The title sounds strange, but let me explain it. I have Windows 7 installed on a SSD and the System Reserved partition on the HDD (I don't know why I did this or if the Windows setup did it). Suddenly the HDD broke and Windows was unable to boot up, as it never reached the log in screen. I think that OS can't read the System Reserved partition and that is why it is hanging.
Do I have any chance to avoid the OS reinstallation in this case?
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2 Answers
You did not mention whether your boot scheme is legacy BIOS or UEFI; with UEFI booting, there must always be one partition dedicated for the bootloader(s), which is different from the "Microsoft Reserved" partition that will be generated by default on new installations on both boot schemes.
According to this MS TechNet document it is possible to not have a System Reserved partition in Windows 7.
You might try disconnecting the failing HDD and then running the boot repair function from the Windows 7 installation media. Hopefully it can detect the Windows 7 installation on the SSD and reconstruct the bootloader + BCD with the existing partitions.
For the future: it might be advisable to have only one disk (the intended system disk) connected to the system while installing Windows 7 or greater. By disconnecting the other disks for the time of the OS installation, you'd avoid the risk of Windows spreading itself to multiple disks. When the OS is confined to a single disk, the set-up should be much easier to clone or otherwise migrate to a new disk whenever necessary. If Windows gets to spread its component partitions to multiple disks, it will add unnecessary complications to maintenance tasks.
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This worked: disconnected the HDD and ran Windows repair! Commented Jan 6, 2018 at 19:08
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Your situation is not ideal, I would suggest the easiest solution is to rebuild from scratch. It is likely that you'll end up doing this anyway and the time spent trying to recover will be wated.
With that said I've successfully 'reused' the system reserved partition on Windows 7 devices in the past, I can't promise this will work for you but it might be worth a punt.
You will need a fresh disk of the same size as the SSD (or larger).
Install Windows 7 clean on the new device. Once that is done use a tool like Microsofts ImageX or CloneZilla to clone the OS partition from your original SSD and then use that same tool to re-image the OS partition to the new drive. With any luck it'll boot in and you will be away.
