Is my OS on my SSD, HDD, or both?

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tacanacy

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Jan 16, 2013
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I'm not sure if my OS is installed on my SSD or HDD, it looks like it's partially on both. I built my PC 4-5 years ago and don't remember how I configured it, but it should have been on the SSD. I upgraded to Win10 last June or July.
I recently booted into the BIOS and discovered that my HDD is selected in the Boot Priority (http://i.imgur.com/89CoayG.jpg) instead of the SSD, and when I selected my SSD in the Boot Menu (http://i.imgur.com/mzPtTSh.jpg), Windows failed to start (http://i.imgur.com/UvKJQLl.jpg).
When I was going to create a system image, the only hard disk I could save the backup to was the HDD, but a warning told me that the drive selected was the same physical disk that was being backed up (http://i.imgur.com/3UIC3K5.png).
In Disk Management, the HDD and one disk named Local Disk, which is where my OS is on, are displayed, but they are displayed as two different disks, not two different partitions on the same disk (http://i.imgur.com/8HcnEjr.png). The Local Disk is #0, which is the same number as the SSD shown in the BIOS. The Local Disk (118GB) is also roughly the same size as my SSD (122GB). But the HDD has a "System Reserved" partition, which is from what I've gathered, created by the OS when it is installed on the disk. If the Local Disk also is the HDD, then where is my SSD?
 
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Well if you're booting from your HDD then chances are it's on your HDD or possibly on both. To find out if your PC is picking up your SSD could run Belarc http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

It basically tells you everything about your PC and should show whether or not it's finding your SSD. Run Belarc, won't take more than 3 minutes, it will show a report in a internet browser. Screen shot the drives on there and post it back on here. Don't show the whole thing as it will show product keys etc...
 
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drive 0 = 120gb SSD
Drive 1 = 3tb hdd

What motherboard do you have?

what happened is when you installed win 10 on the SSD, it saw the hdd as a great place to put the boot sector, so that is why it shows the hdd in your bios as that is where the Boot record is. Windows 10 is on the SSD but if you took hdd out of PC, it wouldn't boot.

Also, since you have hdd set up in MBR format instead of GPT, you can only see 2tb of the drive and the remaining 746gb is not usable by the PC
 
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or just read the partition manager screen, it's quite obvious what's happened.
 
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Colif is right, when the windows installed first time (before the update to windows 10 and i say this because system reserved of 100 mb which windows 7 uses a 100 mb partition is on the hdd) you made the hdd the boot device, the iwndows is installed on the ssd but the boot sector is on teh hdd, windows 10 tried to make the ssd as boot device (see the 450mb partition on your ssd) but due to previous configuration it kept the hdd as a boot device. The onyl solution for you is to reinstall windows with the ssd as primary boot device or with the hdd disconected to be absolutly sure it is ok.
 
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saw this when I had SSD with HDD and installed Windows 7, and it was on SSD only, then later on I upgraded to windows 10, and the process it issues is to split itself on both drives binding them together like glue. only way out is delete partitions on both, reboot with install cd/usb and when doing the drive partitions selection (since both are cleared, click ssd drive and it will only use that drive and leave the other in-partitioned until your use computer management yourself
 
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I can't delete the two partitions on the SSD and not the System Reserved partition on the HDD.
 
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So all I have to do is to create an installation media on a USB flash drive, disconnect the HDD, and boot the PC from the flash drive and install win10 from there? I don't have to delete any partitions/volumes on the SSD or HDD first?
 
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technically you just need to delete all partitions from both drives, launch usb install, and select the ssd to install windows to.
the system will ignore your unpartitioned HDD , and once windows is on your SSD, goto computer management and partition/format your HDD as simple volume. N
TFS and enjoy.
 
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I said I can't delete the partitions; the DM won't let me. The system won't ignore the unpartitioned HDD cause it was unpartitioned the first time I installed an OS on my PC and yet it partially installed the OS on the HDD.
 
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you install with only the SSD connected, as a part of that process you delete the partitions, then you reconnect the hdd (once installed and powered down), then you deleted the 100Mb partition on the HDD.

Do all of this AFTER you have backedup anything you might want.
 
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If it is set to primary boot in bios it will not ignore, it will format it automayically, safest method is to disconect the hdd before installing windows.
OP Back up all your important data, make an usb windows installer, disconect your hdd, power the pc, boot from the usb, in the partition manager (where you choose where to install windows) delete all partitions, then click on the unallocated space and then click on new partition (or new cant remember the exact button), it will pop up a message and will say windows will make aditional partitions, click ok and then select the second or the largest partition (in case you install in uefi mode it wont be second anymore more likely 4th or 5th). Power down the pc, conect the hdd, go into bios and select you ssd as primary boot device (or windows boot manager in case it is uefi). Now download minitools partitions(or any 3rd party partition manager software like aomei, easus) , install it and delete all partition on the hdd, now right click on the hdd icon on the left and choose initialise to gpt (or convert to gpt) now create a big partition and enjoy your entire hdd not just 2tb how you used until now but the full 3tb.
 
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still curious what motherboard you have. Need to find out if you have UEFI

If you remove hdd from power and run installer on ssd it will check what type of bios you have and install according to that.
If you have BIOS it will create 3 partitions on the SSD
If you have UEFI it will create 4 partitions on the SSD

HDD also depends if you have UEFI.
If You only have legacy then you can only use max of 2tb on the hdd as the disc format it uses (MBR) only supports a max of 2tb
If you have UEFI then you can use all 3tb as the max hdd size for GPT is so big we don't even have a drive big enough to fill one partition yet - GPT discs can have 128 partitions on them and each partition can be 256tb in size

So simplest fix if PC has UEFI is copy anything you want to keep off the ssd now onto the hdd
boot from the win 10 installer and follow this guide: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-windows-10-clean-install.html
once you reach step 13, delete all the partitions on the hdd and click the next button - if win 10 gives some warning about drive format needing to be GPT then you are on right track. If you get this, restart the installer and just click next when you reach this screen as some motherboards need to switch to UEFI boot method before you install on them (and may have an auto function to do that)
once win 10 is on SSD and it boots up fine, re attach the hdd & check in bios to make sure the HDD is not in the boot order (it should be Windows Boot Manager 1st)

Copy anything off hdd you want to keep and then remove ssd from power (so we don't accidentally wipe it) and run dban on the hdd, this will wipe it all.
re atttach ssd to power and boot up normally
perhaps use the partitioning tool mentioned above to create the GPT partition or a few if you want to split the 3tb drive up a bit.
 
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Huh what?
You are mistaken here, a bios system will not allow a windows instalation on a gpt disc but the ssd it does not need to be gpt, the ssd can be a mbr install windows on it and the hdd formated in gpt, windows 10 and also 7,8,8.1 can detect and use gpt discs even if the motherboard is only bios...If you need teh disc outside an OS then it might be a problem but inside any os the disc will be recognized even it is gpt.
 
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i don't recall saying ssd had to be SSD had to be GPT. Win 10 if it recognises you have an UEFI will insist on using GPT for the SSD, when you do a clean install. If motherboard set to legacy boot then it will use MBR

okay, didn't know bios can create GPT disks for storage but I knew it can't boot off them.
 
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No you did not but to install a windows in uefi mode, the boot device must be gpt formated. And if you have a legacy bios, the only limitation is the boot device(must be mbr) the other storage media can be any style you want, it can gpt or mbr, it does not matter because windows will recognize them anyway.
 
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