Get a single partition on a Windows 10 bootable drive
Get a single partition on a Windows 10 bootable drive
It could be intriguing for a person or not. I tried this before with Windows 7, but now I'm doing it with Windows 10. I changed the format to legacy mode for compatibility with an older machine. After removing all partitions except the system and converting from GPT to MBR, I fixed the boot process using the Win10 installer command line. This produced a tiny boot partition—just like in the previous version. Then I ran some tests: after installing boot via EasyBCD on the C drive, added a Win10 entry, deleted the second partition, and expanded the first C partition to empty space. This resulted in a single-partition bootable Windows 10 in legacy mode. It's not about an amazing feat, but useful info for those aiming for a single partition on the system drive—it's achievable. Before anyone asks—yes, it was the only connected drive, with no partitions on any other drives.
MBR is designed this way, with the initial 512 bytes set aside for the boot loader, partition information, and FAT. If you're thinking about using this method, remember that drives over 2TB may lose their boot capability.
You mixed up a few concepts here. The 512-byte sector isn't enough to boot Windows—it's meant for the bootloader. Modern systems often load the boot program from the active partition, not just the first sector. Joining partitions is feasible, but formatting a drive larger than 2TB in MBR mode isn't practical. For older setups with legacy boot, it was common to keep everything on one partition. I'm focusing on those classic setups now.
Have you verified everything correctly that all other partitions have been removed? I previously deleted the msftres partition and found it still present but concealed.
Absolutely, I understand the situation and I'm experienced with this. The method was outlined online during the Windows 7 era. I'm verifying its compatibility with Windows 10 now. A separate boot partition is recommended for safety—it allows multiple entries and ensures you can still boot from a different drive if one fails. If you're running just one OS, joining partitions can be a viable option, though it carries some risk. Having only one partition on the drive is generally safer.
It's a chaotic mess with more than 15 partitions... I hope it could be simpler.