Does Win 7 create a new HD upon upgrade?

[celcius]

Hi all!
I decided to upgrade to Win 7 after trying if for a few months.
During the process, it backed up my files to "Windows old" and wiped my HD
before upgrading.
Once finished, I noticed that a new drive called "system reserved" had been
created. Out of the new 100 Mb HD, 28.1 is occupied, yet I don't see any
files.
A hundred megs out of 500 Gigs isn't a lot to worry about, yet I'm curious
to know whether I made a mistake during the installation or whether this is
the way Win 7 installs.
Is that new HD a partition? Can I and should I get rid of it? Is so, how?
(without having to start all over again ;-)
Thanks for any help and enlightenment.
Marcel




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[Don]

Hi all!
I decided to upgrade to Win 7 after trying if for a few months.
During the process, it backed up my files to "Windows old" and wiped my HD
before upgrading.
Once finished, I noticed that a new drive called "system reserved" had
been created. Out of the new 100 Mb HD, 28.1 is occupied, yet I don't see
any files.
A hundred megs out of 500 Gigs isn't a lot to worry about, yet I'm curious
to know whether I made a mistake during the installation or whether this
is the way Win 7 installs.
Is that new HD a partition? Can I and should I get rid of it? Is so, how?
(without having to start all over again ;-)
Thanks for any help and enlightenment.
Marcel

Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't see
it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low level
utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot Manager
code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space for the
startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.

 

[Gilgamesh]

Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't
see it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low
level utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot Manager
code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space for the
startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.

So what happens if you install windows on a disk that already have 3 Primary
partitions.
The install can't create a 5th for System Reserved use.

 

[Jeff]

Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't
see it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low
level utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot
Manager code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space
for the startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.

I've been wondering the same thing myself because I recently purchased a
laptop with pre-installed W 7 Home Premium 64 bit. In my case my 500 G
drive was divided into a system drive called "Local Disk (C" and a
small 200MB partition named "System (D".

[I've since added a large data partition using 200 GB from the C: drive].

What is peculiar - and I found confusing - is that in my pre-installed W
7 system, the small 200MB partition is labeled "System" and has a HD
letter D:. I notice that you wrote the small partition does not have a
drive letter (but mine does). I read somewhere that it contains the MBR,
but then I do not understand why it would be named D:

Also this D: is shown as having 166 MB free out of 198 yet when I open
it it says "this folder is empty" presumably because these files are
hidden. How do I see what is actually in it and does it indeed contain
the mbr?

Thanks.

 

[celcius]

Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't
see it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low
level utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot Manager
code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space for the
startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.



--

Thanks, Don!
However, I had 2 drives: the usual main C and a 750 Gig second drive (F)
The system reserved drive took on "G"
D and F were my existing DVD RW drives.
As Jeff mentioned below, when I open it it says "this folder is empty"
Marcel

 

[Don]

Thanks, Don!
However, I had 2 drives: the usual main C and a 750 Gig second drive (F)
The system reserved drive took on "G"
D and F were my existing DVD RW drives.
As Jeff mentioned below, when I open it it says "this folder is empty"
Marcel

I am not really sure why it would have been assigned a drive letter, only
thing I could imagine is if an oem builder used the same partition somehow
to put a recovery file on.
On a fresh clean install Win7 should not assign a drive letter to that
partition.

As far as viewing files, be sure you have the option to view both hidden
and system files checked in folder options...

 

[SC Tom]

I am not really sure why it would have been assigned a drive letter, only
thing I could imagine is if an oem builder used the same partition somehow
to put a recovery file on.
On a fresh clean install Win7 should not assign a drive letter to that
partition.

As far as viewing files, be sure you have the option to view both hidden
and system files checked in folder options...

I must be missing something here. I upgraded from Vista to Win7 and don't
have any partitions on my hard drive other than the single one that
everything is installed on. I looked in Disk Manager, and nothing "extra"
there either. I have one hard drive with one partition and that's it. Or is
the new partition something that only occurs with an XP to 7 upgrade?

 

[celcius]

I must be missing something here. I upgraded from Vista to Win7 and don't
have any partitions on my hard drive other than the single one that
everything is installed on. I looked in Disk Manager, and nothing "extra"
there either. I have one hard drive with one partition and that's it. Or
is the new partition something that only occurs with an XP to 7 upgrade?
--

SC Tom,
I did not upgrade from XP. My computer crashed and I started fresh with a
trial copy of Win 7.
I was told I could not upgrade from a trial copy so Win 7 installed itself,
wiping my drive clean, save the "windows old".
Marcel
Marcel

 

[Pulse]

The files that would have otherwise gone on the 100MB partition instead go
on (usually) the C:\ partition.

 

[relic]

So what happens if you install windows on a disk that already have 3
Primary partitions.
The install can't create a 5th for System Reserved use.

It seems to only do it if you create a new partition for Windows 7.

 

[relic]

Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't
see it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low
level utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot
Manager code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space
for the startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.

I've been wondering the same thing myself because I recently purchased a
laptop with pre-installed W 7 Home Premium 64 bit. In my case my 500 G
drive was divided into a system drive called "Local Disk (C" and a small
200MB partition named "System (D".

[I've since added a large data partition using 200 GB from the C: drive].

What is peculiar - and I found confusing - is that in my pre-installed W 7
system, the small 200MB partition is labeled "System" and has a HD letter
D:. I notice that you wrote the small partition does not have a drive
letter (but mine does). I read somewhere that it contains the MBR, but
then I do not understand why it would be named D:

Also this D: is shown as having 166 MB free out of 198 yet when I open it
it says "this folder is empty" presumably because these files are hidden.
How do I see what is actually in it and does it indeed contain the mbr?

Thanks.

That's the Manufacturer's Recovery partition. Nothing to do with Window 7's
unlettered partition.

 

[relic]

I must be missing something here. I upgraded from Vista to Win7 and don't
have any partitions on my hard drive other than the single one that
everything is installed on. I looked in Disk Manager, and nothing "extra"
there either. I have one hard drive with one partition and that's it. Or
is the new partition something that only occurs with an XP to 7 upgrade?

It only occurs when a new partition is created for Windows 7. You upgraded
and won't see it.

 

[Pulse]

It's part of the installation routine, yup. You can pre-create partitions
and thereby preclude the Windows 7 installation routine from creating the
100MB partition.

 

[Brian Gregory [UK]]

Hi all!
I decided to upgrade to Win 7 after trying if for a few months.
During the process, it backed up my files to "Windows old" and wiped
my HD before upgrading.
Once finished, I noticed that a new drive called "system reserved" had
been created. Out of the new 100 Mb HD, 28.1 is occupied, yet I don't
see any files.
A hundred megs out of 500 Gigs isn't a lot to worry about, yet I'm
curious to know whether I made a mistake during the installation or
whether this is the way Win 7 installs.
Is that new HD a partition? Can I and should I get rid of it? Is so,
how? (without having to start all over again ;-)
Thanks for any help and enlightenment.
Marcel



Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't
see it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low
level utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot
Manager code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space
for the startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.

I've been wondering the same thing myself because I recently purchased a
laptop with pre-installed W 7 Home Premium 64 bit. In my case my 500 G
drive was divided into a system drive called "Local Disk (C" and a
small 200MB partition named "System (D".

[I've since added a large data partition using 200 GB from the C: drive].

What is peculiar - and I found confusing - is that in my pre-installed W
7 system, the small 200MB partition is labeled "System" and has a HD
letter D:. I notice that you wrote the small partition does not have a
drive letter (but mine does). I read somewhere that it contains the MBR,
but then I do not understand why it would be named D:

Also this D: is shown as having 166 MB free out of 198 yet when I open it
it says "this folder is empty" presumably because these files are hidden.
How do I see what is actually in it and does it indeed contain the mbr?

Thanks.

That's the Manufacturer's Recovery partition. Nothing to do with Window
7's unlettered partition.

Surely 200MB is far too small to be a recovery partition?

Also a recovery partition should absolutely not ever have a drive letter
otherwise it's just asking to be trashed by unaware users.

 

[Jeff]

Hi all!
I decided to upgrade to Win 7 after trying if for a few months.
During the process, it backed up my files to "Windows old" and wiped
my HD before upgrading.
Once finished, I noticed that a new drive called "system reserved" had
been created. Out of the new 100 Mb HD, 28.1 is occupied, yet I don't
see any files.
A hundred megs out of 500 Gigs isn't a lot to worry about, yet I'm
curious to know whether I made a mistake during the installation or
whether this is the way Win 7 installs.
Is that new HD a partition? Can I and should I get rid of it? Is so,
how? (without having to start all over again ;-)
Thanks for any help and enlightenment.
Marcel



Yes it is, that mysterious 100mb partition is new with Windows 7.
It is a system reserved partition at the beginning of the disk. The
remainder of the unallocated space on the disc or partition will be your
system drive, or C drive for example.
The 100 mb partition is not assigned a drive letter, so you really won't
see it unless you look in the disk management console, or another low
level utility to look at the disk structure.

The small 100 mb partition serves two functions. It holds the Boot
Manager code and the Boot Configuration database. And it reserves space
for the startup files required by BitLocker Drive Encryption.

So no you did nothing wrong and it is completely normal in Windows 7.

I've been wondering the same thing myself because I recently purchased
a laptop with pre-installed W 7 Home Premium 64 bit. In my case my 500
G drive was divided into a system drive called "Local Disk (C" and a
small 200MB partition named "System (D".

[I've since added a large data partition using 200 GB from the C: drive].

What is peculiar - and I found confusing - is that in my pre-installed
W 7 system, the small 200MB partition is labeled "System" and has a HD
letter D:. I notice that you wrote the small partition does not have a
drive letter (but mine does). I read somewhere that it contains the
MBR, but then I do not understand why it would be named D:

Also this D: is shown as having 166 MB free out of 198 yet when I open
it it says "this folder is empty" presumably because these files are
hidden. How do I see what is actually in it and does it indeed contain
the mbr?

Thanks.

That's the Manufacturer's Recovery partition. Nothing to do with Window
7's unlettered partition.

Aha. Did not think that a mere 32 MB (198-166) would be enough for a
recovery partition. How do I get to view what files it contains?

Thanks.

 

[SC Tom]

It only occurs when a new partition is created for Windows 7. You upgraded
and won't see it.

TYVM for clearing that up for me.

 

[Don]

It only occurs when a new partition is created for Windows 7. You upgraded
and won't see it.

Makes sense - mine was created on a fresh install of Windows 7 on a new hard
drive.

 

[Jeff]

I am not really sure why it would have been assigned a drive letter,
only thing I could imagine is if an oem builder used the same partition
somehow to put a recovery file on.
On a fresh clean install Win7 should not assign a drive letter to that
partition.

As far as viewing files, be sure you have the option to view both hidden
and system files checked in folder options...

No folder options available in this D: partition when you double click
to open it.

 

[Jeff]

I must be missing something here. I upgraded from Vista to Win7 and
don't have any partitions on my hard drive other than the single one
that everything is installed on. I looked in Disk Manager, and nothing
"extra" there either. I have one hard drive with one partition and
that's it. Or is the new partition something that only occurs with an XP
to 7 upgrade?

Mine was a pre-installed W 7 on a new laptop.
Jeff

 

[John Aldred]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

I've been wondering the same thing myself because I recently purchased a
laptop with pre-installed W 7 Home Premium 64 bit. In my case my 500 G
drive was divided into a system drive called "Local Disk (C" and a
small 200MB partition named "System (D".

[I've since added a large data partition using 200 GB from the C: drive].

What is peculiar - and I found confusing - is that in my pre-installed W
7 system, the small 200MB partition is labeled "System" and has a HD
letter D:. I notice that you wrote the small partition does not have a
drive letter (but mine does). I read somewhere that it contains the MBR,
but then I do not understand why it would be named D:

Also this D: is shown as having 166 MB free out of 198 yet when I open
it it says "this folder is empty" presumably because these files are
hidden. How do I see what is actually in it and does it indeed contain
the mbr?

Have you had a look to see what Disk Management has to say about it ?

Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Storage