Problems after installation on a SSD

I had to install Win XP Pro first and then upgrade in order to keep my activation.

I didn't do anything special about partition. There is a possibility that partition wasn't aligned optimally.

For 2 months, I experienced quite a handful of anomalies. A lot of chkdsk requests on starting. Then, problems with slow Office 2010 specially Access. The windows of W7 features (optionalfeatures.exe) was blank (solved) and then yesterday Windows Media Center quit working, no matter I followed various instructions on internet.

So I am on the verge of reinstalling AGAIN. 3rd time.

I read that I should be using DISKPART to clean and redo the partition.

How do exactly I proceed? Can I do it directly from a commsnf windows (with admin privileges) from my W7 before I put back my Win XP Pro installation CD? Or do I have to put that utility on a CD/DVD/USB or even my 2nd hard drive?

I read a few versions (not always precise) on internet but I the partition part is still very nebulous to me. I tried LIST DISK in DISPART mode (from my current installation) and here is the result.

DISKPART> list disk

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 111 GB 10 MB
Disk 1 Online 232 GB 1024 KB

Disk 0 is the SSD.

You do not need to install XP to use Win7 Upgrade version.

Follow these steps to get a perfect reinstall and maintain it perfectly: Reinstalling Windows 7

There is no need to wipe the HD unless you have installation problems requiring the boot sector to be cleared. You can use Custom Install>Drive Options to delete partitions on your SSD, create New, Format and begin install, or just select the SSD and click Next and the installer will create and format your partition.

The 1st time I did what you said. Could never activate it. This is when I decided to reinstall XP first and then upgrade to W7. Activation worked again.

If any OS is on the HD when you boot Win7 to install, it will see it to pass a flag allowing use of Upgrade version key.

If no OS is on the HD you'll need to leave the Product Key blank during install, then afterwards do the quick registry edit here to activate Upgrade version: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

You should have checked back if/when you had activation problems so we could help you through them. You can always use phone activation as a last resort: How To Activate Windows 7 by Phone Step-by-Step Guide

gregrocker said:

If any OS is on the HD when you boot Win7 to install, it will see it to pass a flag allowing use of Upgrade version key.

If no OS is on the HD you'll need to leave the Product Key blank during install, then afterwards do the quick registry edit here to activate Upgrade version: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

You should have checked back if/when you had activation problems so we could help you through them. You can always use phone activation as a last resort: How To Activate Windows 7 by Phone Step-by-Step Guide

*Taking notes.*

Here is the result of my LIST PARTITION of my SSD drive using DISPART;

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 100 MB 1024 KB
Partition 0 Extended 111 GB 103 MB
Partition 2 Logical 111 GB 103 MB

Is there anything wrong here? If so, what would be the proper steps to fix it?

It's hard to know what advice to give if your system specs are not filled out.

You have a ssd. It has a reserved partition & two others. How did that happen? Does it have a recovery partition??????

System specs!

Looks OK to me. The boot partition shows 1024KB offset, which is what you want.

ignatzatsonic said:

Looks OK to me. The boot partition shows 1024KB offset, which is what you want.

So having 3 partitions of different types with the same disk is OK?

It's certainly OK to have a boot partition, an extended, and a logical. The logical is inside the extended.

You are limited to 4 primary partitions, but if you use an extended partition (like you have), then you can have a dozen partitions or more inside the extended partition---not sure what the absolute upper limit is.

But you don't really need to use an extended partition if you are only going to have 3 partitions total. You could just have 3 regular primary partitions. It doesn't really matter.


WHOA!!!!!! HOLD YOUR HORSES.

Just realized that I don't think you can install Windows in a logical partition.

So, I'd redo things, and get rid of that extended/logical setup.

You CAN use extended/logical for your personal data, but I don't think you can install Windows in a logical.

I stand to be corrected on that.

The most common setup on a 120 GB SSD would be to have a single primary partition for Windows, along with that little 100 MB boot partition that it likes to make.

You can install Win7 to the Logical within the Extended partition (which allows for more logicals as needed), as long as the 100mb System Reserved partition is Primary since that's where the System boot files are placed?

Have you already installed Win7? If so, post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map with listings showing all columns.

If not, then follow the steps given here to get a perfect clean reinstall based on thousands done here: Reinstalling Windows 7