Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen

Holton · 08 Mar 2021

Hello,
I have similar problem to these two:

a secondary drive marked as system drive? Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums
BOOTMGR is on the wrong drive? Partition marked as SYSTEM Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

I've read those posts but I'm not sure about the instructions and I need help specifically with my case.
I'm a little bit worried about data loss because there are some info saying that those changes can make some issues.

Also I have additional problem that can be connected to this?

While I'm turning on my PC(monitor is ON) there's black screen
There's no screen until Windows login screen (There's sound of GPU fans spin and then Windows login screen is showing up)
Monitor is connected to the GPU.

But while I'm connecting monitor to the motherboard hdmi everything works great. I can see everything from the start to the windows login screen.

Thank You.

FreeBooter · 08 Mar 2021

If Windows 10 installed HDD missing a EFI System Reserved partition you can create one by following below instructions.

Please boot your computer with Windows Installation Media and from Windows Recovery Environment start the Command Prompt.

From Command Prompt execute below commands one at a time:

Code:

Diskpart

List Disk 

Select Disk 0

List Partition

Select Partition X

Shrink desired=100

Create Partition EFI

FORMAT FS=FAT32 LABEL="ESP"

Assign Letter=W

Exit

 bcdboot C:\Windows /s W: /f  ALL

Use "List Disk" command to find out disk number assign to Windows 10 installed drive.

Replace number 0 zero with disk number assign to Windows 10 installed drive

Use "List Partition" command to find out Windows 10 installed partition assigned number.

Replace X letter with Windows 10 installed partition assigned number.

You may need to replace C: drive letter with Windows 10 installed partition drive letter.

I have to warn you Diskpart tool is very dangers so please make sure to execute Diskpart command carefully.

You can delete your double posted thread from Edit page.

Macboatmaster · 08 Mar 2021

From the posted My Computer spec
Computer Type: PC/Desktop
OS: Win 10 Pro build 18363.1316
Memory: 16 gb ddr 2133mhz

It is impossible to be certain, but I am not sure this setup will have an EFI FAT partition.
I think it may be legacy - MBR

In respect of the general situation is this a recent reinstall of 10?

Re no image until log on screen when using actual graphic card MAY be fast startup
check in settings if enabled
Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10

OR could possibly be setting in BIOS for primary display - if there is a choice of
card
integrated
auto
etc./
for primary graphics.

More detail is needed of when this problem with the system drive and the apparent boot drive was noticed

PCMR · 08 Mar 2021

Try Going Into The BIOS And Change the Boot Device Then reinstall windows (make Sure your data is backed up!) But if You Still See A Black Screen Then Try To Fix Your Moniter or check your computer's Graphics Card

dalchina · 08 Mar 2021

Hi, for anyone responding, as per direction in the threads you cite, please post a screenshot of your partitions on all your disks using a 3rd party partition manager such as Minitool Partition Wizard (not Disk Management please) making sure all text in all columns is visible thus:

Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen-screenshot-.png

I'm a little bit worried about data loss because there are some info saying that those changes can make some issues.

Please confirm you are using disk imaging routinely and regularly as is so very very often recommended here. E.g. Macrium Reflect (free).

Is yours a UEFI or MBR installation?

If you are to perform partition-related actions which might have undesirable consequences, you should first have a secure backup on external storage so you can always restore what was.

===========================

The simplest and most routine way to correct a partition mess independently is

a. image your windows partition
b. With only the system disk connected, clean install Win 10, deleting all existing partitions comprising the O/S (you can keep data partitions).
c. Given your situation, note the attributes of your Windows partition.
d. restore your Windows partition
e. check its attributes and compare with (c) - correct as necessary
f. attempt to boot- either automatic repair will kick in, or you can run Startup Repair if necessary.

Otherwise you need detailed technical steps which could be time consuming and iterative.

Holton · 12 Mar 2021

Sorry for the response time, a lot of stuff.

FreeBooter said:

You may need to replace C: drive letter with Windows 10 installed partition drive letter.

I'm confused a little bit. Will system partition have letter D?

Also as Macboatmaster says "I think it may be legacy - MBR" so then should I use this metod?

Re no image until log on screen when using actual graphic card MAY be fast startup
check in settings if enabled

I tried it now, unfortunately doesn't work

Reinstall is not my target option.

Screens attached below(previous ss didn't load)

Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen-dp2.jpg

Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen-mini.jpg

Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen-pcmgmgt2.jpg

Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen-ps-cmd.jpg

Paul Black · 12 Mar 2021

Hello @Holton,

What results do you get if you run bcdedit /enum firmware?

Holton · 12 Mar 2021

Hello thanks for the response,

I made backup(image) of C drive with Macrium. Strange thing, when I tried to make a backup also windows icon was on the D drive. I'm not sure if making only C(system) backup was good option. Or should I check C and D

But the rest of the screenshot are here because it double posted and I tried delete it but there's no option for me even with WYSIWYG advanced post edit option.
Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen

The simplest and most routine way to correct a partition mess independently is

a. image your windows partition
b. With only the system disk connected, clean install Win 10, deleting all existing partitions comprising the O/S (you can keep data partitions).
c. Given your situation, note the attributes of your Windows partition.
d. restore your Windows partition
e. check its attributes and compare with (c) - correct as necessary
f. attempt to boot- either automatic repair will kick in, or you can run Startup Repair if necessary.

Otherwise you need detailed technical steps which could be time consuming and iterative.

The worst scenario that I'm worried is that I'll make those steps and my original system image wont restore. I have now a lot of stuff to do on my PC and I don't want to make myself problems.

Holton · 12 Mar 2021

Hey, this:

Secondary drive marked as System + Black screen-bootmanager.jpg

FreeBooter · 12 Mar 2021

Please replace partition letter C: with Windows installed partition letter. When computer boots into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) environment the drive letter assign to Windows partition may not be C: drive letter because Windows 7, 8 , 8.1 and 10 creates a separate system partition when it's installed from scratch. The system partition contains boot files WinRE assigns the system partition the C: drive letter and the Windows installed partition will be assign any other drive letter usually D: drive letter is assign to Windows installed partition. The Bcdedit | find "osdevice" command can be use to find out the drive letter of the Windows installed partition the output of the Bcdedit command is similar to this osdevice partition=D:. The drive letter after partition= is the drive letter of the Windows partition.