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Topic: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

I've not downloaded GParted yet but was recommended to try it.  Please let me know if/how GParted could resolve the below.  Thanks !

I have a Home Theater PC (HTPC) with 7 HDDs.  They are all Basic HDDs with single partition the size of the HDD.  The C:\ HDD contains my O/S...win SP Pro SP2.  The other 6 HDDs just contain MPEG files and backup info.  During my install of these HDDs....D: thru I: I created partition and formated NTFS.  I also was under the misunderstanding that I needed to set them as Active.  So, right after format completed (no other data on HDDs) I went into Admin Toosl>Disk Mgt. and right clicked on these HDDs and selected Active.  As stated, none of these HDDs contain an O/S...only my C:.  After reading Microsoft descriptions I realized that Active is only for designating the target boot partition of say a multi-O/S machine.  Anyway, the machine works fine but I'd really like to set these back to in-Active ?  Can GParted do this ?  If so, how ?  Will I lose any data ?

The only way I can think to do this is delete the partitions and re-format.  Ugh !!!!!

Thanks !!!

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Re: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

well it is basicly a microsoft problem, as you can guess.
Bootable flag cant affect partition since  -- as you mention it -- it only affect the boot process. As far as there is no bootable system on your hdd there is no problem to keep it as it is.
It works like that ? What do you need more ? wink
GParted can remove boot flag, but i dont think you need to change anything.

Larry
GParted-project Admin
Former GParted-LiveCD maintainer (2007)

3 (edited by thekochs 2006-12-02 19:05:21)

Re: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

LarryT wrote:

well it is basicly a microsoft problem, as you can guess.
Bootable flag cant affect partition since  -- as you mention it -- it only affect the boot process. As far as there is no bootable system on your hdd there is no problem to keep it as it is.
It works like that ? What do you need more ? wink
GParted can remove boot flag, but i dont think you need to change anything.

If I use GParted to remove the flag the "active" will go away ?  Will changing this flag effect any of the data on the HDDs ?

Also...just curious why would the Disk Mgt. Tools allow me to change to Active if there was no O/S ?  If I try this on another PC with 2 HDDs........one C: O/S and one D: backup it will allow me to select but nothing happens.  Granted this D: HDD has been in use for awhile.....my other HTPC I did this Active selection right after Format.

FYI.....these HTPC HDDs are 250GB and 750GB if that has any importance.

Thanks !

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Re: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

yep, by removing the 'boot' flag you can make "active" go away and no, it will not affect any data on the HDDs smile

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Re: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

Thanks....any limit on accessing 250GB and 750GB HDDs ?  These are IDE UltraATA...some hooked to mobo IDE controller....others thru PCI Promise IDE add-in card.

Also.....before I proceed it appears I just boot to LiveCD (think I'll take my C: XP HDD out of my system to make sure I don't touch it) when GParted starts I click on the button in the upper right corner of the window to first select the disk that I want to change. Then right-click on the graphic image of the disk layout and choose "manage flags". Clear the "boot" flag and then click on the "Apply" button to save your changes. Repeat for each of the other disks. Is this correct ?

Thanks !

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Re: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

you don't have to apply. checking/unchecking of flags is applied instantly.
Apply is only for operations.

You can see the flags in the the treeview (last column called 'flags') so it's easy to see which partitions have certain flags enabled.

7 (edited by thekochs 2006-12-03 15:27:45)

Re: Reset ACTIVE on Basic Partition ?

plors wrote:

you don't have to apply. checking/unchecking of flags is applied instantly.
Apply is only for operations.

You can see the flags in the the treeview (last column called 'flags') so it's easy to see which partitions have certain flags enabled.

I made the boot CD and defaulted thru the setup and it saw both my 250GB and 750GB HDDs.  I clicked on each of them in the upper right corn,er selected Manage Flags and un-checked the Boot flag.  Active is gone !  FYI to others.....I took out my C:\ O/S HDD to make sure I did not make the mistake of selecting it.

Thanks !