On my Windows 2008 server, my C: is 1.5 TB, and the partition is marked as: Healthy (Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
and somehow I ended up with a 2GB D: that is marked as Healthy (System).
On this D: drive are only a few MB worth of files (bootmgr, boot folder, bootsect.bak), but all Windows files are on the c:.
I've done everything I can to remove the (System) mark. I tried using bcdedit, I tried marking the C:partition as "Active", I tried using bootsect.exe to assign the C: drive as the boot partition. Maybe I didn't do one of those steps correct, but I've tried everything I can.
When I got my new Dell Poweredge T710, I didn't bother removing their 2 small drives before I put in my 2 new large drives. So I think when I installed W2k8 Server, maybe dell left some bootable partition on their drives to help me install the OS, but I never used it and just booted right from the install CD.
Can anyone help me remove the (System) mark from the D: so I can remove the D: partition and still boot to the C:?
I know I could remove the D: drives and reinstall windows, but I'm trying to avoid a total reinstall.
Best Answer
Is the partition marked System Reserved? If so, this is required by the OS and shouldn't be deleted. However, it also shouldn't have a drive letter assigned, and should only be 100Mb. Has the server been built fully with apps etc, or is this still just a base OS install with no configuration?
Outside of that, then it does sound like Dell cruft. In which case you may be able to remove the partition using a liveCD such as gParted.
However before you do this, I would ensure you're in a position to effectively lose the whole OS install. gParted works most of the time, but not 100%, and I can't give you a guarantee that this mystery partition is completely safe to delete.