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I am trying to create a system image of my OS drive but Windows it trying to make me backup my storage drive as well showing it as a system drive: enter image description here

I only want to back up my Windows drive (C:) but the option to untick the storage drive (D:) is grayed out. I read in this post that I may have inadvertently installed a service to this drive.

The only solution I could think of was to transfer my data from the drive and format it then transfer it back, but it seems like a very long way of solving a simple problem. How can I either find that service that is making Windows think my D: drive is a system drive or another way to get Windows just to back up the C: drive.

*Please note: I'm not looking for an 3rd Party solutions, I would like to stick with Windows because I manage all my computers the same way with the Windows backup.

UPDATE: I took the advice of some of the comments and disconnect the D: drive (see picture above. - The non-Windows drive) When I went to boot back up, nothing. The computer will not boot into windows unless the D: (storage drive) is connected. I found that the boot manager is on the D: drive instead of the C: Drive: enter image description here

How do I move the Boot manager from D:\ to the C:\ drive?

Community
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Nick
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7 Answers7

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I had this same problem, both the C and D drive were required when doing a Windows 7 image backup. I felt it was not necessary to include the D: drive in the image backup.

I have always used the D drive when possible when I installed software. Since I switched to a SSD using D drive became more important (120GB SSD). I found 3 services that pointed to my D drive. I switched two of the programs from the D to the C drive. The third, which is photo editing software, I had already marked as disabled. I deleted the service in the registry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\

jonsca
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Wayne
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Had the same problem and the solution is in Windows disk management you need to temporarily set your D: drive or others to offline. Then you can configure Windows Backup for C: system image without other drives. Now backup works as expected and you can set your offline drives to online again. enter image description here

informatorius
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I solved my problem but in a very long and arduous way.

After I found that Windows was booting from the D: drive by disconnecting it, I first ran cmd as Administrator and used the BCDBOOT tool. I typed:

bcdboot c:\windows /s c:

I then tired to use diskpart while in Windows to clean the drive but it wouldn't allow me too. So I booted into Windows repair section with a Win7 recovery disk (similiary to what @justakid suggested) but instead of doing the automatic fix I opened cmd in recovery mode. Oncein cmd I used diskpart to clean the D: drive of boot files by:

DiskPark
Select Disk 0 \\my D: drive
clean

I then rebooted and the D: drive was no longer a System drive.

Nick
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wmic service get PathName

will get the executable file for all your services so you can find if you have one thats forcing a drive to be part of the system image.

Joe
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Sorry, but this way is very slow.

You can go to services.msc, highlight a service, and click properties. It will show the path to the executable. If it is on drive D:\ that is the service you are looking for.

soandos
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You can try this:

  • Disconnect your storage device (D:).
  • Insert your Windows 7 installation disc.
  • Set the boot order so that it will check disc drive first.
  • When prompted, press any key, and wait for it to load the setup interface.
  • Choose the language and keyboard preferences.
  • Click "Repair your computer".
  • Select the Windows installation you want to repair, and then click Next.
  • On the System Recovery Options menu, click "Startup Repair".
  • Go along with the instructions and wait for it to finish.
  • Try boot again without the disc and storage device.

Source:

KidPooh
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0

Well, I fixed this problem really easy. So, yeah dude. At first I couldn't de-select my 'D' drive (this never happened to me before); I just wanted to image my 'C' drive only. So to fix this weird glitch I went to computer management by right-clicking on my computer and selecting "Manage", then I opened 'Disk Management', then I right-clicked the 'D' drive and clicked on ‘change drive letter’, then I removed the drive letter completely. Then I closed the "Disk Manager". Then I did a ‘dry run’ on the system image backup process, and of course I couldn't see my 'D' drive in the list of what you want to include in the image backup. I cancelled the ‘dry run’ of the image backup - and went back to ‘Disk Management’ and added the drive letter back - I added "D" again - then closed the disk manager, then I ran system image backup and it worked normally, 'D' drive was no longer force as a second system drive. Ta-Da !!!!

was wasn't
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