XPS 8300: New 3TB primary hard drive results in BSOD after imaging but not after Win7 clean install

This may be a stupid question, but why does it boot fine if I do a clean installation of Windows 7 (Pro - 64bit). From my understanding (which is limited here), I should be able to boot on the 3TB drive, with a maximum C: drive partition of approximately 2TB, and then partition the remaining space (approximately 746GB) to a new drive letter (D: for example) and format that independent of the C: drive. To me, this is supported by the fact that I can see the 746GB of unallocated space on the disk in disk management with the clean install.

To your point above about this not being able to boot, I believe that to be correct if my intention were to use the entire 3TB as the C: drive and not have a D: drive. Since that is not a requirement in my situation, this seems like it should be doable. My IT guy at work recommended looking for dump files to see where the 7B stop code on the blue screen is being genereated. Perhaps compare results of that with the clean / working installation and make system changes in the registry of the image when applying it.

No, 2TB is a DISK limitation, NOT a partition limitation:

• Windows cannot use a DISK larger than 2TB unless it has been converted to GPT (as opposed to MBR); the conversion is data-destructive.
• Windows cannot BOOT to a GPT disk unless the OS was INSTALLED on a UEFI-enabled system; if you want to backup a non-GPT/non-UEFI installation to restore to a GPT/UEFI installation, you must use backup software capable of restoring to dissimilar hardware (or GPT/UEFI specifically), because the boot partition/files must be created to work for a GPT disk on a UEFI system.

From my understanding (which is limited here), I should be able to boot on the 3TB drive, with a maximum C: drive partition of approximately 2TB, and then partition the remaining space (approximately 746GB) to a new drive letter (D: for example) and format that independent of the C: drive. To me, this is supported by the fact that I can see the 746GB of unallocated space on the disk in disk management with the clean install.

Go ahead and try to partition the remaining 746GB on your clean [MBR/BIOS] install ... it won't let you.

What software did you use to create the image?
Did you backup a Dell factory image?  or your own "clean" install?
Are you restoring the "reserved partition" too, or just the OS/C: partition?

What software did you use to create the image?

It is a full system image created by Windows itself from the Backup and Restore dialog.

Did you backup a Dell factory image?  or your own "clean" install?

Not entirely sure. I setup Backup and Restore to create an entire system image... not sure what that covers in terms of the Dell factory image. I want to say that I have seen a "Restore to Factory Condition" in the recovery dialogs - but I've never selected it. When I refer to a "clean" install, I was referring to installing Windows 7 directly from the installation CD that Dell mailed to me after my hard drive died. My clean installation consists of the 3TB HDD and Windows 7 installed from the disk - nothing from the backup image.

Are you restoring the "reserved partition" too, or just the OS/C: partition?

I'm not sure how to change this setting, but I recall the dialogs stating that it would partition and format the new disk exactly the same as the system image. So, since the system image was a complete image of the dead HDD, I would assume that the restore DID restore the reserved partition as well. Again, I'm not entirely sure how to change that from the imaging wizard to just do the OS/C: partition.

I could be totally wrong on this, but... You mentioned in your first bullet that Windows cannot use a DISK larger that 2TB unless it has been converted to GPT. Isn't the partitioning scheme (MBR or GPT) specific to the partition... not the entire disk... meaning that you could have a mix of MBR AND GPT formatted partitions on the same physical disk?

I understand that BIOS can't BOOT to a GPT partition unless it's on a UEFI system, but couldn't I still boot to my MBR C: Drive, and create an additional GPT partition for the 1TB of leftover space? I'm not at my machine to try it at the moment but I thought I've read threads saying a combination of partitions is possible. - Again, not sure???

Thank you very much for your help by the way.

could be totally wrong on this, but... You mentioned in your first bullet that Windows cannot use a DISK larger that 2TB unless it has been converted to GPT. Isn't the partitioning scheme (MBR or GPT) specific to the partition... not the entire disk... meaning that you could have a mix of MBR AND GPT formatted partitions on the same physical disk?

No, a DISK is either GPT or MBR, then partitions are created on that disk according to the disk format scheme (size and number of partitions, for example).

I understand that BIOS can't BOOT to a GPT partition unless it's on a UEFI system, but couldn't I still boot to my MBR C: Drive, and create an additional GPT partition for the 1TB of leftover space? I'm not at my machine to try it at the moment but I thought I've read threads saying a combination of partitions is possible. - Again, not sure???

Again, GPT is a DISK format, and UEFI is required to boot a GPT DISK.  As an MBR disk, only 2TB can be used.  In some cases, not even 2TB is SEEN when in MBR format - just depends on the disk and the controller or the combination of the two together.

Thank you for your help. I've had a look and noticed that the remaining unallocated space in fact cannot be partitioned.

I'm still curious however, as to why my image fails to be bootable. The computer is running fine with the clean installation, even if it can only utilize 2TB of the 3TB disk. Shouldn't the system still boot when the image is applied - especially since it applies it without error and I've verified that the files are on the drive when the imaging process completes???

That's why I wondered about the installation you imaged.  If you imaged the Dell factory installation, and it was a GPT/UEFI installation, then it would not boot after restoring it to an MBR disk or with the system in UEFI mode. 

Have you tried running a "Startup Repair" on the installation AFTER restoring the image?

It is now my understanding the XPS 8300 doesn't support UEFI. So, the image that I created surely was not a GPT/UEFI image as it wouldn't have ever worked.

I have tried using Starup Repair and it hasn't been able to resolve the boot problem. This all seems to point to getting a 2TB drive and starting over. Talk about a pain. It's frustrating the XPS 8300 doesn't support UEFI.

It's frustrating the XPS 8300 doesn't support UEFI.

The only frustration should be that tech evolves so fast that no matter how much money you spend now, it will in some way be outdated - or even obsolete - within months or 1-2 years.  

The XPS 8300 shipped from early 2011 - disks larger than 2TB had just barely come out, so there wasn't much need for UEFI yet anyway.  There were systems with UEFI then, but not many.  UEFI is fairly new, and only in the last couple of years has it become standard on systems.  Windows 8 was the real driver for UEFI implementation, but the availability and dropping prices of 3TB and 4TB disks has also contributed.  Windows 7 was the first OS to support UEFI, but OEM's really pushed UEFI to systems while transitioning to Windows 8 in Fall 2012, as Windows 8 required UEFI features for OEM deployment.

What I would recommend you do is get an SSD to install Windows on and use your 3TB disk strictly for storage.