W7 Partition problem.

I’m having a problem with W7 Partitions .. because I like to add a data partition.
If I delete the first two partitions on this HD … My computer does dead.
It will not boot to an Acronis Boot CD, or a W7 install DVD .. and I can’t even get to the bios set up…
As long as this HDD is installed anywhere in my system .. I have several SATA Bootable HDDs.

The only cure I’ve found so far .. is to mount this HDD in an USB adapter .. and remove the third partition.
I’ve had to do this several times to install a newer version of W7

I’m thinking also need to delete the mbr from this HDD .. that removing the first two partitions will not do.

It there a simple way to clean the MBR from this HDD ???
Any other ideas ??

noyb;

You have a fat partition first, A primary ntfs partition thats healthy called data, a system reserved partition (NTFS) thats marked active, and an NTFS partition with 7127 marked C:. Am I right you want to "clean the Mbr? I assume you need to keep the fat part, must keep the data part, have the system part marked active and have 7127 which you want to keep or upgrade. WHEW, wouldn't be easier to copy the data off somewhere safe and reformat the entire disk? You could then partition whatever you want where ever you want it and mbr would re reset by the format. Is there something Im missing?

Let me know if I can help

Ken

The first two partitions are installed with W7... I've tried several versions.
I don't understand why I need the first fat partition with a W7 install ??
I've seen a few Dells that do this ???

If I try to restore/replace the first two partitions and the MBR from an Acroins backup file ..
it fails .. with a MBR failure.
At this point .. I cannot do a repair install from the original install CD .. I'm hung up.

If I remove the third partition .. and repeat the Acronis recovery ..
I still get the MBR failure .. But I can repair with two repairs from the original DVD.
one to repair the MBR .. the second to repair W7.

If I delete the first two partitions and leave the Data partition ...
I'm dead - hung up forever.
None of my F keys or escape key works .. and I cannot boot from a DVD ?? or an Acronis Boot CD.
Even if I have another good bootable drive as my first boot device ... I'm dead

I'm just curious .. What is W7 doing to us.
This could be a MAJOR reason to stay away from W7 ...
If I cannot perform a system recovery without wiping out a couple hundred gig data partition.

I do this all the time in XP

I'm trying to figure out what is hanging me up and if removing the MBR is a workaround/fix
This makes no sense to me.

will
the answer to the fat partition is probably that your dell like mine came with a media setup that has to be installed first and into fat. I had forgotten all about that. In order for the media things to work it loads first. I had similar problems even in xp. The only way I got rid of it was to kill the set up. I formated the entire drive as ntfs. Got more space and never had the problem again. the only downside is the media buttons on the front will not work with the lid closed. I can still mute and FF, Rew, and pause, and stop.
How much data do you have that you need to save?
Keen

Whoops .. that Fat partition is a compact flash card I have plugged in while I worked on W7.
I was wondering about the need for the first "System Reserved" NTFS partition ...
before the C system partition ... That's not needed in my HP systems.

In my main rig ... I have about 180 gig set aside in a Data partition that follows my C system partition.

I refuse to store any data in my C system partition.
This way, I can change/restore my OS in about 10 minutes .. and not take several hours to rebuild a my data partition even at SATA 300 speeds.

I'm also wondering what will happen if an OEM installs a system restore partition in a partition after the system partition ??

Seems to me like W7 is doing something funny that could really get annoying.

noyb
Absolutely right. I have even moved my doc folder off to a different drive. I use this rig for testing and have to do a clean install every 3-4 months. the one thing that keeps me sane is I make a clean install add apps and backup so I can revert back to clean + apps at will.
ken

For Sanity reasons ... In an insane computer world ..
And since I'm constantly thinking .. What will happen today ??? ..
I have an External Enclosure .. That houses my Next fresh system...

All I have to do is swap HDDs .. and perform a few new updates.
and make a Acronis update of the New Fresh system.

Then, at my leisure ..
I'll replace the system in the Dirty HDD with the new fresh install...
and I'm ready for the next crisis.

I'm worried that W7 will be making this Very difficult.
So far .. I cannot rewrite the W7 C system partition .. with a 3rd data partition present.

noyb

Thats a great idea. Mind if I adopt it? Why would win 7 make it more difficult?

Ken

Thats a great idea. Mind if I adopt it?

Conrad Hilton once complained that he had over 12,000 bibles stolen from his hotels ..
but nobody ever stole a copy of his book ... "Be my Guest"

In W7 .. If something goes wrong with the MBR .. the system reserved or the system partition ...
My system goes dead .. None of my F keys work .. nothing
And it will not boot from the Windows or Acronis boot CD.
Even if I have a good bootable HDD as the primary boot device .. I'm still dead.
I cannot do a repair install.

The only cure I've found so far .. is to put the HDD in a USB enclosures and delete the 3rd partition.
Then .. I'm alive again .. And I can boot to the install CD and make the repairs.
Once needed to fix the MBR .. and a second to fix windows...
After I've performed an Acronis recovery.

The whole idea is to not have to rebuild a 200gig data partition...
just to fix/replace a dirty system partition.

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