command output.

diskpart​

list disk​

select disk 0​

(select 465GB disk)​

list partition​

select partition 3​

(select 221GB partition)​

shrink desired=500​

create partition primary size=500​

format fs=ntfs quick​

active​

assign letter=K​

select partition 1​

(select 50MB system reserved partition, we'll delete it)​

delete partition override​

exit​

bcdboot C:\windows /s K:​

Last message should be "Boot files created successfully".

Then boot into BIOS, change boot priority settings and
set first boot device to 500GB disk.

Wouldn't this create a boot partition on Disk 0 which already has boot parition on C drive?

 

[Sachin J28]

I think I figured out what the issue is, I think Windows somehow got installed on both the SSD (Disk 0) and HDD (Disk 1), I went into the BIOS and changed boot order and put the SSD (Disk 0) as the first option, and then pc booted up and I checked disk management and it's showing both system and boot partition on C drive, see this screenshot. Now can I just format H drive and pc would work fine? Or is it actually just showing H drive as system partition when the HDD (Disk 1) has boot priority above the SSD(Disk 0) in BIOS?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Now can I just format H drive and pc would work fine?

Normally bootloader partition (marked System) is on a different partition than windows OS partition (marked Boot).
Steps described in post #2 would make a separate bootloader on Disk 0.

On legacy systems (with MBR partitioned drives) bootloader can be placed on same drive as windows OS.
On UEFI system that would not work though.

But yes - you can delete H: partition. Your PC should boot just fine.
If you do not delete, but just format it, then I suggest you remove active flag from it too.
Can be done with diskpart.
Better just delete and recrerate it.

 

[Sachin J28]

Normally bootloader partition (marked System) is on a different partition than windows OS partition (marked Boot).
Steps described in post #2 would make a separate bootloader on Disk 0.

Okay, so if I create a bootloader partition called K drive (which will be marked System) on Disk 0 along with C drive which is the windows partition (which will be marked as boot) I can switch to GPT and UEFI with no issues? And if I let the bootloader partition and windows partition be on C drive UEFI won't work?

 

[SkyNetRising]

I can switch to GPT and UEFI with no issues?

You'd have to use mbr2gpt utility.

And if I let the bootloader partition and windows partition be on C drive UEFI won't work?

UEFI mode requires GPT partitioning and
bootloader partition has to be separate from OS partition.

 

[Sachin J28]

UEFI mode requires GPT partitioning and
bootloader partition has to be separate from OS partition.

I followed the steps in post #2 (changed K to E) and this screenshot is how the disks look in disk management now, can I use mbr2gpt to get UEFI mode now?

 

[SkyNetRising]

I followed the steps in post #2 (changed K to E) and this screenshot is how the disks look in disk management now, can I use mbr2gpt to get UEFI mode now?

Note - your system needs to support UEFI boot.
You haven't shared any info about your system specs.

If you convert drive to GPT, but there's no UEFI support, then your system becomes unbootabe.
And there's no easy way to go back to MBR.

But yes. Everything looks good there and you should be able to convert to GPT.

 

[Sachin J28]

Note - your system needs to support UEFI boot.
You haven't shared any info about your system specs.

If you convert drive to GPT, but there's no UEFI support, then your system becomes unbootabe.
And there's no easy way to go back to MBR.

But yes. Everything looks good there and you should be able to convert to GPT.

This is my pc :

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 3.4 GHz 8-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK500 ZERO DARK 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler ($44.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($56.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox TD500 Mesh V2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($118.67 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE GOLD 750 V2 FULL MODULAR 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($131.00 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit
Monitor: Acer VG240Y Sbmiipx 23.8" 1920 x 1080 165 Hz Monitor
Keyboard: Corsair K55 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($105.00 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech G502 HERO Wired Optical Mouse ($35.49 @ Newegg)
Headphones: HP HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset ($77.44 @ Amazon)
Webcam: Logitech C525 Webcam ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1384.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-10-09 05:25 EDT-0400

 

[SkyNetRising]

Modern system. Obviously it supports UEFI.

 

[Sachin J28]

Modern system. Obviously it supports UEFI.

Are you sure all my storage supports it? I don't want to risk switching to UEFI as I don't have a spare windows installation USB drive right now in case the mbr2gpt conversion goes wrong.

 

[USAFRet]

Are you sure all my storage supports it? I don't want to risk switching to UEFI as I don't have a spare windows installation USB drive right now in case the mbr2gpt conversion goes wrong.

You should ALWAYS be prepared for things to go wrong.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I don't have a spare windows installation USB drive right now in case the mbr2gpt conversion goes wrong.

Then make one.
This requires minimum 8GB USB flash drive.

 

[Sachin J28]

I made a windows usb but it wasn't needed, managed to convert to GPT using mbr2gpt utility and this is how the drives look like: screenshot. Can I format the 500 MB partition now without any issues? I might sound stupid but do I need to convert the other drive to GPT? Is the conversion needed only for the main drive which has windows on it? Also in the bios I disabled CSM and enabled Secure Boot (it shows enabled but not active) and the boot device is named Windows Boot Manager and not UEFI, is that fine?

 

[Order 66]

You should ALWAYS be prepared for things to go wrong.

Not to mention if you install windows with 2 drives plugged in you should EXPECT something to go wrong since windows often messes up and puts the boot and system partitions on different drives. You should probably reinstall windows with all other drives unplugged.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Can I format the 500 MB partition now without any issues?

You can delete it. It's no longer used for anything.

I might sound stupid but do I need to convert the other drive to GPT?
Is the conversion needed only for the main drive which has windows on it?

That's not necessary.
Conversion is necessary for bootloader drive. This is requirement for UEFI boot.
Secondary data drive can be in whatever partition type you want. Doesn't matter.

But you can, if you want to. You'll have to use 3rd party partition management software for this.
Like Minitool Partition wizard free or similar.
Note - GPT partitioning doesn't support extended partitions and logical drives. You'll have to convert partition F: to type primary ( or just delete it, since it's empty anyway).

Also in the bios I disabled CSM and enabled Secure Boot (it shows enabled but not active) and the boot device is named Windows Boot Manager and not UEFI, is that fine?

To activate secure boot, you have to enroll default keys.
And yes - in UEFI mode you boot from Windows Boot Manager.

Enable Secure Boot & TPM for Windows 11: BIOS How To Guide! - Techspin

It can be a little tricky to enable secure boot and enable tpm but we walk through it with a few steps with troubleshooting tips, when you're ready to get Windows 11.

www.techspinreview.com

 

[Sachin J28]

That's not necessary.
Conversion is necessary for bootloader drive. This is requirement for UEFI boot.
Secondary data drive can be in whatever partition type you want. Doesn't matter.

But you can, if you want to. You'll have to use 3rd party partition management software for this.
Like Minitool Partition wizard free or similar.
Note - GPT partitioning doesn't support extended partitions and logical drives. You'll have to convert partition F: to type primary ( or just delete it, since it's empty anyway).

I am not gonna do that as it's not really necessary.

To activate secure boot, you have to enroll default keys.
And yes - in UEFI mode you boot from Windows Boot Manager.

Are there any major advantages of enabling it?