How to delete system reserve partition

[demo320]

Hey everybody I just put 2 laptop hard drives that had windows 7 in my system alongside a desktop hard drive. i use the desktop harddrive for the boot and as the main data frive I want to use the other 2 for certain things. but when i put them in my computer they both have a 100 MB system reserve partition and i was wondering how to get rid of it since ill be using them for just data not an actual OS im formating one already but the other already is. thanks in advance!

 

[r0ck3tm@n]

The Windows 7 system reserved partition contains the boot loader and is the partition that the BIOS boots when the POST is finished. I realize that you do not need those partitions any longer but wanted to say that because it has been a learning experience for me. Since those drives aren't being used as OS drives you should be able to delete those partitions from Windows 7, I use the computer management console to do such things. I also use Norton Ghost and such things can be done from that environment also.

 

[sminlal]

^+1. For anyone else wondering if they can delete the system partition - if it's the boot partition for the current system then you should not delete it as it will render your system unbootable.

If you want to reuse the drive as a data drive then you can just delete it with a normal partitioning tool. I've not tried actually doing this, so I guess it's possible that the standard tools like "Disk Management" may balk at it - if that's the case then you can always just boot the system from the Windows 7 install DVDs and use the "Advanced Install" option to view and delete the partition. Just be sure not to delete the one you actually boot from.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Everyone says not to delete the system partition as that is where the boot info is. I upgraded from XP to Win 7 x64 using custom install. I disconnected all other drives before installing Win7. It did not create a system partition on my drive, so where is the boot loader located? There is only one partition on the drive and it's the full size of the drive. The only place the boot loader can be is in the same partition as the OS.

 

[xrodney]

Everyone says not to delete the system partition as that is where the boot info is. I upgraded from XP to Win 7 x64 using custom install. I disconnected all other drives before installing Win7. It did not create a system partition on my drive, so where is the boot loader located? There is only one partition on the drive and it's the full size of the drive. The only place the boot loader can be is in the same partition as the OS.

Most often yes, but you can have boot partition on different drive then its your main OS, for example in case of multiboot system.

 

[Hawkeye22]

Most often yes, but you can have boot partition on different drive then its your main OS, for example in case of multiboot system.

I understand that, which is why I always make sure there is only a single drive attached in the system before installing the OS so that both boot loader and OS are on the same drive. I was just wondering why it doesn't create a system partition when there is already an existing partiton on th drive. I guess it's too much of a hassel for the partition manager to move and/or create additional partitions.

Anyhow, no need to reply. I don't want to steal away the OP's topic.

 

[sminlal]

If anyone's in doubt as to whether its safe to delete a system partition on a data drive, the acid test is to disconnect the data drive and try to boot your system. If it boots without any problems then it's safe to reconnect the data drive and delete the reserved partition from it.

 

[UnsureConsumer]

Everyone says not to delete the system partition as that is where the boot info is. I upgraded from XP to Win 7 x64 using custom install. I disconnected all other drives before installing Win7. It did not create a system partition on my drive, so where is the boot loader located? There is only one partition on the drive and it's the full size of the drive. The only place the boot loader can be is in the same partition as the OS.

Sorry to necro this just wanted to clarify that in this case, the boot loader is definitely located on the same partition as the OS.

If you partition the drive before the installation of Windows 7 it will not create the pointless 100 mb partition.

Also, if you forget to do it prior and have to partition within the Windows 7 setup the trick to install the boot loader on the same partition as the OS is easy.

1. Create a new partition as you would normally and allow the setup to create the 100 mb system partition.
2. Delete the partition you just created, leaving only the 100 mb system partition.
3. Now click on the system partition and use the Extend option to increase the 100 mb partition to the full size or whatever size you like of your hard drive.
4. Format the now properly sized partition and that's it! Continue your install as normal.