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13 March 2024  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
 

Summary
Learn how to activate a partition in Windows system with the solutions in this article. Remember to back up your data before making any changes to avoid losing important files.



Table of contents

table iconI. What is an active partition?
table iconII. Before marking the partition as an active partition, it is recommended to back up important data
table iconIII. How to mark a partition as an active partition?
activate partition

I. What is an active partition?

The active partition, typically the C: drive in Windows systems, serves as the computer’s boot partition which contains the OS boot files. It works in conjunction with the BIOS to manage handovers and execute startup tasks, facilitating the system booting process. This partition is established by default during the Windows installation.
The disk type of a Windows computer determines the potential number of primary partitions: four for MBR (Master Boot Record) and essentially unlimited for GPT (GUID Partition Table). It’s important to note that only one primary partition can be set as active at a time on each disk, and any modifications or deletions to this active partition could lead to booting issues.
After understanding active partition details, proceed to part three for guidance on setting a partition active. Always back up critical data before altering partitions.

II. Before marking the partition as an active partition, it is recommended to back up important data

When using your computer, unexpected failures or errors can occur, especially during disk partition changes or system setting modifications. To prevent loss of crucial data, it’s advisable to back up your data beforehand. While you can manually copy files to another disk, utilizing professional backup software like Renee Becca can streamline the process. Renee Becca offers batch backups with features for automated and scheduled backups, as well as the ability to back up various entities such as the system, hard drives, partitions, and files.

1. What is Renee Becca

Renee Becca is a versatile backup and restoration tool for system/hard disk data. It enables you to safeguard crucial computer data, including programs, system settings, emails, photos, videos, documents, and bookmarks. Utilizing advanced incremental/differential backup technology, it saves time and conserves disk space. The tool also offers partition backup, hard disk backup, file backup, disk cloning, and system migration to cater to diverse requirements.
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Fullfill different backup needs Backup for disk, partition and system. Save disk space by backing up incremental /differential data.

Highly compatible Supports various files and storage devices.

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2. How to use Renee Becca to backup data?

Step 1: Download Renee Becca, install and launch the application. Access the main interface and, within the “Backup” section, choose “File Backup” to back up individual files or “Disk/Partition Backup” for cloning an entire disk or partition.
click to back up files in renee becca
Step 2: Select the file you wish to back up from your source device, then choose the target partition on your hard drive for the backup data. Click “Backup” to begin the backup operation.
Tip: To ensure your data is safe, enable automatic backups using Task Scheduler by setting it to initiate daily, weekly, or monthly at your preferred time. Within the Backup Scheme settings, choose a Scheme Type that aligns with your requirements. The software, Renee Becca, offers five distinct options: version chain mode, single version mode, full mode, incremental backup mode and differential backup mode.
how to back up files in renee becca
Step 3: Monitor the progress of all backup tasks in the task bar. Once complete, click the Recovery button to recover files to the selected hard drive as necessary.
recover backup files from renee becca
Step 4: Select the desired destination for the file restoration and click the Recovery button.
files recovery location
After backing up important files, we can safely mark the partition as an active partition. Please continue reading below.

III. How to mark a partition as an active partition?

1. Mark the partition as an active partition through Disk Management

Disk Management is a Windows utility for configuring disks, partitions, and volumes. It enables you to add or change drive letters, format or compress volumes, and set a partition as active, among other functions.
Step 1: Right-click (Start), and select (Disk Management).
Step 2: Right-click the target partition in Disk Management and select Mark Partition as Active. Exit the utility and reboot your PC.
mark partition as active

2. Mark the partition as an active partition through the Diskpart command

To set a partition as active with the Diskpart utility, follow these steps:
Step 1: Boot your computer, press Windows key + R, and type diskmgmt.msc to locate the disk number.
run diskmgmt.msc
Step 2: In the search box at the bottom left, type Diskpart, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator to initiate Diskpart.
diskpart run as administrator
Step 3: Then enter the following commands and press the (Enter) key after each command.
list disk (List the disks in the computer)
select disk 3 (The disk number can be changed according to your disk)
list partition (List the partitions in the disk and you can view the partition type and size)
select partition 1 (The partition number can be modified according to your situation)
active (Mark the partition as active)
Exit
change active partition
Kind tipsIf you have some startup problems after marking the partition as active, such as “Invalid partition table” (Invalid partition table) error, you can mark the active partition as inactive.