8.1 pro system reserved partition issues

While I've seen a similar if not identical forum questions posted about the "system reserved partition", I don't think the answer(s) posted addresses my specific issue(s) but if it does I don't understand how to apply it (them) to my question. So I'm posting this question with specific information about my particular issues.

I installed Windows 8.1 using a 8.1 pro 64 bit DVD on a fresh 1.0TB SATA HDD I ordered for that particular purpose. Reason....I hated windows 10 after upgrading from 8.1 during the allowed Microsoft period but could not roll back afterwards to 8.1 because it was no longer available to do. I used a fresh HDD so as to save all Windows 10 data, apps, mail, etc on windows 10 disk in order to transfer or copy everything possible to the new 8.1 disk. However I failed to install that new 8.1 without an automatic system reserve partition that Windows created and ever since for about a year I've been stuck with that system reserve partition. That didn't bother me until I ran into cloning problems (I have always used clone backups via an exterior enclosure..EaseUS) specifically related to extra little partitions suddenly appearing in clones as well as feeling uncomfortable with the unavailable 350MB reserve partition space. So I started looking for a way to delete, remove, or otherwise eliminate the system reserved partition. As is current wisdom I shouldn't normally be allowed the "delete" the system reserved partition without causing boot problems, but there are ways to either move relevant boot and system files from system reserved to C (Windows) partition, subsequently deleting that then unnecessary reserved partition.

On the TeraByte Unlimited website there are specific procedures to do just that but I'm not sure my scenario exactly fits the TeraByte examples and I don't want to try them risking a crash and losing my irreplaceable data. Yes I know I could "back up" everything but once when I used back up I found that somehow data was modified or disappeared in my backup...don't ask me how unless it was because of my home network configuration connections (I have two other computers and one laptop in a home network all using 8.1 pro).

Now what evidently concerns me is that my system reserved partition is marked primary as it should be, but so is my C (Windows) partition.So I have two primary partitions, one system reserved and the other "C" (Windows), even though C partition does show "boot" while system reserved does not show boot but does show "system".

Here's what they actually show in Disk Management as well as EaseUS partition mgr
System Reserved=350mb NTFS, Healthy (system, active, primary partition)
C=292.97GB NTFS, Healthy (boot, page file, primary partition)
(Excuse my ignorance in not using screenshot posting)

I just don't know what would happen if I followed TeraByte's example procedures with my TWO primary partitions instead of just one, and/or apparently not having exactly the same partition statuses as in TeraByte's and other examples.

Summing up, what I want to do is have one Windows C partition that also is primary and booting. Don't know if it's relevant but this 1TB HDD also has a DATA partition of 638.19 GB which I absolutely want to keep regardless of what happens to C and System Reserved. NOT having a system reserved partition that takes up 350mb space as well as using another few mb's at the rear end of the disk seems better to me, in addition to not having to rely on a so called recovery in a system reserve partition that maybe could not even be accessed after a crash preventing any sort of boot. Never could understand how anyone would rely on a disk that can't be booted.

Welcome to the forum. You can have several primary partitions the key is active that means we're the PC boots from so the system partition is the boot drive. If you clone or create an image you need that partition included as it's vital. One of its purposes so it can load files before it reads c so if you encrypted c it would have to load software to read it. At the end of the day it's not worth the risk trying to remove it you risk your PC not booting or worse.

samuria said:

Welcome to the forum. You can have several primary partitions the key is active that means we're the PC boots from so the system partition is the boot drive. If you clone or create an image you need that partition included as it's vital. One of its purposes so it can load files before it reads c so if you encrypted c it would have to load software to read it. At the end of the day it's not worth the risk trying to remove it you risk your PC not booting or worse.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your interest samuria.... you're not the first one to tell me "it's not worth the risk". But although I obviously can't disagree that the boot partition, albeit Windows or reserved as the case may be, is necessary to boot, correct me if I'm wrong but the system reserved partition is a relatively messy as well as unnecessary way to do it. Isn't it right that there was never a reason to create one (system reserved partition) before Windows 8 came along? In fact the current wisdom is that if you don't want that extra partition don't allow it to be created in the first place. Truth be told that's my real problem (or mistake) when I installed 8.1. So I could have avoided the system reserved partition by making sure a few things were done in the setup. OK, so I didn't install 8.1 right as it were, and I don't want to reinstall it over again making myself a lot of work.

As you may understand, I've been looking for ways to make my windows partitions CLEAN again....with an active windows partition that contains the boot as well as all windows files. Isn't that a worthy goal as well as "worth the risk"? In addition I don't think it's my imagination that without the system reserved partition 8.1 boots faster and is generally faster including the cloning operation, not to mention that an 8.1 clone with a system reserved partition also creates another, albeit small, unused partition at the partition(s) tail end..... which is simply wasted space? For me all of the above is troubling, even if not troublesome for Windows.

Not to be repetitious but did you read TeraByte? TeraByte Unlimited Knowledge Base If you didn't please do and kindly (someone) tell me why such a "fix" is even suggested if it's not "worth the risk", or why it shouldn't be done if there's not a good reason.

You know, I came back to 8.1, warts and all, because in my opinion Windows 10 was so relatively bad. I'm just trying to make 8.1 legally better, faster, and cleaner for my purposes since M$oft never opted to do that on their own.

Let me ask a related if alternative question. If I have a clone that contains the system reserved partition , and I try the Terabyte fix but something goes wrong and the fix does not work for whatever reason, can't I just plug in my saved clone, in other words go back to my back up clone that still has that reserved partition without any changes?

I have 30 years experiance in IT and MS has designed the paritions costing millions In my opinion its not worth the risk and there is no proven gain at the end of the dy its your pc and if you want to take the risk its your choice. If you have a complete clone of bootsector system reserve and drive c and t goes wrong the clone should restore it