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Knowledge Base > Operating Systems > Windows > Vista/Win7 > How to Remove the Windows "SystemReserved" Partition

How to Remove the Windows "System Reserved" Partition

Important: This article covers removing the System Reserved partition created when installingWindows 7 or Windows 8 on a MBR drive. Do not attempt to perform this procedure on UEFIsystems where Windows is installed on a GPT drive.

Problem:

Windows setup created a System Reserved partition and installed the booting files on it. As aresult, booting directly from the Windows partition is not possible.

Cause:

During the installation of Windows, a previously created primary NTFS partition was notspecified as the destination. Windows Setup created the System Reserved partition (100MB forWindows 7, 350MB for Windows 8) containing the booting files and a second partitioncontaining Windows.

Solution:

Copy the Windows booting files and Windows RE (Windows 8 only) to the Windows partition,apply the necessary BCD file corrections, and (optionally) remove the System Reservedpartition.

Important: The Windows 7 booting files must reside on a partition with a NTFS cluster size of4K (the default size). If your Windows 7 partition does not have 4K clusters you will not be ableto move the booting files to it. An example would be that you've formatted the Windows 7partition with 8K clusters. More information can be found in this Microsoft KB article. (Thislimitation does not apply to Windows 8.)

Note: If you are using a version of Windows that supports BitLocker (e.g. Windows 7Ultimate/Enterprise, Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise) and are currently using or plan to useBitLocker, do not remove the System Reserved partition.

Note: These instructions assume that the Windows partition is a primary partition. If Windowsis installed to a logical partition, removing the System Reserved partition will most likely resultin a non-booting system unless using a boot manager such as BootIt BM.

Instructions:

Part 1 - Copy the Booting Files and Configure the Windows Partition for Booting

1. Boot into Windows. If running Windows 8, go to the Desktop.

2. To allow access to the System Reserved partition, use Disk Management to assign adrive letter to it:

a. Press WinKey+R (press and hold the Windows key and press R) to open theRun dialog.

b. Type diskmgmt.msc into the Open box and click the OK button. The DiskManagement window will be displayed (may take several seconds to scan thedrives).

c. Right-click on the System Reserved partition and select Change Drive Letterand Paths... from the pop-up menu.Note: If the System Reserved partition is hidden the label won't be shown (it will

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Note: If the System Reserved partition is hidden the label won't be shown (it willbe blank) and the option to change the drive letter will be disabled. The partitionwill most likely be displayed as "100 MB Healthy (Active, Primary Partition)"(Windows 8 will show "350 MB" for the size) and be located at the start of thedrive, prior to the Windows partition. Please see Appendix A at the end of thisarticle to unhide the partition.

d. Click the Add button.e. An available drive letter will automatically be selected. You can keep it or select

a different one. When finished, click the OK button. In this example, E: will beassigned to the System Reserved partition.

f. Leave the Disk Management window open (it will be needed again in later steps).

Note: If an AutoPlay window or pop-up appears, just close it or ignore it.

3. Press WinKey+E to open Explorer.

4. Make note of the drive letter assigned to the System Reserved partition and the letterassigned to the Windows partition. In this example, C: is the Windows partition and E:is the System Reserved (booting) partition.

Note: It's a good idea to give the partitions meaningful labels. This can help you tellthem apart more easily. For example, the label for the Windows 7 partition might beWin7. This can be especially helpful when trying to tell which partition is which from theCommand Prompt.

5. Close Explorer once you've determined the drive letter assignments.

6. Start an Administrator mode Command Prompt. To do this in Windows 7, click on theStart button, then All Programs, then Accessories. Right-click on the CommandPrompt item and select Run as administrator from the pop-up menu. In Windows 8,press WinKey+X (or right-click the lower-left corner of the Desktop) and clickCommand Prompt (Admin) on the pop-up menu.

If a UAC prompt is displayed, click the Yes button.

7. Windows 8 only: Disable the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). Run thefollowing command:reagentc /disable

Verify that the winre.wim file was correctly moved to theC:\Windows\System32\Recovery folder by running the following command (if yourWindows partition is not C:, use the letter that's correct for your system). You shouldsee the file in the directory listing.dir /a C:\Windows\System32\Recovery

Note: This step is necessary because WinRE also needs to be moved from the SystemReserved partition to the Windows partition. Leaving WinRE enabled will result in abroken/unusable WinRE after this procedure has completed. If the above commanddoes not report success, you may need to manually copy the WinRE files (in the hidden\Recovery\{GUID} folder on the System Reserved partition) to an alternate location.

8. Unload the BCD registry hive by running the following command:

reg unload HKLM\BCD00000000

9. Copy the bootmgr file from the System Reserved (booting) partition to the Windowspartition (make sure to use the drive letters as assigned on your computer). Run thefollowing command: robocopy e:\ c:\ bootmgr

10. Copy the Boot folder from the System Reserved (booting) partition to the Windowspartition. Run the following command: robocopy e:\Boot C:\Boot /s

11. The booting files have now been copied. If you wish to verify that they were copiedcorrectly, run the following command (make sure to use the drive letter of the Windowspartition):dir c:\ /ah

If the bootmgr file and the Boot folder show up in the list, the procedure wassuccessful.

12. To update the copied BCD file so it will boot correctly, run the following command:

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12. To update the copied BCD file so it will boot correctly, run the following command:bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {bootmgr} device partition=C:

Update the Memory Diagnostic entry by running the following command:bcdedit /store c:\boot\bcd /set {memdiag} device partition=C:

Note: If your Windows partition is assigned a letter other than C:, make sure to use thatvalue instead.

Note: If you are using BootIt BM, you can use the BCD Edit feature to update the BCDfile instead of running the above commands. See Part 2 - Step 3 for details.

13. Close the Command Prompt window.

14. Remove the drive letter assignment from the System Reserved partition and set theWindows partition as the Active (booting) partition.

a. Return to Disk Management (reopen, if not left open in Step 2).b. Right-click on the System Reserved partition and select Change Drive Letter

and Paths... from the pop-up menu.c. Click the Remove button.d. Click the Yes button to confirm the change.e. Right-click on the Windows partition and select Mark Partition as Active from

the pop-up menu.f. Click the Yes button to confirm the change. You should see the Active tag move

from the System Reserved partition to the Windows partition.g. Close the Disk Management window.

15. Windows should now be configured to boot properly from its own partition. Restart thecomputer.

Note: If you receive an error message upon booting, the boot sector of the Windowspartition may need to be repaired (see How to Rebuild the Boot Sector for WindowsVista, Windows 7, and Windows 8).

16. Windows 8 only: Enable the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). To do this,open an Administrator Command Prompt (if necessary, refer to instructions in Step 6)and run the following command:reagentc /enable

The command should be successful if the previous disable was successful. On systemswhere TBWinRE was used to update WinRE it is not necessary to rerun TBWinRE afterenabling WinRE (the TBWinRE configuration will be retained).

Part 2 - Update BootIt BM to Boot Windows

Note: If you are not using BootIt BM as your boot manager, you can skip this part of theinstructions.

1. Reboot to BootIt BM.

2. Edit the relevant Windows Boot Menu entry. Select the Windows partition as thebooting partition. Save the change.

3. If you didn't run the BCD update commands in Part 1 - Step 12, go into Partition Workand select the Windows partition. Click the BCD Edit button. Select the Boot section.Configure the appropriate entry (e.g. Windows 7 or Windows 8) by following theinstructions under the Important BCD Settings section of the article How to Use theBCD Edit Feature of BootIt BM.

Part 3 - Remove the System Reserved Partition

Note: This part is optional. Removing the partition will only gain 100MB (Windows 7) or 350MB(Windows 8) of unallocated space. However, it will free up one primary partition slot.

Important: Windows 8 users may wish to verify that the Windows Recovery Environment(WinRE) functions correctly from the Windows partition before deleting the System Reservedpartition. If disabling and enabling WinRE (per Part 1 instructions) failed, the winre.wim file mayexist only on the System Reserved partition (in the hidden \Recovery\{GUID} folder). Deletingthe partition in this case would result in losing the file (unless a backup image has beencreated or the files have been copied elsewhere).

Deleting the partition can be done from either Windows Disk Management or BootIt BM.

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Deleting the partition can be done from either Windows Disk Management or BootIt BM.

Using Disk Management:

1. If Windows hasn't been rebooted since the completion of the Part 1 instructions, restartWindows. It should boot normally.

2. Start Disk Management (reference Part 1 - Steps 2a through 2b, if necessary).3. Verify that the Windows partition is now tagged as both the System and the Active

partition. The System Reserved partition should just be tagged as Primary Partition.4. Right-click on the System Reserved partition.5. Select Delete Volume... from the pop-up menu.6. Click the Yes button to confirm the deletion.7. The space used by the System Reserved partition should now be shown as

Unallocated.

Using BootIt BM:

1. Boot into BootIt BM.2. Enter Maintenance mode.3. Click Partition Work on the desktop.4. Select the System Reserved partition and then click the Delete button.5. Click the Yes button to confirm the deletion.

If you now wish to resize the Windows partition to use this space, proceed as follows:

1. Select the Windows partition and then click the Slide button.2. Enter 0 in the Free Space Before box.3. Click the OK button.4. Read the warning and then click the Continue button to proceed.5. Once the slide has completed, verify that the Windows partition is still selected and

then click the Resize button.6. Click the OK button to error check the file system.7. Adjust the New Size value to what you want. Setting it to the Max Size value will

resize the partition to use all available free space.8. Click the OK button.9. Read the warning and then click the Continue button to proceed. When the resize and

error check has completed, click the Close button.10. Return to the Boot Menu and boot into Windows.

Appendix A - Unhiding the System Reserved Partition

If the System Reserved partition is hidden you will not be able to assign a drive letter to it untilit's unhidden. This can be accomplished in several ways:

Using BootIt BM:

1. Boot to the BootIt BM boot media and enter Partition Work.2. Select the drive with the System Reserved partition.3. Select the System Reserved partition.4. Click the Properties button.5. Click the Unhide button.6. Click OK to close the Properties window and then click OK to close Partition Work.7. Remove the BootIt BM boot media and reboot into Windows.

Using DISKPART:

1. While still in Windows, start an Administrator Command Prompt.

2. Type diskpart at the prompt and press ENTER. DISKPART will start and display theDISKPART> prompt.

3. Type list disk and press ENTER. Note the disk number of the drive that contains theSystem Reserved partition. Note that the disk numbers correspond to the disk numbersshown in Disk Management. Disk 0 will be used in this example.

4. Type sel disk 0 and press ENTER (make sure to use the correct disk number for yoursystem).

5. Type list par and press ENTER. The System Reserved partition should show up in thelist (e.g. Primary, 100 MB). Partition 1 will be used in this example. If you have selectedthe wrong disk just go back to Step 3 and try a different disk.

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6. Type sel par 1 and press ENTER.

7. Type detail par and press ENTER. Assuming the correct partition has been selected, itshould show Type:17, Hidden:Yes, Active:Yes, and the offset. It should also report thatthere is no volume associated with the partition.

8. IMPORTANT: Make sure you have selected the correct partition before proceeding.

9. Type set id=7 and press ENTER. This will change the partition type from 0x17 (HiddenNTFS) to 0x07 (NTFS) and unhide it.

10. Type detail par and press ENTER. Verify that the partition is now type 7 and nothidden. Volume details and the partition's label should be displayed.

With the partition unhidden, go back to Part 1 and continue with the instructions.

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