Windows 10: System image file issues

Before I installed a M.2 card, I made a System Image file using Win7 tools. It asks you which partitions on "C" you want to backup. There were 4 partitions and 2 were pre-selected by Windows. I did not choose any additional partitions and ran the back-up. I rebooted to a Win10 recovery/repair cd and recovered the System Image to the M.2 card. When I looked at Disk Management for the M.2, it shows all four partitions. I would like to clean this up to provide additional storage for the future.

Any ideas on how to proceed?

Thanks,
Ron

:)

 

System image file

Restore Failed

Windows cannot restore a system image to a computer that has different firmware. The system image was created on a computer using bios and this computer is using EFI

only one computer! didn't know that image file it was created in bios, ASUS mother board

 

System image file

Hello John,

Just to confirm, did you use a CD or USB to create the system image?

Also, were there any error codes included in the error message you received?

Looking forward to your response.

 

When you restored, it will restore the partitions you backed up but not affect those not backed up.

This looks a very odd layout - the "system reserved" partition should only be 100 MB or so. Not sure what the 82GB partition is but is NTFS.

If it was me, I would reinstall Windows 10 from scratch, then restore the C drive partition only. You may have to move or delete the recovery partition to ensure you can use all disk space.

 

There was nothing on the M.2 prior to restoring the image file. If I delete the "system reserve" (and the 82GB) before creating the system image will Repair Tools disk create another one after I restore? I hope that is not too confusing.

 

Do not do that - you will almost certainly break things.

 

I've seen this kind of System Reserved partition elsewhere. In that thread, somehow Windows installed itself en toto into that partition instead of what is often called "c drive", OS partition [which is not the System Reserved partition]. In another elsewhere, a restore from a full image of Windows OS, was accidentally sent into the System Reserved partition.

 

Before people go down the road of offering advice, it should be noted that we don't have the full picture of what is on the drive and what actual functions the partitions are serving. The key item we are missing in the OP screen shot is which partition is actually the system partition the computer is booting from (except we do know it is not the 116.72GB System Reserved partition shown). We can't see that in the screenshot provided. We need to see all the info provided by a full disk management screenshot with all the columns widened so we can see the data in them:

Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of - Windows 10 General Tips Tutorials

In addition, running the following command in a Command Prompt (Admin) and posting the results will tell us if you have an active recovery partition:

reagentc /info

 

And thanks, and there is a new snapshot.


C:\WINDOWS\system32>reagentc /infoWindows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and system reset configurationInformation: Windows RE status: Enabled Windows RE location: \\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition2\Recovery\WindowsRE Boot Configuration Data (BCD) identifier: 7a7209d8-1055-11e7-803e-9a31d8a15ec2 Recovery image location: Recovery image index: 0 Custom image location: Custom image index: 0REAGENTC.EXE: Operation Successful.

 

So your system is booting from the first 82 MB NTFS partition. The OS being loaded is on the second 436.93 GB NTFS partition. The active recovery environment (the recovery menu you get if you hold shift and click restart) is also on the same partition containing the OS. The last two partitions can be deleted and space added to C: drive if there is nothing on them you want to keep. You can install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free which is a good program to do that with easily, and also in that program you can right click on the last 9.68 GB partition and select explore to see what is on it before you delete it.

Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

 

Your mini-tool is better than EaseUS partition tool. It allowed me to complete see what was in N Drive. I've enclosed a snap of it and really don't see anything there I need. However, I may want to encrypt some areas, some day, and will keep System Reserved for said purposes.

Thank you for that excellent explanation!