# [SOLVED] can't delete or format second drive



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

My system had 2 HD's - a 750GB C Drive and a 1TB data D drive.

I recently had an HD failure message and RAM error messages in what was my 750 GB C drive, then wouldn't boot past post screen. Wasn't sure whether it was mobo (4-5yrs old) or what so took it to my local computer shop who built it in the first place. They confirmed it was the drive at fault not mobo or RAM. I bought a replacement 1TB drive, re-installed Windows Seven on it, all good except when booting it shows the mobo splash screen, then the post screen then goes to a screen asking which OS I want to load - it shows as 2 instances of Windows Seven. If I select the first, highlighted one all is well and it boots and works fine. If I choose the second option of Windows Seven it can't boot and throws up an error message saying it couldn't find the device.
When I go into Disk Management it shows the 1TB data drive as being partitioned:










I have never partitioned any drive (ashamed to say I wouldn't know how to go about it unless I followed instructions) let alone this one which contains all my data files.

I thought perhaps the shop had installed a copy of windows seven on it to be able to boot and test the C drive but they said they didn't touch anything on the D drive. They thought I might have mistakenly selected the D drive to install the OS - I didn't and it has installed normally on the new C drive. They said just to format the data drive and that will get rid of the partition and I can then restore my data on it.
Didn't work that way - when I R click on the 100Mb partition the option to format and to delete are greyed out.
When I R-clicked on the D drive in My Computer and go to Format, came up with the usual dialogue box, selected the Format option, got a message saying the drive was in use did I want to format anyway - closed everything and rebooted, same story - said yes to reformat anyway and it said windows was unable to complete the format and now if I try to open the D drive it says I must format it before use.
What do I need to do?

sorry for the novella - hopefully better too much info than not enough :smile:


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## shawnpb (May 30, 2010)

*Re: can't delete or format second drive*

Hello! Who in the heck did you take it to? They definitely played with your HDD,

Do not delete the "System Reserved" Partition. Windows 7 needs it.

You can delete and format the D: partition which is in a RAW state which means no File System.


Remember do not mess with the "System Reserved" partition.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

*Re: can't delete or format second drive*

Yeah the "System Reserved" has to be the boot sector so format only the actual "D" drive.


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## OM3GA (Jan 22, 2008)

In addition to the above solution, you might need to edit the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store to delete the second Windows 7 entry. 

You can do it yourself or take it back to the shop.


I think the easiest way to do it is from msconfig

- Click Start
- In the Search text box, type msconfig
- Launch msconfig by selecting it from the search results above the search text box.

After msconfig is launched:

- Go to the Boot tab
- Select the boot entry you want to delete.
- Click the Delete button and then click OK.

Please do this while logged on to the Windows 7 partition you want to keep so you don't delete the good installation by mistake.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: can't delete or format second drive*

Well, this shows you have *Two* 1TB drives installed (*Disk 0 and Disk 1)*. The *C: *drive should have the System Reserved partition on it, but it is on the *Disk 0*. This shop did not do a good job of installing the OS for you. If you Right click inside the *D: *drive, you can *Format* the Drive NTFS. 
Personally I would take it back and have them set it up correctly by deleting all partitions and installing Windows 7 again on *Disk 0*, if that is the new HDD. Or removing *Disk 0 *(if that is your old HDD) and putting the New HDD on the controller *Disk 0 *after deleting the partitions Installing Windows on the now *Disk 0 *which will become the *C: *drive with the* System Reserved* partition in the front. You then can add your Old HDD* Disk 1 *for backup.


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## shawnpb (May 30, 2010)

*Re: can't delete or format second drive*

I agree they did not know what they were doing. They should not be computer technicians.


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

*Re: can't delete or format second drive*

I think it was my fault all along - as I said in the first post it was me who installed both the new drive and Windows 7 - what I had done is connect the new drive to the wrong SATA connection on the mobo - I presume because of the boot order, when I installed the OS it made the partition on the Drive 0 as the boot sector and installed the rest of the OS where I told it to - the Drive1
I disconnected the drive with most of the OS, re-installed windows using a custom install that let me delete the partition and format the drive as one unallocated space. Then I reconnected the other drive, formatted it to rid it of the remnants of the previious windows install, reinstalled all my software for the second time in a week (*cries*) and restored all my data to the clean empty data drive - just what my poor head needed!
Thanks for all the replies - just goes to show that in my case a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! :laugh:


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Well, now you know how to set up in the future. Please mark this thread Solved in the Thread Tools at the top.


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## shawnpb (May 30, 2010)

*Re: can't delete or format second drive*



zuluclayman said:


> I think it was my fault all along - as I said in the first post it was me who installed both the new drive and Windows 7 - what I had done is connect the new drive to the wrong SATA connection on the mobo - I presume because of the boot order, when I installed the OS it made the partition on the Drive 0 as the boot sector and installed the rest of the OS where I told it to - the Drive1
> I disconnected the drive with most of the OS, re-installed windows using a custom install that let me delete the partition and format the drive as one unallocated space. Then I reconnected the other drive, formatted it to rid it of the remnants of the previious windows install, reinstalled all my software for the second time in a week (*cries*) and restored all my data to the clean empty data drive - just what my poor head needed!
> Thanks for all the replies - just goes to show that in my case a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! :laugh:



None of us are perfect. We all start from somewhere and keep learning....
I learn something new everyday.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Yeah me too. That's one of the reasons I come here is to make sure I keep learning.


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