Windows 10: Create a System Reserved Partition and keep original OS

Sometime ago I installed a second, larger SSD on a Dell XPS8700 but due to my lack of attention I reinstalled Win10 without a System Reserved Partition. By the time I realized what I had done, I had installed too many programs to start over and decided to just live with it. So far there have been no problems. Now I understand that the next major Win10 update, in early 2017, may not install without an SRP. While I could always start over with a clean install, the thought of reinstalling a huge number of programs along with configuring them is daunting. It would likely take at least 4-5 full days of work, something I’m really not up to at this point. So I’m wondering if I might be able to avoid this by the following:

Do a fresh install, after running a current backup of all the existing partitions, with the correct partitioning thereby creating a correct SRP. Then reinstall my previous OS partition from a backup copy. I realize that two sets system files would exist, one on the newly created SRP and one from the restored C-Drive. Which set of files would be used to boot from the newly created SRP or the OS partition? If it successfully boots than I suppose I could remove the duplicate files from the C-Drive. What concerns me if that there will be registry entries that would be incorrect and it would fail to boot after the C-Drive restore.

Do you think this would work? If not then is there another way I could correct the partitioning?

:)

 

Is it safe to increase the size of my System Reserved partition in a Win7/Win10 dual boot?

I have Windows 7 and Windows 10 in a dual-boot state (Win10 installed after Win7, both on different drives); but my Win7 installation does not create a separate
System Reserved partition. I assume that all Win10 files which are stored in a
System Reserved partition are stored in the System Reserved partition created by Win7...

...But there is one problem: As a stand-alone OS, Win10 creates a 500MB
System Reserved partition, and my Win7 System Reserved partition is only 100MB, and my dual-boot Win10 installation is using or sharing the Win7
System Reserved partition, since it was created first.

Here's the dual-boot screen:





Here's the dual-boot setup in Win10:





And here is the dual-boot setup in Win7:





Given a test run, I discovered that, with Win7 and Win10 on your machine, you can't have 2 separate
System Reserved partitions (one on the Win7 drive and one on the Win10 drive), because upon boot of one OS or the other, errors, blue screens and the need to repeatedly check the disks for consistency have the potential to corrupt either one OS or
both.

Since my assumption is that the Win7/Win10 dual-boot setup shares the same
System Reserved partition, is it safe to increase the size of this partition to 600MB (100MB for Win7 + 500MB for Win10), especially with the possibility that Win10 may dump enough files into this partition to completely fill or overwhelm the original
100MB that was created with the Win7 installation? I have Acronis Disk Director 12, which can resize any volume, before or after the OS partition.

 

Windows 10 Install on Asus Mainboard

I suppose it depends on the installer used and how it was created.

I would usually use rufus and although uefi compatibility is being used I would switch os type to Other os in bios just because I do not want any uefi or efi system reserved partitions created.

usb flash is ntfs and not fat32.

I prefer C partition only spanning the entire disk and reduce it after the install.

Keeping in mind disk is mbr and not gpt.

 

When you talk about System Reserved Partition, I assume you installed Windows using MBR partition scheme. All you need to do:
For Windows 10, The System reserved partition size is 500MB so:

• Use Magic Partition Manager Software to shrink C drive and create a 500MB partition, format as NTFS in front of C drive.
• Use EasyBCD 2.2 - Neowin to move the BCD to the newly created partition, rename it as System Reserved and remove the drive letter from this partition.
  
  
  
  NOTE: use the drive letter assigned for 500MB partition istead of C as shown in screen shot.

 

hi topgundcp,
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation and the links. I'll do that first thing in the morning and report back. I've been working on another PC all day and my eyes are crossing at this point.
Bob R.

 

Could you please post a link to the article that said this ?

You have never needed a SR partition on any Operating System. (unless of course you used BL, but who does)

Also please post a shot of Disk Management showing your entire Windows drive, before you proceed.

 

OK, after my backup completes. FYI it wasn't an article that talked about the possible failure it was a comment made by one of the members. I have no idea if it's true or not. I assume that the next major update might have some added feature that might use the SRP. But who knows at this point.

Update: The recovery partition appeared after one of the major updates. I'll probably nuke it at some point.

 

Unfortunately my attempt to shrink the OS partition and create a 500MB partition in at the beginning of the disk did not go well. When I rebooted my start menu was missing. Several additional reboots did not help. Odd because I have use MiniTool several time before with good results. I restored the disk from a recent backup and I'll probably try again but this time do it in two steps, first shrinking the OS partition and then moving the new partition to the front of the disk. I'll post results soon.

UPDATE: Resized OS partition successfully and rebooted with no apparent problems. Start menu was back. I noticed that on the first attempt the PC rebooted almost immediately with no indication that Minitool was running at start. This time Minitool ran and completed the resizing. So far so good. Next I tried to move the unallocated space to the front of the disk but that did not go well. Windows started it told me that it was repairing disk errors. After about 15 minutes automatic repair started but none of the options could be used since I had no restore points available and apparently the recovery partition was damaged as well. So I reimaged the disk again and Windows started correctly.

After restoring my disk I searched to see if others have had similar problems with MiniTool (as well as EaseUS) and while not widespread I did learn that repartition is not always trouble free. So I guess the bottom line for me is that I'll need to live with a system without a SRP.

UPDATE: Curious about the failure of MiniTool, I decided to try Aomie. Again I did this in two stages, first a shrunk the OS partition enough to create a 500MB partition and then I moved the OS partition to make the newly created partition. Aomie completes successful. I notice that it took considerable more time than MiniTool. Unfortunately when I used EasyBCD 2.2 to move the boot files to the new 500MB partition and when I rebooted it got the with a cannot find an OS message. Fortunately Acronis Backup came to the rescue again. It is interesting that MiniTool failed where Aoemi was successful. Just goes to show that nit every tool works in every situation.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

 

Honestly, SoFine409, I wouldn't worry about until IF it presents a problem. The comment you read regarding the potential problem was probably mine. In SOME cases, major upgrades to Windows 10 have failed because of the error "we couldn't update the system reserved partition". This usually occurs when the system reserved partition is only 100mb in size and Windows can't move things around to make it larger. I don't think this will happen with your installation because you have space available in your system partition - which just happens to also be your boot partition - for expansion. I was just warning that it is a possibility - but I don't think it is a big possibility.

Here's MiniTool's article on it:
Quickly Fix: Windows 10 Upgrade Couldn't Update System Reserved Partition

 

Hi NavyLCDR and thanks for your clarification. I read so many posts each day that I couldn't remember where is read that. Now I remember. The SRP thing has been bugging me for some time now and I wanted to cross it off my list but with the rather unpleasant experience (see my post #6) that I had with MiniTool this morning, I think I'm going to just let things as they are. FYI, I always enjoy reading your posts they're always very insightful. Thanks again.