We Couldn’t Update the System Reserved Partition: How to Fix

When upgrading Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10, or Windows 10 to Windows 11, you may encounter the error message “We couldn’t update the system reserved partition,” preventing the upgrade from completing.

If you are experiencing this issue, don’t worry. This post explains why the error occurs and provides two practical solutions to help you complete the Windows upgrade using MiniTool Partition Wizard.

2 Causes for the “We Couldn’t Update System Reserved Partition” Error

The error usually occurs for one of two reasons: the System Reserved partition or EFI System Partition doesn’t have enough free space, or its file system contains errors. Here are the details.

The System Reserved Partition Is Full

During a Windows upgrade, Setup needs enough free space on the System Reserved partition or EFI System Partition to update boot-related files. However, some third-party antivirus or security applications may write files to this partition, leaving insufficient space for the upgrade.

In this case, you can free up space or extend the partition to resolve the issue.

File System Errors on the System Reserved Partition

File system errors may prevent Windows Setup from accessing or updating boot-related files, even when the partition has enough free space. Checking and repairing the file system may help resolve the error.

How to Fix the “We Couldn’t Update the System Reserved Partition” Error

Before trying the following fixes, you need to identify the correct system partition and check how much free space it has.

How to Identify the System Reserved or EFI System Partition

The system partition you need to check depends on your disk’s partition style and boot mode:

• MBR disk with Legacy BIOS: Look for the System Reserved partition, which is usually a small NTFS partition used to store Windows boot files.
• GPT disk with UEFI: Look for the EFI System Partition (ESP), which is usually formatted with FAT32 and stores the files required to boot Windows.

You can use Windows Disk Management or MiniTool Partition Wizard to view your disk layout and partition properties.

Do not identify the target partition solely by its label or Active status. In particular, do not assume that a partition labeled Recovery is the System Reserved partition. The Recovery partition and Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition serve different purposes.

After identifying the correct partition, check its capacity and available free space. If it has little or no free space, try extending it. If it has sufficient free space, proceed to the file system repair method.

Fix 1. Increase the System Reserved or EFI System Partition Size

If the System Reserved partition or EFI System Partition has insufficient free space, extending it may help resolve the upgrade error.

The steps differ depending on whether your system uses Legacy BIOS with an MBR disk or UEFI with a GPT disk.

Here is a video guide:

Extend System Reserved Partition Under Legacy BIOS + MBR Boot Mode

If you are booting Windows from MBR disk, please take the following operations:Buy MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro so as to create MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable media. (Here we just use the Pro Edition in the running Windows OS to demonstrate the process.)

Step 1: Create a bootable CD/DVD, or USB flash drive. For instructions, please see How to Build Boot CD/DVD Discs and Boot Flash Drive with Bootable Media Builder

Step 2: Boot computer from MiniTool Partition Wizard Boot Disc.

Step 3: When you are in the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard, select the System Reserved partition and choose “Extend Partition” feature from the left action panel.

Step 4: Extend the target partition by taking free space from other existing partitions on the same disk and click “OK“.

Step 5: Click “Apply” button on the top to perform all changes.After these steps, increasing space for system reserved partition has been completed. For more details, please see Extend Partition. And then, you should be able to upgrade to Windows 10.

Enlarge EFI System Partition Under UEFI + GPT Boot Mode

If Windows is installed on a GPT disk and boots in UEFI mode, the EFI System Partition (ESP) stores the files required to start Windows. If it does not have enough free space, you may need to extend it.

Step 1: Create MiniTool Partition Wizard Boot Disc.

Step 2: Boot Computer via MiniTool Partition Wizard Boot Disc to get partition layout:

Here the 100MB ESP partition marked as Active is the very partition we need to enlarge, and now it has not much free space available. But fortunately, we can enlarge it by taking free space from any other existing partitions with recognizable file system (FAT or NTFS) on the same hard disk. For example, we can extend the ESP partition by taking free space from partition C since this partition has half unused space left. Of course, we can also enlarge it by making use of unallocated space if there is such a kind of space.

Step 3: Delete the Microsoft Reserved Partition (only if needed).

In the case above, to extend the EFI system partition (ESP) by borrowing free space from partition C, we first need to delete the 16MB Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR), because Partition Wizard cannot recognize its file system.

Does this mean you must delete the MSR whenever you enlarge the EFI system partition? No. Only when the MSR sits between the EFI system partition and the partition you want to take free space from does it need to be deleted. Otherwise, the extending process will stop. For detailed steps, see Delete Partition.

Step 4: Enlarge EFI System Partition

Select the EFI system partition and choose “Extend Partition” feature from the left action panel. Next, choose partition C from the drop-down list of “Take Free Space from” and then drag sliding handle to decide how much free space to take. Then, click “OK” to go back to the main interface.

At last, click “Apply” button to make all changes performed.

After all changes are made, try upgrading your Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 again.

However, if the system reserved partition has much free space, the most probable reason would be file system error. In this case, please try checking and fixing file system of the system reserved partition or EFI system partition.

Fix 2. Check and Repair File System Errors on the System Partition

If the System Reserved or EFI System partition still has plenty of free space, a file system error is the more likely cause.

Step 1: Download and Install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free EditionTo check and fix file system of the system reserved partition in Windows 7/8.1, please download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 2: Assign a Letter for System Reserved or EFI System PartitionAs “Check File System” can only be used when the selected partition has a drive letter, please select the system reserved partition or EFI system partition (ESP) and click “Change Drive Letter” function from the action panel. Then assign it a drive letter and click “OK” to go back to the main interface. Finally, click “Apply” button on the top to make this change performed.

Step 3: Check and Fix File System of System Reserved or EFI System PartitionReselect the system reserved or EFI system partition and choose “Check File System” feature. Then, choose “Check & fix detected error” since this feature will detect all file system errors and then fix them one after another, and next click “Start” button to start checking and fixing.

If there are file system errors found and fixed, users can try upgrading to Windows 10 again, and this time the “Windows 10 upgrade couldn’t update system reserved partition” error shouldn’t emerge.

Quick video guide:

Summary

The “We couldn’t update the system reserved partition” error is usually caused by a full partition or a file system error. Check the free space first, then increase the partition size or repair the file system.

If you encounter any issues while using MiniTool Partition Wizard, contact us via [email protected].