Which partition to make active?












2















In Windows 10 "Disk Management" I accidentally change the active partition to another drive and now I can not remember which one should be active. My C: is an SSD has 4 partitions:



System reserved 500MB
C: drive
100GB unallocated for provisioning
470MB recovery partition


Now should I make C: partition active or the partition labeled system reserved 500MB ?










share|improve this question



























    2















    In Windows 10 "Disk Management" I accidentally change the active partition to another drive and now I can not remember which one should be active. My C: is an SSD has 4 partitions:



    System reserved 500MB
    C: drive
    100GB unallocated for provisioning
    470MB recovery partition


    Now should I make C: partition active or the partition labeled system reserved 500MB ?










    share|improve this question

























      2












      2








      2


      1






      In Windows 10 "Disk Management" I accidentally change the active partition to another drive and now I can not remember which one should be active. My C: is an SSD has 4 partitions:



      System reserved 500MB
      C: drive
      100GB unallocated for provisioning
      470MB recovery partition


      Now should I make C: partition active or the partition labeled system reserved 500MB ?










      share|improve this question














      In Windows 10 "Disk Management" I accidentally change the active partition to another drive and now I can not remember which one should be active. My C: is an SSD has 4 partitions:



      System reserved 500MB
      C: drive
      100GB unallocated for provisioning
      470MB recovery partition


      Now should I make C: partition active or the partition labeled system reserved 500MB ?







      windows-10 boot






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 4 hours ago









      WelliamWelliam

      3154725




      3154725






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          3














          The partition flagged "active" should be the boot(loader) one. That is, the partition with BOOTMGR (and the BCD) on it.



          On a typical fresh Windows 10 installation, this would be the "System Reserved" partition, yes.



          Of course, this only applies to MBR disks (booted in BIOS/CSM compatibility mode). GPT disks should instead be using a EFI System Partition, identified by the partition ID rather than any "active" flag. Windows can only boot GPT disks in UEFI mode.






          share|improve this answer
























          • The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

            – Welliam
            4 hours ago








          • 1





            @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

            – Bob
            3 hours ago













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          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes









          3














          The partition flagged "active" should be the boot(loader) one. That is, the partition with BOOTMGR (and the BCD) on it.



          On a typical fresh Windows 10 installation, this would be the "System Reserved" partition, yes.



          Of course, this only applies to MBR disks (booted in BIOS/CSM compatibility mode). GPT disks should instead be using a EFI System Partition, identified by the partition ID rather than any "active" flag. Windows can only boot GPT disks in UEFI mode.






          share|improve this answer
























          • The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

            – Welliam
            4 hours ago








          • 1





            @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

            – Bob
            3 hours ago


















          3














          The partition flagged "active" should be the boot(loader) one. That is, the partition with BOOTMGR (and the BCD) on it.



          On a typical fresh Windows 10 installation, this would be the "System Reserved" partition, yes.



          Of course, this only applies to MBR disks (booted in BIOS/CSM compatibility mode). GPT disks should instead be using a EFI System Partition, identified by the partition ID rather than any "active" flag. Windows can only boot GPT disks in UEFI mode.






          share|improve this answer
























          • The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

            – Welliam
            4 hours ago








          • 1





            @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

            – Bob
            3 hours ago
















          3












          3








          3







          The partition flagged "active" should be the boot(loader) one. That is, the partition with BOOTMGR (and the BCD) on it.



          On a typical fresh Windows 10 installation, this would be the "System Reserved" partition, yes.



          Of course, this only applies to MBR disks (booted in BIOS/CSM compatibility mode). GPT disks should instead be using a EFI System Partition, identified by the partition ID rather than any "active" flag. Windows can only boot GPT disks in UEFI mode.






          share|improve this answer













          The partition flagged "active" should be the boot(loader) one. That is, the partition with BOOTMGR (and the BCD) on it.



          On a typical fresh Windows 10 installation, this would be the "System Reserved" partition, yes.



          Of course, this only applies to MBR disks (booted in BIOS/CSM compatibility mode). GPT disks should instead be using a EFI System Partition, identified by the partition ID rather than any "active" flag. Windows can only boot GPT disks in UEFI mode.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 4 hours ago









          BobBob

          46.1k20140173




          46.1k20140173













          • The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

            – Welliam
            4 hours ago








          • 1





            @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

            – Bob
            3 hours ago





















          • The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

            – Welliam
            4 hours ago








          • 1





            @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

            – Bob
            3 hours ago



















          The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

          – Welliam
          4 hours ago







          The C: drive labeled "boot" but it is not this partition it should be the "system reserved" labeled "System" ?

          – Welliam
          4 hours ago






          1




          1





          @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

          – Bob
          3 hours ago







          @Welliam The "boot" label in Disk Management is a lie. The only way to be completely sure is to mount the partition and check for a BOOTMGR, though 9 times out of 10 you can guess it's just the System Reserved partition. In the event that you do end up setting the wrong partition, this can be fixed by booting from a Windows install DVD/USB and using diskpart from the command prompt it provides. Automatic boot repair might also fix it.

          – Bob
          3 hours ago




















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