Partitioning problem

Hello,

I am trying to reinstall Win7 on my computer, which is currently set up to dual boot with XP. I've deleted my old Win 7 partition, and I'm now trying to shrink the XP partition's size so that the cleanly installed Win 7 partition will have the majority of the space. The XP drive currently has 120 GB of info on it, and it was originally set up as a 400 GB partition. I want to shrink this partition to 150 GB, and then allocate the remaining 150gb to my new W7 partition.

Here's the problem: using Easeus partition master, I do the above and hit restart. It boots into Partition Master Boot Mode, and quickly gets to 76% progress and then hangs. I can hear the HD making a clicking noise. I would think this was a HD issue, except that I recall trying to do this once using the W7 disk management tool, and the program would only allow me to shrink the XP volume by 11 gb (instead of 150gb). What's going on here and how do I fix the problem?

Also, the XP partition is currently the primary drive, is there any way I can make my new W7 partition the primary drive?

Thanks.

Last time I used Easeus I ended up in a mess (maybe it was my fault). Read this, it will give you some ideas.
Working Around Windows Vista’s "Shrink Volume" Inadequacy Problems :: the How-To Geek