Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista

nicnik · Apr 8, 2009, 08:14 PM

Hi!

I have a problem with my current rig (in sig). I have 2 samsung F1 HDDs, one of them is new and the other is slightly older and both HDD's are split into 2 partitions.

I've had vista installed on the old HDD before, but now vista has been reinstalled onto the new HDD with my old HDD being just for storage.

Anyway, today I've tried to unplug my old hdd to use in another setup but afterwards vista would not boot, no "system partition" was found.

Running vista startup repair diagnosed the problem as:

"The partition table does not have a valid system partition".

So I plugged the old hdd back in and it booted fine into vista. First thing i did was look into computer management and i noticed the following:

New Drive Partition 1: Healthy (boot, Page file, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
New Driver Partition 2: Healthy (Primart partition)
Old Drive Partition 1: Healthy (system, Active, Primary Partition)
Old Drive Partition 2: Healthy (Primary Partition)

I can delete or format Old PArtition 2, and new Partition 2. But i cannot delete or format either of the other 2.

Now the problem I have is clear, I seem to somehow got the "system" partition which contains information for system bootup to recognise vista on the wrong HDD. I suspect this happened because the old drive partition 1 was not deleted properly by my vista installation process, but shouldnt the required system files still be installed on the drive I specify vista to be installed on?

Is there any way other than reinstalling vista to fix this????

nicnik · Apr 8, 2009, 08:31 PM

without reinstalling OS, i can only think of 1 solution. Since I have another spare 160-200gb sata drive lying around biting dust, perhaps I could "backup" the old samsung partition with nothing but the hidden 133mb of "system info" onto this 160-200gb drive. Perhaps my pc will then boot without my old hdd plugged in ????

Or does someone know a way to copy over these hidden system files?

anyway, jus turned on view syste hidden files. on the old partition 1 I have the following:

recyle.bin
Boot/
system volume info/
bootmgr
grldr

cant access system volume folder.

boot folder has a load of stuff inside it. This boot folder and bootmgr, grldr file is not present on my vista partition (new partition 1) !!!

nicnik · Apr 8, 2009, 09:07 PM

I found the solution here!

Moving Vista Boot Manager (BCD) - Guides and Tutorials - TechEnclave

It works! >.<

Tyrsonswood · Apr 8, 2009, 09:16 PM

Right on!

Judas · Apr 8, 2009, 09:42 PM

nice..

i was about to post that info (actually apparently the same link and everything)

googles your friend

nicnik · Apr 8, 2009, 10:34 PM

got me scared u know, ive reinstalled vista/backup data 3 times already this year!

Mac Daddy · Apr 9, 2009, 12:25 AM

Glad you got it sorted

Tyrsonswood · Apr 9, 2009, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicnik

got me scared u know, ive reinstalled vista/backup data 3 times already this year!

I've done an XP install about that many times this year on the same machine here, got tired of all the upgrading necessary so last time I burned a patched ISO "just in case". I only "lost stuff" the first time but had saved the needed stuff first so not that bad. Just a hassle.

Glad you got yours fixed.

nicnik · Apr 9, 2009, 06:25 AM

I have stuff backed up. problem is the backup image i made didnt have the system boot (bcd) data on it >.>

thx guys

Apr 8, 2009, 08:14 PM	#1
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista Hi! I have a problem with my current rig (in sig). I have 2 samsung F1 HDDs, one of them is new and the other is slightly older and both HDD's are split into 2 partitions. I've had vista installed on the old HDD before, but now vista has been reinstalled onto the new HDD with my old HDD being just for storage. Anyway, today I've tried to unplug my old hdd to use in another setup but afterwards vista would not boot, no "system partition" was found. Running vista startup repair diagnosed the problem as: "The partition table does not have a valid system partition". So I plugged the old hdd back in and it booted fine into vista. First thing i did was look into computer management and i noticed the following: New Drive Partition 1: Healthy (boot, Page file, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) New Driver Partition 2: Healthy (Primart partition) Old Drive Partition 1: Healthy (system, Active, Primary Partition) Old Drive Partition 2: Healthy (Primary Partition) I can delete or format Old PArtition 2, and new Partition 2. But i cannot delete or format either of the other 2. Now the problem I have is clear, I seem to somehow got the "system" partition which contains information for system bootup to recognise vista on the wrong HDD. I suspect this happened because the old drive partition 1 was not deleted properly by my vista installation process, but shouldnt the required system files still be installed on the drive I specify vista to be installed on? Is there any way other than reinstalling vista to fix this???? __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 8, 2009, 08:31 PM	Thread Starter #2
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista without reinstalling OS, i can only think of 1 solution. Since I have another spare 160-200gb sata drive lying around biting dust, perhaps I could "backup" the old samsung partition with nothing but the hidden 133mb of "system info" onto this 160-200gb drive. Perhaps my pc will then boot without my old hdd plugged in ???? Or does someone know a way to copy over these hidden system files? anyway, jus turned on view syste hidden files. on the old partition 1 I have the following: recyle.bin Boot/ system volume info/ bootmgr grldr cant access system volume folder. boot folder has a load of stuff inside it. This boot folder and bootmgr, grldr file is not present on my vista partition (new partition 1) !!! __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 8, 2009, 09:07 PM	Thread Starter #3
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista I found the solution here! Moving Vista Boot Manager (BCD) - Guides and Tutorials - TechEnclave It works! >.< __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 8, 2009, 10:34 PM	Thread Starter #6
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista got me scared u know, ive reinstalled vista/backup data 3 times already this year! __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV

Apr 9, 2009, 12:25 AM	#7
Mac Daddy DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 7,950 Rep Power: 80 System Specs	Re: Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista Glad you got it sorted __________________ "My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Apr 9, 2009, 06:25 AM	Thread Starter #9
nicnik In the Land of Snow Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 569 Rep Power: 46 System Specs	Re: Active System partition on wrong drive?! - vista I have stuff backed up. problem is the backup image i made didnt have the system boot (bcd) data on it >.> thx guys __________________ Follow Me on Twitter Battlefield 3 \| youtube \| TwitchTV