
Note: These instructions assume that the Windows partition is a primary partition. Windows 7 Ultimate/Enterprise, Windows 8 Pro/Enterprise, Windows 10 Pro) and are currently using or plan to use BitLocker, do not remove the System Reserved partition. Note: If you are using a version of Windows that supports BitLocker (e.g. More information can be found in this Microsoft KB article. An example would be that you've formatted the Windows partition with 8K clusters. If your Windows partition does not have 4K clusters you will not be able to move the booting files to it. Important: The Windows booting files must reside on a partition with a NTFS cluster size of 4K (the default size). The size of this partition varies depending on the Windows version, but is usually 100MB to 500MB.Ĭopy the Windows booting files and Windows RE (Windows 8.x/10 only) to the Windows partition, apply the necessary BCD file corrections, and (optionally) remove the System Reserved partition.

Windows Setup created the System Reserved partition containing the booting files and a second partition containing Windows.

As a result, booting directly from the Windows partition is not possible.ĭuring the installation of Windows, a previously created primary NTFS partition was not specified as the destination. Windows setup created a System Reserved partition and installed the booting files on it. Do not attempt to perform this procedure on UEFI systems where Windows is installed on a GPT drive. Important: This article covers removing the System Reserved partition created when installing Windows 7/8.x/10 on a MBR drive.
