Vista install loads BOOTSECT.BAK to second HDD

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jamesph

during install of Vista ultimate to new system with 2 x 750GB Sata HDD..I
partitioned 100GB of the first disk (0) to take the Vista system. Windows
asked where to put the installation and I highlighted the new partition but
then it indicated it needed space to put what I thought it said was the
System Volume? and that there was enough space on the disk 1...now I thought
it meant partition 1 and highlighted that and clicked yes in the dialogue
window...after the install I saw that it had placed a file of 8kb namely
BOOTSECT.BAK onto the second HDD. In disk management disks show as c: Simple
Basic NTFS Healthy (Boot,Page File, Crash Dump, Primary partition) and the
second disk as D: simple Basic NTFS Healthy (System, Active,Primary
Partition)....Also Both disks show total storage as 698GB each ? Whats going
on and can I do anything other than a new install ? If a new install is
needed (I havent activated vista yet) what should i do second time
around....thanks for any help
jph
 
As for bootsect.bak, why would you want the boot sector backup on the same
hard drive as the boot sector it's backing up? Wouldn't you want to guard
it against loss of the boot drive itself? Think about it.

Windows will always show a 750GB (advertised capacity) as 698GB (real
capacity) because hard drives are marketed using decimal calculations (makes
the drive sound bigger) while Windows will use a binary calculation. You
are seeing the correct numbers.

Unless I am missing your point you are describing a correctly configured
system.
 
Yes thanks I was just mistyfied that the D: drive showed in disk manager up
as the System, Active, drive....which I thought would be the C: drive.
(when all that is on it is the 8kb BOOTSECT.BAK file)
 
Is D:\ really a second drive or is it a second partition on your first hard
drive? If you're not sure right click on Computer and select Manage and
then Drive Management. That will show you where D: is.

If you got Vista preinstalled on your computer then the "D: drive" is most
likely the hidden recovery partition at the end of the same drive as C: and
would show as you describe and be labelled D:. Those partitions are usually
about 10GB and should not be used for for user files.

What leads me to suspect this is that partitions on a second HARD DRIVE
would be enumerated following the optical drive(s). That would make D: a
cd/dvd drive. A restore partition would be a system partition and would be
D: because it would be the second partition on the first hard drive rather
than the first partition on a second hard drive. Partitions on a second
hard drive would be enumerated starting with E: or F:, depending on whether
you have one optical drive or two.
 
during install of Vista ultimate to new system with 2 x 750GB Sata HDD..I
partitioned 100GB of the first disk (0) to take the Vista system. Windows
asked where to put the installation and I highlighted the new partition but
then it indicated it needed space to put what I thought it said was the
System Volume?
Click to expand...

This is a warning that the drive you're installing Vista on is not the
drive that the BIOS is set to boot from, meaning that the System
partition won't be placed on that drive.
and that there was enough space on the disk 1...now I thought
it meant partition 1 and highlighted that and clicked yes in the dialogue
window...after the install I saw that it had placed a file of 8kb namely
BOOTSECT.BAK onto the second HDD. In disk management disks show as c: Simple
Basic NTFS Healthy (Boot,Page File, Crash Dump, Primary partition) and the
second disk as D: simple Basic NTFS Healthy (System, Active,Primary
Partition)....Also Both disks show total storage as 698GB each ?
Click to expand...

The reason the drives are only 698GB in Windows is because the GB that
Windows uses (1GB = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824 bytes) are larger than the GB
that drive manufacturers use (1GB = 10^9 = 1,000,000,000 bytes).
Whats going
on and can I do anything other than a new install ? If a new install is
needed (I havent activated vista yet) what should i do second time
around....thanks for any help
Click to expand...

Windows setup places its System partition on the physical disk drive
that the BIOS is set to boot from. Go into BIOS setup and check the
setting of Hard Disk Boot Priority or Hard Disk Drives. The drive that
is at the top of the list of drives is the one that Windows setup is
supposed to put the boot manager files. Having two identical drives
can make it confusing as to which drive is which.

Go into BIOS setup and move the other 750GB disk drive to the top of
the drives list. Then you can reinstall.

Or first run Disk Management and mark the C: partition on the Vista
drive as Active. Then go into BIOS setup and move the other 750GB
drive to the top of the drives list. Then place Vista's boot manager
 
Andy thanks so much...for cutting through the confusion....that must be
it.....many many thanks
 
Andy that url was general questions for vista eeerm did you mean a different
page? or what was the heading for the info you suggest
 
Vista always takes the intended partition as Drive C:, no matter how
the arrangement of your hard disks. It only matters when all of your
previous OS, e.g. XP, will become crippled.
 
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