Remove System Reserved 100MB Partition or Volume

Windows Server 2008 cycle boots or stuck in Startup Repair Loop

Windows 7 cycle boots or stuck in Startup Repair Loop

The 100 MB system reserved partition that normally contains the boot-manager for windows 2008, Vista, and Windows 7/8, Windows 2008 and 2012 server operating system platforms sometimes need to be removed. Regardless of the reason, there are situations that will call on its removal which are beyond the scope of this post.

Windows Server 2008 Doesn't Boot

Windows 7 Doesn't Boot

This volume/partitions reason for existence is to be the home of the boot files and boot loader. However, if you are finding that this partition is causing boot-up problems, there are ways to successfully.

This will be done with windows 2008 server in mind as juts recenlty there was a need to try to recover from boot-failing server.  On every reboot, the system repair always runs. There are other posts about his problem early (per season) .
Firstly, have the server install media and add it to the dvd drive of the computer. The computer that is attempted to be repaired must have the CD ready.
Insert into drive and satr tthe installation. Select Repair installation. At this point you will have booted from the DVD and selected Repair. Open a command window.
From the command window. run DISKPART. The prompt will change to :
    diskpart >
         type list volume and hit enter. This will list all the volumes.

You will get a list of all volumes with and without drive letters.
                  Similar to the following :

   

Please Share so others could find this solution faster

Windows Server 2008 stuck in Startup Repair Loop

As seen. the system reserve partition has been assigned the C drive so of coruse this server does not boot and every time the drive letter is set appropriately using diskpart, the drive letter reverts back to C.

So the solution is to copy all the files and folders that are on the reserved partition to the actual Windows drive. In this case that's the E drive. Copy using > xcopy /h as all files are hidden. To view the hidden files when listing the directory contents, use >dir /a:h   .

The boot folder and other files located at the root of the system reserved partition need to be copied to the real C drive. Once they are copied, mark the real C drive as active. remove the letter assignment from the system partition thus freeing up C . Assign C to the real windows drive that now also includes the boot manager files. Use diskpart remove the system reserved partition. Make the Reserve Partition the selected partion to work with. Be sure you have chosen the right partition. active

       diskpart> select volume # {volume # of 100MB reserved partition)
       diskpart> list volume         (be sure you see the asterisc next to the reserved partition)
       diskpart> remove

Make sure the right partition has been marked active:
     select the c volume as the active volume to work with
       diskpart>  select volume # {volume # of the the C volume)
       diskpart> active

Exit Diskpart by typing exit.

Then run fro mthe command prompt:

bootrec.exe /fixmbr

bootrec.exe /fixboot

bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

       
Now restart the system .
   


Thank you Ed Hammond http://edhammond.blogspot.com/2010/07/removing-100mb-system-reserved.html
Another good source http://www.tweakhound.com/2012/11/13/how-to-fix-the-windows-bootloader/

Citrix Session Printers Registry Key Location

Session printers created via policy

Session printers created via policy in Citrix XenApp are considered local printers. As such they are in the registry key that is common for local printer definitions. That registry key location on Windows 2008 R2 is :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers

Problem with session printers such as additional printers appearing in the user's list of available printers while in a session, most often is a result of driver corruption. Once the corrupt driver has been fixed or removed, you may have printers still showing up in user sessions that do not belong.

One of the things you can check is the key in the registry where the session printers are defined.
For stuck printers, as option to get rid of them is often to delete the user's profile but that's not always the best option so removing the session printers defined for that user can be done through the registry. Be cautious when removing but when there are no users logged into the Cirix Xenapp server, there should be no session printers defined.

Similar to Citrix is RDS using RDP protocol. Similar issues are encountered when using RDP for user access to desktops or Administrator access to servers or desktops. Managing RDP connections can be time consuming and having a centralized RDP connections make administration and management easier. RDS gateway such as this one similarly to Citrix permits multiuser access. 

VMware Boot From ISO Image

VMware-boot-from-iso-image-2

One of the nice features of VMware workstation is the feature that gives the user of the the software the ability to boot from an ISO image. This is a great feature and another display of some of the great thought put into this application. If the computer on which VMWare workstation doesn't have a DVD player for example, the ISO image stored on the hard-drive of the host computer or on a network drive can be used to start the installation. The ISO image is read and if it's the installation media for Vista for example, the installation begins. The guest operating system once installed and during the installation doesn't even "know" that's it's being run virtualized. This is a wonderful feature of VMWare workstation and I often find myself asking why didn't this solution come out many years ago as it's a terrific aid for testing and support of applications. With separate operating systems, virtual of course, tests can be run much easier as there's really no restore to perform or drive swapping like in the old days to bring the system back to a state for a re-test.  Some issues can be resolved using RDP. RDS Gateways and Hosts use RDP and permit access to server with RDP enabled