Can anyone help me with this new install issue?

Craig234

Member
I set up a new PC, with an SSD and a 3tb hard drive and Win 10 Pro.

I put the drives in and installed Win 10 onto the SSD from a USB drive.

After this, I went to set up the HD as a 3tb partition for data. But I found it listed three partitions: a 500mb system reserved partition, a 2tb partition, and a 647gb partition.

I posted this on another forum and got various feedback. One person said I should have installed Win 10 with only the SSD in the system to prevent it having set up the 500mb partition on the HD.

I'm not even clear whether EasyBSD copies the same thing that is the 500mb partition or not.

But I got lots of tips - including on converting the hard drive, but no tools would convert it, presumably because of that 500mb partition.

The OS command said 'this drive cannot be changed - some drives like DVD's cannot be changed'. The Seagate utility to change it said 'pick a partition and hit next'. It listed the partitions but wouldn't allow selecting any.

Finally I decided - before the person had said to leave the 500mb partition on the HD - to run EasyBSD. I did, the only option it allowed for move partition was to C: (SSD) and I did.

I rebooted and then saw that disk manager would allow me to delete the 500mb partition on the HD if I want.

That's where I am.

Totally unclear what to do.

Ideally, I'd have the 500mb system reserved partition where it should be - apparently as a partition on the SSD instead of the HD? - and the 3tb HD as one data partition.

At this point there are various options. One is to simply start over and re-install Windows 10 (should I do it with the HD installed or not? Should that 500mb partition be on the SSD with the OS or on the HD?)

Another is to do a procedure which should allow me to move things and reconfigure them such that I end up with something. Here's that procedure suggested to me:

"1. Shrink partition C: by 500MB;
2. Download Minitool Partition wizard free;
3. Copy system reserved partition from hdd to ssd;
4. Make new partition active;
5. Power down PC;
6. Disconnect hdd;
7. Verify boot order in BIOS;
8. Boot up your pc."

Was running EasyBSD and moving the bootloader to C: (SSD) a mistake? Should I take any corrective action as part of a plan?

This setup seems really basic - SSD and HD and Win 10 - and I'm surprised it seems I need to jump through a lot of hoops (I also apparently need to convert the HD to "GPT" to have a 3tb partition).

Can anyone help?
 
The idea of a separate partition for the boot files began with W7 (Vista kept everything together). It's the default action of all Windows since then to do so, but it's not strictly necessary unless you want to encrypt your OS partition (in which case the boot files have to be elsewhere or the system will be unbootable)
You have to take extraordinary measures to prevent Setup from doing it. It will even (as you found out), search round for space and put the stuff in entirely inappropriate places if you don't prevent it from doing so (by not having any space available as previously suggested).
You appear to have solved your problem with EasyBCD's ability to copy the boot files elsewhere and as long as you don't intend to encrypt your W10 partition, you can happily go ahead and boot directly from your C partition and reformat your data drive regardless of the old copy of the boot files being located there.
You will however need to use GPT as you thought for any HDD over 2Tb if you want to utilize all the space in a single partition.

Disk Management flags have the following meanings

"boot" = "this is the system you're running"
"system" = "this is where I found the boot files for the currently running system"
"active" (on the first HDD in the BIOS boot sequence) = "this is where I started the search for the boot files"
"active" (on subsequent HDDs in the BIOS boot sequence) ="this is where I will look if I don't find something in the MBR on the first HDD"

If W10's partition is now showing as all three of the above, you're good to go. Just reformat the data drive.
 
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Thanks; one thing, after posting this I was told that it's better to have that 'bootloader' thing in a different partition than Windows, so I"m advised to shrink the SSD 500mb, make a second partition, and use EasyBSD to first move the bootloader back from the SSD to the HD and then from the HD onto that second 500mb SSD partition. Agree?

I guess this is pretty similar to the procedure listed above.

And that the HD 500mb system partition can safely just be deleted...
 
It's only "better" if you need to encrypt your OS in future. Otherwise it's irrelevant.
XP and Vista booted for years from the "C" drive, so did my W7.
Until you get to building your first EUFI PC, then you don't get any choice. Setup will build multiple system and recovery partitions on your system drive (one of them not even visible from Disk Management) and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. They're all essential to the proper functioning of a GPT/EUFI machine.
Meanwhile, back in the world of BIOS/MBR, save yourself the heartache. "If it ain't broke..........."
 
It's only "better" if you need to encrypt your OS in future. Otherwise it's irrelevant.
XP and Vista booted for years from the "C" drive, so did my W7.
Until you get to building your first EUFI PC, then you don't get any choice. Setup will build multiple system and recovery partitions on your system drive (one of them not even visible from Disk Management) and there's nothing you can do to prevent it. They're all essential to the proper functioning of a GPT/EUFI machine.
Meanwhile, back in the world of BIOS/MBR, save yourself the heartache. "If it ain't broke..........."

thanks; I don't need to encrypt my OS, I think. But I do have a 3tb hard drive and people say I need to convert it to GPT to use more than 2tb.

These are new terms to me, EUFI, GPT, MBT - but people keep telling me I need to use EUFI and GPT (and I changed my bios boot to 'AHCI' from 'legacy'.

A bit frustrating trying to navigate all these things.

Wish there was a sort of FAQ type 'how to set up a PC today' type document on all this. Instead, it's asking in forums as you run into things.
 
You'll need to use GPT to format your HDD if you want to make full use of its capacity, but that's only a data drive and not relevant to the OS drive and where its boot files are kept.
If you installed the OS on an MBR drive booted via legacy BIOS, then my previous comment about the boot files going wherever you want them to be applies.
The complication of UEFI/GPT on the boot process only apply if that's the way you set up the OS drive before installing Windows.
 
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