Windows 10: Partitioning C drive Bricked My PC

Machine: Acer Aspire Switch 11v SW5 173 648Z

Ok, I forgot you can't just partition C drive on a Windows 10 tablet with EFI partition and the newer boot system like yesteryear. I used Paragon HDM to partition 128gb ssd C drive into 40gb and 78gb partitions. No more boot-up. Only boot to Recovery/Trouble Shooting environment and nothing I tried fixed it. I spent several days researching and trying a ton of things including Command Prompt boot partiton and boot file fixes and nothing worked. So I just used MS Media Creation Tool to do a clean install of the new Window 10 (1703) and it auto fixed the boot partition and boot files. Soooooo...


I would like to do it again (partition 128gb ssd C drive into 40gb and 78gb partitions) but I would like to avoid crashing my Boot Party again. Can someone explain to me what happened to the boot when I partitioned the C drive and how to avoid that?

This is an interesting page:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/win...ive-partitions

This is a quote from the page:
"The recommended partition layout for Windows 10 does not include data partitions. However, if data partitions are required, they should be placed after the Windows RE partition. This allows future updates to Windows RE to grow the Windows RE partition by shrinking the Windows partition." Couldn't find anything about how not to jack the boot system.

:)

 

Disk Management

OK, your recovery partition has been wiped and set as unallocated space, did you remove all partitions when you reinstalled Windows 10?

To get back this space now you will have to use third party software, due to the location of the partition on the drive Windows or DiskPart will not be able to merge it with your C drive as it is not to the right hand side of your C drvie.

Click HERE to download the Free version of AOMEI Partition Assistant, it is the best free partitioning software, it is easy to use and does a great job.

Using AOMEI, create an NTFS partition on the unallocated space and then merge it with your C drive

NOTE: take it slow and steady, make sure you are formatting the correct partition and merging to the correct partition - it is very easy to click on the wrong partition and brick your system . . .

 

resetting windows 10

Hi,

Please note that if there are multiple partitions when reset PC is performed, operating system will be installed in Drive C: and other partitions will not be configured unless specified. Also, reset my PC option will be installed in Drive C: by default unless
specified otherwise.

Let us know if you need additional help.

 

I like MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online

In the program, right click on the C: drive partition, select Move/Resize. Shrink the partition by clicking and dragging the right end boundary. In the newly created empty space after the C: drive partition, create your new partition. Click apply and MiniTool will reboot the computer/tablet and do the shrinking of C: drive before Windows loads on the reboot.

If you are going to shrink the OS partition that small, you might want to compact the OS before or after you shrink it. Run the following in a Command Prompt (Admin):

compact /compactos:always

 

Thanks bro, but that's what I did. I think it has something to do with the Recovery Partition. I think the Recovery Partition has to be right next to C drive in order to boot properly. I could be wrong but I think there is a different correct way to split the C drive without interrupting the boot process in the GPT type systems that have a 100mb EFI partition and 500mb Recovery partition on either side of C drive.

 

There is solution.

1) Make a full backup of your C:/ drive. Use a backup tool that allows you to restore a partition only where C: is.
2) make a bootable usb with Windows 10 iso
3) Reinstall Windows 10 and select advanced and delete all partitions, and let the installer create the partions it needs.
4) Once Windows is re-installed, boot your backup software and restore only the C: drive from your backup.

reboot/enjoy

Next time, make a full backup of all partitions from a working system before partitioning. *Wink

 

Whether or not there is a recovery, nor the position of the recovery partition has anything at all to do with the computer booting in EFI or legacy BIOS mode. The easiest way to fix your problem is to make a bootable USB flash drive of Kyhi's Recovery Tools:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - - Windows 10 Forums

Once booted into Kyhi's Recovery Tools from the USB flash drive there is a program called Macrium Reflect. Run Macrium Reflect and under the restore menu is a utility to fix Windows startup problems. That will fix you up in a couple seconds.

 

Bro, from my first post above: "So I just used MS Media Creation Tool to do a clean install of the new Window 10 (1703) and it auto fixed the boot partition and boot files. Soooooo..."

I have 2 of these Acer Switch 11v's and this one I'm going to use strictly as a Media Player plugged into my TV. That's why I want a small 40gb C drive and the rest of the 128gb ssd drive partitioned for media in case anything happens to C I don't lose all my movies. Reinstalling auto fixed my EFI boot partition and boot files.

If I "...select advanced and delete all partitions, and let the installer create the partitions it needs", it will auto create the 100mb EFI partition, the C partition and the 500mb recovery partition and I'll be right back to Windows 10 stock layout for a tablet with a GPT system. What I need to do is split the C drive into 2 partitions without jacking the boot again.

 

Ah sorry, missed the part where you said the issue was solved.

I also partitioned my main drive, but I did it when I installed Windows 10, leaving the empty space as unused until booting and quickly formatting the partition via Windows disk manager to suit my needs.

Im not a fan of having to install applications to do backups or partitioning since the built in ones can be used fine for basic usage. I rather in any case have boot disks to perform repair tasks and backups in case something is preventing the system from booting or other unforeseen issues.

 

Thanks bro, this is a nice set of tools I'll have for future use.

I contacted support @ MiniTool Partition Wizard about this issue and they said that Windows 10 on a tablet with GPT system works a bit differently than a regular Laptop or Desktop. They said most 3rd party partitioning progs are not set up yet to deal with this small flash/ssd drive tablet partitioning scheme. They recommended using the Win10 tablet's built in Disk Management as it's designed to deal with this different drive scheme. So I just tried it and it worked fine. It split my C drive into 2 partitions, C and D drive and it booted back up just fine. The only thing is it wouldn't let me shrink the C to anything less that 61gb for some reason. I would have preferred 40gb for C drive as this 2nd Switch 11 will be used only as a Media Player connected to my TV. But this will work fine. It gives me a D drive with 57gb for my fav movies separate from the system drive.

Just a thought here: When I used the partitioning program part of Paragon's Hard Disk Manager Suite I used the "Split Partition Wizard" feature instead the "Resize Partition" feature. It accomplishes the same thing but with "Resize" it leaves the extra as unallocated space to be formatted to another partition as the "Split Wizard" does it all in one process. Maybe using "Split" instead of "Resize" or "Shrink" jacked the boot system. Or maybe the boot got jacked because I originally chose 40gb for the C drive and for some reason the system wouldn't allow it, as when I just now used Windows Disk Management it wouldn't let me go below 61gb. Somehow maybe it affected the tablet's GPT boot system. Not sure about that.

 

Hmmm.....interesting find, Master Blaster. I shall have to do some playing with my 32gb tablet now.

 

Now that you mention it, I have an Acer 8" W4 64gb tablet I don't use much anymore that I'm going to try and see what happens.

 

As I mentioned before, if using "Split" instead of "Resize" or "Shrink" jacked the boot partition and boot system or the boot got jacked because I originally chose 40gb for the C drive and for some reason the system wouldn't allow that small of a C partition, either way, maybe that's why the tools I previously used and the Command Prompt fixes wouldn't work. It may have jacked the EFI boot partition and boot files enough that only a complete Windows reinstall that auto repartitions everything properly is what works. In a tablet with a GPT EFI partitioning scheme the tablet boots to the EFI partition, not the Windows C drive.

 

File fragments, possibly. This may be a case where defragmenting an ssd makes sense...

 

Yeah, I did that in the Win10 Disk Management. It recognized it as an SSD drive so it does what it calls "Optimize".

As to the not allowing under 61gb, it said it can't shrink past where there are "permanent files residing".
A drag since my C drive only took up 22gb of use.