[Fixed] Windows 10 System Reserved Partition Too Small
Scenario: Windows 10 system reserved partition too small
On Windows 10 build 1909, which is no longer supported, you're having issues updating due to a small System Reserved Partition. To resolve this, you'll need to free up space on this partition. You can do this by running the built-in 'Check for issues' tool, which can help identify and potentially fix any problems. Additionally, you can use the 'Disk Cleanup' tool to remove temporary files and free up space. If these tools don't work, you may need to create more space on the partition by resizing it, which can be done using the built-in 'Disk Management' tool. Once you've freed up space, you should be able to update to a newer version of Windows. Note that Windows 10 1909 is no longer supported, and you may want to consider upgrading to Windows 11, which has its own set of system requirements.
--Microsoft Community
How big should the system reserved partition be for Windows 10?
The user's Windows 10 system reserved partition was too small, causing a mass, and this partition is often overlooked, but plays a crucial role in the OS.
Typically, the system reserved partition comprises two critical items:
▶ Boot Configuration Data and the Boot Manager
When your computer boots up, the Windows Boot Manager reads data from the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) Store, which is launched by the System Reserved partition, and then launches Windows from your system drive. If the BCD has an error, your PC will fail to boot.
▶ The BitLocker Drive Encryption starting files
If you use BitLocker disk encryption, the System Reserved partition contains the necessary boot information and is not encrypted, allowing your machine to boot from it. It then decrypts the main encrypted disk, allowing the Windows system to start.
The System Reserved partition is required for BitLocker encryption and stores important boot files by default, but can be moved to the main Windows partition if preferred.
In Windows, the system reserved partition takes up a varying amount of space, specifically 100 MB in Windows 7, 350 MB in Windows 8, and 500 MB in Windows 10. If this partition is less than 500 MB during an upgrade, an error message will be displayed indicating that the System Reserved partition couldn't be updated.
How to increase system reserved partition size in Windows 10
To resolve the issue of the system reserved partition being too small, you can extend it using a third-party tool. This approach makes the process easier and more straightforward, allowing you to allocate more space to the system reserved partition as needed.
We highly recommend using a third-party tool to extend a drive because Disk Management has several limitations. The "Extend Volume" button has restrictions on the drive location, and the system reserved partition often occupies space at the beginning of the drive, making the "Extend Volume" option unavailable. This limits the ability to extend a drive using built-in tools.
In this situation, Qiling Disk Master Professional will offer you better plans to extend the system reserved partition with data safety and easier operations.
There are two ways to extend the system reserved partition using this tool. We will show you both methods.
▶ Way 1. Resize Partition
"Resize Partition" can help you securely shrink the free space from a right partition and add it to the left partition. If your C drive has sufficient space, you can directly share some with the system reserved partition.
Step 1. Install and open this tool, right-click C drive and choose "Resize/Move Partition".
Step 2. In the new windows, drag the slider from left to the right.
Step 3. Click "Proceed" to confirm the operation, then reboot your PC and the system reserved partition will be ready to allow you to update.
▶ Way 2. Allocate Free Space
To extend the system reserved partition using the "Allocate Free Space" feature, you can directly share the free space from one drive to the target partition, which doesn't require 2 contiguous partitions, making it a convenient option for utilizing free space from any suitable partition.
Step 1. To free up space for the system-reserved partition, open the software, right-click on a partition that has available space, and select "Allocate Free Space".
Step 2. Select the system partition and drag the slider from left to the right.
Step 3. Confirm the deletion of system reserved partition to free up space on the system reserved partition. This will remove the system reserved partition and free up space on the system reserved partition. The system will then reboot and the system reserved partition will have more free space.
Conclude
During the Windows 10 upgrade, if the system reserved partition is too small, it's not a big problem and can be easily fixed. If your disk has unallocated space, you can choose to merge it into the system reserved partition.
Qiling Disk Master is a Windows disk management tool that also offers a Server Edition for managing server devices, providing practical functions.
Related Articles
- [New Guide] How to Run Disk Speed Test on Windows 10 PC
Do you know how to run disk speed test on Windows 10 when you feel your disk perform slowly? You can find 2 ways in this post to test your disk. - Best Dynamic Disk Manager for Windows 10, 8, 7, You Can Try
Looking for a powerful dynamic disk manager for Windows 10, 8, 7? Here we bring a great dynamic disk and partition manager for Windows PC users. - Format External Drive/USB exFAT in Windows 10 in Simple Steps
Format drive to exFAT Windows 10 so that it is read-and-write in Mac OS. This post tells how to format drives to exFAT in Windows 10. - [Guide]: How to Run Hard Drive Test in Windows 10
Do you know how to perform a hard drive test in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7? You can find the answer from this article.