P.S. - That 8MB partition is auto-created to handle DYNAMIC disk and other config information. If/when a disk is converted to dynamic, information regarding the configuration and any dependencies (e.g. software RAID) are stored on the hard disk at the end. This is how a drive can be moved from one dynamic disk array to another and be recognized as foreign drive.

Quote from: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457110.aspx#EGAA

A dynamic disk is a physical disk that contains dynamic volumes. Dynamic disks provide features that basic disks do not. For example, use dynamic disks if you need to:

* Increase the size of a volume by extending the volume onto the same disk by using unallocated space that is not contiguous. You can also EXTEND a volume onto other dynamic disks.

* IMPROVE disk input/output (I/O) performance by using striped volumes.

Dynamic disks offer greater flexibility for volume management because they use a hidden database to track information about dynamic volumes on the disk and about other dynamic disks in the computer. Because each dynamic disk in a computer stores a replica of the dynamic disk database, Windows XP Professional can repair a corrupted database on one dynamic disk by using the database on another dynamic disk.

The location of the database is determined by the partition style of the disk.

On MBR disks, the database is contained in the last 1 MEGABYTE (MB) of the disk.