How to Move the System Reserved Partition Safely to Another Drive

When do you need to move system reserved partition?

In rare cases, after cloning HDD to a solid state drive (SSD) you may find that system reserved partition is still on the old hard drive (HDD). This means that you can only boot from the SSD when the old HDD is plugged in.

A problem arises when you want to wipe the old hard drive and use it for file storage or when the original HDD is on the verge of breaking. In these cases, you will probably want to transfer the system reserved partition to the new SSD as soon as possible.

How to move system reserved partition to a different disk?

As the system reserved partition contains the boot files for your computer, it’s a little tricky to move the partition and then have Windows 11/10 detect its new location. You need to carefully follow this step-by-step guide to avoid any errors.

♦Create a system repair disc just in case Windows can’t recognize the relocated system reserved partition.

♦Using Disk Management create a new partition on the SSD drive with 100MBs of space or greater. To open Disk Management, you need to press Windows + R key and then type "diskmgmt.msc".

♦Assign a drive letter (for example Z:) to the system reserved partition so it can be opened in Windows File Explorer.

♦Copy everything from the system reserved partition to the newly created partition. You must include the Boot folder, bootmgr and BOOTSECT.BAK.

♦Mark the new partition as "System Reserved".

♦Remove the drive letter from the new system reserved partition and then mark it as ‘Active’.

♦Now restart your computer to see it successfully boots.

♦If it fails to boot, you can use the Windows system repair disc to perform a Startup repair, it will then force Windows to detect the new system reserved partition.

♦Once the computer has successfully booted, you can safely remove the old system reserved partition.

This method has lots of steps and is difficult for those users who are unfamiliar with Windows Disk Management and Startup repair. If you find this guide too complex then continue reading, as below we will teach you a simple way to clone your system reserved partition.

Clone system reserved partition to SSD

A manual file copy of important partitions has vast potential to cause problems on your computer, this is particularly true when you are copying system-related partitions. To avoid this, it’s recommended that you use a free Partition manager software, like AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to clone the partition. By using specialist software, you can effortlessly move your system reserved partition to a different disk.

To clone a system reserved partition:

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, click "Clone" in the main interface and select "Clone Disk".

Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk and click "Next".

Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".

Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to “Sector to Sector clone”, and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.

Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to improve the reading and writing speed of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.

Step 5. At last, click "Apply" and "Proceed" in the main interface to start cloning the hard drive.

After the conversion, you can change the partition label to System Reserved and set the partition as ‘Active’.

✍ Remember, the system reserved partition has to be a primary partition, if your new system reserved partition is a logical drive, then you should first convert it to a primary partition without losing data. Once you have completed this, you will have successfully moved the system reserved partition to a different drive. If you find that your drive has unallocated space after the conversion, then you can merge the unallocated space with any partition that you want to extend.

Further reading: About EFI partition

If you're using a GPT disk as a system disk, you'll find a partition called the EFI partition, not a system reserved partition.

Like a system reserved partition, it's used to lead the PC boot process. EFI partition carries boot loaders or kernel images for all installed operating systems, device driver files for hardware devices in a computer utilized by the firmware at boot time, system utility applications meant to execute before an operating system is started, and data files like error logs.

Although it's important, it no needs to stay at the head of the disk. But, if you find it's between the unallocated space and the target drive you want to extend, it will be a little annoying. In this situation, you can move the EFI partition to the left/right on the disk.

FAQs

Can you move system reserved partition to another drive?

Yes, it is possible to move the System Reserved partition to another drive. The System Reserved partition is a small partition on the hard drive that contains essential system files required for booting the operating system. If this partition is missing, your computer will be unable to boot properly. To prevent such a situation, it becomes necessary to relocate the system reserved partition to another drive.

Is it OK to delete system reserved partition?

It is strongly advised not to tamper with or modify the System Reserved partition. The safest and most straightforward approach is to leave it as is. Deleting the System Reserved partition carries significant risks and may result in an inability to boot into Windows.

By default, Windows hides this partition instead of assigning it a drive letter, ensuring its stability and protecting it from accidental alterations. It is crucial to exercise caution and refrain from making any changes to the System Reserved partition to avoid potential complications with the booting process.

Can I change system reserved drive letter?

Yes, it is possible to change the drive letter assigned to the System Reserved partition. The System Reserved partition is typically assigned a drive letter, such as "C:" or "D:", by default. However, changing the drive letter of the System Reserved partition requires caution and following the proper steps.

Conclusion

It's available to move system reserved partition to another drive, regardless of the Windows version you are currently using—be it Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP, or Vista. However, it is crucial to proceed with caution and carefully follow the recommended steps outlined above to ensure a successful and smooth transition of the system reserved partition.