I get the error "a system image cannot be saved on a drive that your computer boots from or that windows is installed on", when i try to use my D (physical array) drive for a target location.. I cant figure out why this might be.. i've taken a look at the files on there and dont see any that could be causing this message.. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks

Is the current system/boot drive part of an array?

Is the current system/boot drive part of an array? The C drive, the OS boot drive, is attached to the same controller as the D drive array.. The D drive really shouldnt be needed to boot though, i'm pretty sure i've disabled the array in the past and been able to boot.

Probably if the D drive is works in conjunction with the system drive as part of an array when enabled it will be an exstension of the system drive and cannot be installed to. If the D drive was notin an arraywith the system/boot drive most likely there would be no issue.

Probably if the D drive is works in conjunction with the system drive as part of an array when enabled it will be an exstension of the system drive and cannot be installed to. If the D drive was notin an arraywith the system/boot drive most likely there would be no issue. I did notice if i try to put the system image on another drive, it automatically selects the D drive with the C too..I didnt realize that having the C attached to the same controller would cause this.. why does it do that?

For my installs, I disconnect all drives except the drive I want to install the OS on. No conflicts have been encountered with this method.Doc

Oh, i also wonder if the fact that my D drive array is a GPT type disk could be causing it to show up as a system drive in the backup tool? Its 6x1.5TB in a raid6 formation.

I was able to boot with the D offline.. I was then able to install another copy of Win 7 on a different partition, on the same physical drive as C.. then ran backup, system image.. it lets me pick D on that OS.. So something in the registry or files on the C drive of the problem win 7 partition is telling the backup software that D is a system drive.. does anyone know how to find out where?

Same problem. Up thread. Windows 7 rtm x64

You cannot store backups on a GPT volume... re-initialise the disk as a standard MBR disk. I have the same problem. I cannot backup to an NTFS volume, with the same error as the title of this thread. There are no shadow copies on this volume, or temp files or pagefiles , it is the primary partition on that disk but not active. Another partition , created from a volume on the same RAID array that can be used/selected for backups... This was working for a few weeks , then suddenly it stopped working with the title error. A windows update must have broken this , as I only store backups on that drive, it has no shadow copies or restore points... Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most.

You cannot store backups on a GPT volume... re-initialise the disk as a standard MBR disk. I have the same problem. I cannot backup to an NTFS volume, with the same error as the title of this thread. There are no shadow copies on this volume, or temp files or pagefiles , it is the primary partition on that disk but not active. Another partition , created from a volume on the same RAID array that can be used/selected for backups... This was working for a few weeks , then suddenly it stopped working with the title error. A windows update must have broken this , as I only store backups on that drive, it has no shadow copies or restore points... Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most. i dont think i can go mbr route.. my array is 6TB or so.. i think it has to be GPT..

You could always create NTFS partitions on an MBR disk and span them using diskpart/Disk Management if you wish to create a max sized drive ?Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most.

I have the same problem. I have no GPT disks, just basic volumes with NTFS. Windows 7 x64.

I have the same issue. Not sure if it's worthwhile to bump a thread that's almost a year old, but anyhow... here's the scenario: I have a drive for all my files, which along the way has been designated as E:. This should be irrelevant. As I have over the years increased my storage capacity, I have simply copied the files from this drive along to the "next bigger thing" as raw file copies. They're just documents, pictures, home movies, etc. No need for anything but drag-n-drop copy to a freshly formatted drive. I start hearing some funny noises from my system drive, which is a bit older. I panic and think, "better image my drive quickly!". But the system backup utility doesn't like this. My drive E: is seen by the OS as a system drive, and warns that I can't save the backup to a drive that I boot from or have Windows installed to. Neither of these is the case. Nor is the drive part of an array. It's just a SATA drive, formatted in NTFS, with files on it. I have no idea how it came to be seen as a "system drive" The worst part is this, though: I could just use one of my external drives, or optical media, or something like that. But it wants to back up the E: drive, too (hey, it's a system drive, right?). The whole thing. All my home movies, all my home recording projects, all my documents, etc. This is 700GB worth of data. All because I want to backup my Windows installation that's on C:. It doesn't make any sense. I can't seem to figure out how to designate E: as "non-system", and the dialogs that appear provide NO clue whatsoever as to why the drive is being seen as "system" in the first place. Any insights out there? (Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit)

Hi We recently had another thread with the same problem you are describing, with a fix. Take a look at the following discussion. Hard disk incorrectly flagged as system partition Let us know what you find. Thank You for using Windows 7 Ronnie Vernon MVP