Windows 7: big problem at making new partition

On a new factory installed laptop he likely has hidden OEM, Recovery and 100mb SysReserved partition, which in addition to C makes the maximum. This is standard.



As you say we won't know until he posts the screenshot, but that is what the error message is usually about.

exact i have
c+recovery+hptools(100mb)
which screen shots do u want (mycomputer-or data management

about the disk management

I just bought a new laptop with windows 7 home premium and I would like to dual boot with xp by shrinking c. I am facing same problem. I think the laptop has the max partitions allowed. I am attaching a picture of the error and the partition table.
I would like to know what are my options to accomplish without touching the recovery partition and windows 7 partition. I am thinking about deleting the hp tools.
Thank you in advance

Raub

You can only put four primary partitions on a hard drive.

You are trying to put on five.


Note
A primary partition is a type of partition created on a hard drive that can have a operating system installed on it. A primary partition functions as though it were a physically separate hard drive. By default on a MBR disk, you can create a maximum of 3 Primary partitions and 1 Extended partition with up to 128 logical volumes in the extended partition on a single hard disk.

*You must be logged on in an administrator account to be able to do this tutorial.


Find more info here.
Partition or Volume - Create New

Thank u Hopalong X,
Would recommand deleting hp tools partition and replacing it with a new one primary?

You can but you may miss those tools. I'm not sure what is in there. See what is in there and post a snip of the files. Right click HP Tools and then left click "Open". It will show list of files.
FYI- I marked where to right click in your picture below in yellow.

FYI
Did you burn the HP recovery DVD's? If not that should be done. I realize it is on the hard drive but what if the hard drive messes up? All gone!

raub
I'll check back on you. Send me a PM or public message if I forget.

Mike

HP's are so loaded with bloatware that many tech enthusiasts find a clean copy Windows 7 DVD to clean reinstall without the factory bloatware. Until then, they turn off all the useless utilities in msconfig>Startup including the HP Wireless Manager which adds 30 seconds to bootup and drags on the CPU - config Windows 7 superior wireless connection in System tray.

If you find you don't need or want those useless utilties as well as other programs, you can uninstall them using Revo uninstaller in Advanced mode: it will run Windows uninstaller, but when prompted to restart, click Next instead to delete all the leftover registry keys and files Revo cues up in bold.

As suggested, if you browse that HP utilities partition with folders unhidden in Control Panel>Folders options>View you can decide whether you want to keep any of those utilities. If not go ahead and delete it to create your fourth Primary partition. You may need to use free Partition Wizard to do so: Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD

Thank you Hopalong X for taking time to explain things for me. I appreciate it very much. I did find another video guide from hp forums to partition the extra space without touching other partitions. you can take a look at it [Video] How to Dual Boot Windows 7 & Windows XP - HP Support Forum

Thank you gregrocker for sharing some great infos about hp software and tools. I will keep that in mind for future installations.

Raub

Glad I could be of some help.

Mike