"Windows cannot format the system partition on this drive"

Can anyone help?

I have reinstalled Vista today. I have 2 drives and installed Vista on
C.

I want to format D but get the message "Windows cannot format the
system partition on this drive".

Why is the System partition installed on D? Can I move it to C so I can
format D?

I don't really know what all this means - I understand from a quick
google search that System & Boot partitions can be on separate drives
and this is determined by BIOS.

In "Disk Management", D is listed as Disk 0 and C is listed as Disk 1 -
could that have something to do with it?

It's not the end of the world if I can't format D but I would like to
and I don't like not understanding what is going on!

I'd be very grateful if someone could help. I don't mind reinstalling
if I have to and I could swap the cables on the hard drives if
necessary.

Thanks


--
stchad

Do you have two hard drives? If so your D: drive is registered as Drive 0
and thus the boot drive. If you have two hard drives then try changing the
cables so that your C: drive is located as Drive 0. Obviously, you will need
to re-install.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
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mail/post..


"stchad" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:6de336a9a7d27bd700f6a419ded6e648@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> Can anyone help?
>
> I have reinstalled Vista today. I have 2 drives and installed Vista on
> C.
>
> I want to format D but get the message "Windows cannot format the
> system partition on this drive".
>
> Why is the System partition installed on D? Can I move it to C so I can
> format D?
>
> I don't really know what all this means - I understand from a quick
> google search that System & Boot partitions can be on separate drives
> and this is determined by BIOS.
>
> In "Disk Management", D is listed as Disk 0 and C is listed as Disk 1 -
> could that have something to do with it?
>
> It's not the end of the world if I can't format D but I would like to
> and I don't like not understanding what is going on!
>
> I'd be very grateful if someone could help. I don't mind reinstalling
> if I have to and I could swap the cables on the hard drives if
> necessary.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> --
> stchad

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:34:11 -0500, stchad <guest@unknown-email.com>
wrote:

>
>Can anyone help?
>
>I have reinstalled Vista today. I have 2 drives and installed Vista on
>C.
>
>I want to format D but get the message "Windows cannot format the
>system partition on this drive".
>
>Why is the System partition installed on D?

The way it is supposed to work is Windows setup should place the
system partition on the disk that the motherboard BIOS is set to boot
from.

> Can I move it to C so I can
>format D?

Yes.
<http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windows.vista.general/browse_thread/thread/b7b5f701391f6a4c/2489c03e0a2cb83d?hl=en&lnk=st&q=#2489c03e0a2cb83d>

>
>I don't really know what all this means - I understand from a quick
>google search that System & Boot partitions can be on separate drives
>and this is determined by BIOS.
>
>In "Disk Management", D is listed as Disk 0 and C is listed as Disk 1 -
>could that have something to do with it?

Tangentially. It shows that Disk 0 is most likely to be the default
boot drive if you don't bother to set the boot disk to the desired
drive in BIOS setup after physically installing the disk drives.

>
>It's not the end of the world if I can't format D but I would like to
>and I don't like not understanding what is going on!
>
>I'd be very grateful if someone could help. I don't mind reinstalling
>if I have to and I could swap the cables on the hard drives if
>necessary.

Before beginning installation, go into BIOS setup and check the
settings under Hard Disk Boot Priority or Hard Disk Drives. Move the
drive that you want to boot from to the top of the list. This is the
drive that Windows setup will place the system partition on, provided
the BIOS does not have any bugs in this area.

>
>Thanks

The answer is simple, in "Disk Management" right click on the C drive
(the one you want as the system or "active") and set it to the active
drive. That should solve the problem.


--
cause121