Windows 10: Unknown Partition - Unknown File System - Cannot edit or remove!

I was in the process of updating several sata controllers and chipset drivers. I also installed a new USB 3.0 hub and was in the process of moving around several devices between ports. I had a problem with my keyboard which uses USB 2.0 as a connector but I would recieve a "Unknown USB Device (Port Reset Failed)" code 43 on every port on the USB 3.0 Hub. I finally gave up and put the keyboard back into the 2.0 ports on my motherboard. When I finally fixed everything. I realized my DVD drive was not working. I had to reconnect the SATA cables because it got disconnected while I was moving my PC around. Upon the last restart of my PC.

I checked Disk Managment and noticed lots of system reserved partitions and drives which were not there before. I have no idea what happened but I think updating several drivers and the combination of reinstalling USB ports via device manager or the optical drive being reconnected may have messed up how windows used to have system reserves as partitions. I only had one visible system reserved drive before, now I have 2 visible and lettered system reserved drives.

I also have a unknown partition at the top of the list, I cannot right click that partition and select any options. The only option in my context menu is Help which brings me a link to Overview of Disk Management

I also had my video quick access as my DVD optical drive when I restarted. I have fixed this issue by changing my quick access links back to their proper folders and it removed the duplicate Videos Icon. My quick access links were remapped to the G: drive (CD Drive), they were usually on the F: drive. I have no idea why Windows did that during my driver updates and restarts.

I have only provided the above information which may help someone figure out what the unknown partition is and why I cannot modify or remove it. It's the recovery partition of the C: Drive. The
System Reserved E: Drive, System Reserved D: Drive are both considered primary partitions.

Should I be concerned or is this all normal?

:)

 

Desktop Computer Shown as Phone in Microsoft Account

Hi Sumit,

For obvious reasons, the system cannot identify any phone model.

Device info & support

Phone #: Unknown

Edition: Windows Professional

Version: 1709

IMEI: Unknown

RAM: 16 GB

Thanks,

Laszlo

 

UNKNOWN DRIVE

Check the linked thread to compare your situation. It is more than likely your EFI System partition, which for some unknown reason, started showing up on some systems.

unknown local disk z: appearing and disappearing on my sony vaio windows 10 is it malware? i can not get access to it or dismount

 

Hello taqiyya6 Welcome to the Ten Forums!

Your problem is actually quite basic. You are going into the Disk Managetool and seeing system reserved partitions mounted and assigned drive letters where they shouldn't be seeing any! The 450mb partition is there to allow changing from the MBR type primary to the GPT type usually seen with server set up or large volumes exceeding 2tb in size such as installing and partitioning a new 2.5tb, 3tb, 4tb, or even one of the latest 5tb drives.

The sight of the System Reserved partition being present on the second Disk 1 500gb drive simply shows that had previously seen a Windows installation on it at some time likely before adding in the large 1tb Disk 0 drive you have the present install on. The most likely to succeed option for taking care of the smaller 500gb if nothing is on it would be a complete wipe and a fresh single partition intended for storage and backup. That would eliminate the first SR but not small second unless using an open source type partiioning utility like GParted while still an option to close up the small gap since it is only a 500gb and not exceeding the 2tb mark.

For cleaning the mess overall however going into the Device Manager and knocking out drivers before a full restart would allow Windows to redetect the drives fresh without seeing the System Reserved and MBR parts mounted again at least on the OS drive being the main concern since the SR part has to remain invisible as a system protected space not mounted for easy access.

The "help" item being pointed to is all you would see since that indicates you have to look in the Help files for information on partitioning drives. There's nothing unexpected at seeing that appear on a bit of unallocated empty drive space.. And for the mystery about seeing two "Video" folders and not the optical drive being seen in the navigation pane there is a reg mod for both hiding optical drives or resroring them to the pane there in one of the guides here! Drives in Navigation Pane - Add or Remove in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

 

Hi thank you for your help. Disk 0 is my Hard Drive. It had my old OS. I reinstalled my OS onto the Disk 1 which is my SSD. I formatted the old Hard Drive and wiped it clean, turned it into a storage drive for programs I don't want on the SSD and my personal files. I put my pagefiling onto the HDD because I read it was beneficial because that way there is less writes on the SSD. My OS files are on Disk 1.

Please note that the unknown partition says it is 100% free. That doesn't seem like a system reserved partition, as the other system reserved partitions are not 100% free, please also note that the unknown partition is marked recovery.

Is it safe to remove the system reserved partition's on my HDD (DISK 0) because that's not my OS?

When you mention knocking out drivers, are you saying I should uninstall them in device manager and reboot my PC? The drivers I updated with should automatically reinstall right? Can you go more in detail how I can fix this and make the system reserved partitions hidden again?

Thank you for the link on fixing my duplicate videos folder. I have already fixed that though. I just provided that information to see if that was a factor in the mysterious multiple system reserved paritions appearing and the unknown partition on my SSD, main OS drive.

EDIT: I think updating my AHCI Controllers is what caused these partition issues. Was there any need for me to update them at all? Can I fix this issue in any form?

 

The first thing I would suggest here is a basic list of chores before rushing into any mishap!
1) Before touching the first 1tb drive which looks as it came with Windows already put on it by the factory which accounts for both that drive's System Reserved and the Recovery partitions. That was when the system was bought brand new correct? You will want to unplug that drive Disk 0 briefly to try starting up with only the SSD plugged in.

Why? Before going ahead and wiping the 1tb drive you want to verify the SSD is bootable on it's own and not having seen the boot loader end up on the wrong drive since the Windows installer will automatically default to the first OS drive and with the SR and Recovery partitons left behind appear as the first OS drive. The DM is simply mounting those as logical drives for the present 10 install explaining why you are even seeing them while the SR on the SSD should be hidden by default. That's why the uninstall of the drivers you put on would force 10 to redetect the drives and see only what it needs downloaded and installed since 10 already has a number of generic drivers as well as automatically downloading what is needed for most basic hardwares.

2) Once the SSD has been found to be bootable on it;s own as a stand alone OS drive you can then use any of several options to clean off and partition and format the 1tb drive to see that made readily available again. Since the present partitions are obviously OEM simply knocking out the two small parts as you already know won't allow you to expand the 937.17gb primary presently seen but require a total nuke of the drive! And the best option for partitioning is a live boot but not the Drive tools options seen with the Windows instaler but a 3rd party program which will work without any system protections or permissions needed.

Partition Wizard live cd, Partition Manager by Paragon will run in Windows, the Linux Gnome Partition Editor or GParted live for cd or seen on a live cd or dvd with install option type release will include the partitioning tool. That will actually grab up every last byte of drive space when going to fill the drive with a brand new single volume. I use that to prep all new drives to be OSed or not to see the entire capaticty made available as well as preventing the Windows installer from being able to create the System Reserved. Been doing that since the Vista days saw that brought in. On VM no worries! *Roflmao2

3) With the initial suggestion of removing the drivers you downloaded and put on yourself as far as correcting what you are seeing on the SSD you would simply go into the Device Manager and uninstall those drivers from the controllers especaiily if no running in the AHCI mode but in the Native IDE or on the newer boards the UEFI or Legacy. That will then force Windows to redetect drive fresh upon a few restarts that will probably be needed for the download/install of the drivers or install of generic drivers 10 comes with.

Did you have the first drive plugged in while installing or upgrading to 10? When I go into the DM on 10 as well as on any previous version you generally never see the OS drive's System Reserve part while being booted into that install but see the other drive's SR when having a dual boot going. If you haven't already seen the latest Threshold 2 updated build also the 10586 number for those who got it first being in the Windows Insider program one quick solution? total nuke!

With everything backed up you wouldn't necessarily need to wipe the SSD entirely but can see the SR gone for good with a total wipe and starting over fresh first seeing a brand new single primary that fills the drive put on before the 10 installer gets a hold of it and put the System Reserved back on again when that partitions and formats the drive. You would custom install 10 onto the primary you saw created instead! The 1tb would also be wiped cleaned and partitioned and formatted as well while the Windows 10 will tend to that task during the fresh install if you don't see to that part.

4) With both drives wiped clean and freshly partitioned you can now go ahead and unplug yes unplug the 1tb drive first before seeing a clean install of the latest release of 10 go on and not worry about sata and ide controller drivers! What you end up with is an SSD that will boot on it's own as a stand alone OS drive. Once all set you then replug the 1tb storage and backup drive in and proceed from there. This will not only solve the small parts problem but see the SSD set up where you can create full system image backups of the OS drive itself.

As far as custom installs of folders to other drives that makes full image backups a bit awkward while the OS side can be restored at any time. That's the main disadvantage of that type of custom installing programs when trying to make a single back up from two drives instead of one in case one drive goes belly up on you? oops! You still end up reinstalling everything all over again fresh while seeing the program folders, files, etc. as well as user folders and files on one drive makes backing things up for rainy days much easier.

Those last two steps however of seeing the SSD wiped to get rid of the SR had to be your own decision there since that measn starting everything all over again only without the small parts using a 3rd drive partitioning program or to simply rehide the SR on the SSD there you can simply unmount the small volume without even a glance at the Device Manager. How to Hide or Dismount a Partition in Windows

That's a fast guide on how to hide or unhide any volume found on any drive while in the DM.