Small Partition on Disk 0 Gone After Cloning

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Apr 9th, 2015 5:25 am

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Apr 7th, 2015 3:16 am

bowmah [OP]: Deal Addict; Aug 25, 2006; 3678 posts; 987 upvotes

Apr 7th, 2015 3:16 am

Small Partition on Disk 0 Gone After Cloning

So, over the years, I have used Win 7 to initiate and format harddrives in this PC. I am pretty sure there was a small (100 MB maybe) partition on Disk 0 on the old drive. I cloned this disk to an SSD and now there is no more small partition. What was that small partition used for and is it bad that I no longer have this?

10 replies

Apr 7th, 2015 3:33 am

rabbit: Deal Guru; Jun 27, 2004; 13844 posts; 3005 upvotes; Vancouver.bc.ca

Apr 7th, 2015 3:33 am

That partition gets created if you install Windows 7 on a drive that doesn't have any partitions created (ie brand spanking new HDD). I believe it has boot files and other critical systems files on it, and the separate partition is to prevent those files from getting messed up.

If you don't have that hidden 100MB partition, then all those files are located on C:\Windows. Is it bad that you don't have it? Depends on how prone you are in getting infected with malware. Personally, I prefer not to have it, making it easier to backup and restore a Windows install image.

Apr 7th, 2015 2:03 pm

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 28394 posts; 13963 upvotes

Apr 7th, 2015 2:03 pm

I force Windows to not create it by creating a partition before I let the installer get in.
But if you cloned an existing drive with it and you're missing it, you cloned it incorrectly.
Redo it and make sure you select it.

Apr 7th, 2015 2:11 pm

bowmah [OP]: Deal Addict; Aug 25, 2006; 3678 posts; 987 upvotes

Apr 7th, 2015 2:11 pm

So what is the issue at hand. It's not there, Windows 7 runs fine. The cloning software (Acronis WD) must have put these in the current C-Drive. What is the downside to this?

Apr 7th, 2015 6:05 pm

death_hawk: Deal Expert; Aug 22, 2006; 28394 posts; 13963 upvotes

Apr 7th, 2015 6:05 pm

Weird... I always thought that Windows wouldn't boot if you removed that first partition.
I may have to test it next time I do some imaging and forget to force Windows onto one partition.

Apr 7th, 2015 7:22 pm

bowmah [OP]: Deal Addict; Aug 25, 2006; 3678 posts; 987 upvotes

Apr 7th, 2015 7:22 pm

I chose automatic when running Acronis WD and it may have cloned those files over to the SSD's. I don't see any files in the root directory. Is there a trick to see where these boot files are located? Acronis WD even aligned Windows for me during cloning. I checked and Win 7 on the HDD was not aligned. After cloning, the SSD and all other HDD's were aligned to a factor of 4096.

Anyone else know what happened here?

Apr 8th, 2015 3:51 am

Warlock: Deal Addict; Sep 10, 2004; 2840 posts; 866 upvotes; Toronto

Apr 8th, 2015 3:51 am

Ho-To Geek: What is the System Reserved Partition and Can You Delete It?

Apr 8th, 2015 3:56 am

bowmah [OP]: Deal Addict; Aug 25, 2006; 3678 posts; 987 upvotes

Apr 8th, 2015 3:56 am

Warlock wrote: ↑Ho-To Geek: What is the System Reserved Partition and Can You Delete It?

Thanks Warlock. I actually read that article. It sounded scared that you should just keep it since Windows created it. It never explained why you shouldn't delete it, it just said you shouldn't. I have also read other articles that showed users can force Windows not to create this partition during install with no detrimental effects. My question is, what is the downside to NOT having this partition. I don't see any and in fact, I see benefits. But that is only me, hence, my question here.

Apr 8th, 2015 1:00 pm

LEXX911: Deal Addict; Jul 27, 2009; 2392 posts; 461 upvotes

Apr 8th, 2015 1:00 pm

If you use Windows Bitlocker you might need it or other wise there's no need for it. If you are really concern that something might go wrong with your OS. Create an image clone of your OS and store it on the HDD.

Apr 8th, 2015 1:13 pm

bowmah [OP]: Deal Addict; Aug 25, 2006; 3678 posts; 987 upvotes

Apr 8th, 2015 1:13 pm

LEXX911 wrote: ↑If you use Windows Bitlocker you might need it or other wise there's no need for it. If you are really concern that something might go wrong with your OS. Create an image clone of your OS and store it on the HDD.

At this point, nothing I have read leads me to believe something may go wrong. I do see that BitLocker is needed but I have never used this and don't plan to use it anytime soon. Thanks for your comment. There has been a lot of mis-information on this little partition. Some even say it is absolutely needed for Windows to work. It's just not the case and I was looking for more info.

Glad this darn SSD is chugging along happily & quick I might add. Thanks all.

Apr 9th, 2015 5:25 am

rabbit: Deal Guru; Jun 27, 2004; 13844 posts; 3005 upvotes; Vancouver.bc.ca

Apr 9th, 2015 5:25 am

Have you tried booting when ONLY the SSD is connected? Maybe it is still booting using the partition on the HDD, and then running Windows off the SSD.

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