Can't delete my data partition or format it

lostsoul62

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Can't delete my data partition or format it, any suggestions?
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs
Post a screen shot of your Disk Management and state which particular partition you are trying to delete.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
Sounds like you have some system file on that partition - e.g. the bootmgr. A screenshot of Disk Management would clarify.

I suggest not to force it. You may make your system inoperable.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops
OS
Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
CPU
from 1.6GHz Duo to i7
Monitor(s) Displays
2x HP w2207
Hard Drives
5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals
Keyboard
with trackball - no mices
Mouse
Trackball mice
Internet Speed
DSL 6000
Word attachment

I attach what my disk manager looks like and the format and delete is gray out
 

Attachments

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Novatech iRush Pro
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 - 64 Bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 2500k
Motherboard
Foxconn H67M-S/H67M-V/H67
Memory
2x4GB DDR3 1333Hz
Graphics Card(s)
Ati Radeon 6770
Sound Card
None
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung S22B150
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
2x500GB
PSU
500W
Cooling
Fan
Keyboard
HP KU0316
Mouse
Wireless Logitech M185
Internet Speed
20MB/s
Antivirus
Avast Free
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech M185 Mouse
KU-M316 Keyboard

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops
OS
Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
CPU
from 1.6GHz Duo to i7
Monitor(s) Displays
2x HP w2207
Hard Drives
5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals
Keyboard
with trackball - no mices
Mouse
Trackball mice
Internet Speed
DSL 6000
Your Data Partition has your System inside it. That's the problem, somehow move the Data Partition to your main Drive (I don't know how) or reinstall.

No it doesn't, look close my System is my C drive and my data is my G drive
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs
No it doesn't, look close my System is my C drive and my data is my G drive

I beg your pardon???

Look closely.

On the G drive, it says "System, Active, Primary partition.

Just because you have given it the name "Data" means nothing.

Just because you have a C drive with Windows on it, doesn't mean C is the system drive.

Do you see the word "System" used in the detail on the C drive??
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
It is exactly as I suspected. Your bootmgr is sitting on partition G and gets automatically imaged with the system. Run these 4 steps and move the bootmgr to C.

No my bootmgr isn't sitting on partition G. I can go in and delete every folder on G drive and if I have an system file it won't delete. This is data and not an image. I never use backup software for data.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs
No my bootmgr isn't sitting on partition G. I can go in and delete every folder on G drive and if I have an system file it won't delete. This is data and not an image. I never use backup software for data.

You seem to know everything better than what we say. I suggest you do as you please. Don't call us, we'll call you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops
OS
Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
CPU
from 1.6GHz Duo to i7
Monitor(s) Displays
2x HP w2207
Hard Drives
5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals
Keyboard
with trackball - no mices
Mouse
Trackball mice
Internet Speed
DSL 6000
Your Right

Look closely.

On the G drive, it says "System, Active, Primary partition.

Just because you have given it the name "Data" means nothing.

Just because you have a C drive with Windows on it, doesn't mean C is the system drive.

Do you see the word "System" used in the detail on the C drive??

Your right. I deleted everything on my G drive so I know I don't have any system files on it but how it became active I just don't know. So I am going to take this hard drive and stick it into my other computer as a slave and delete the whole thing and re image and copy back my date. I did image my C drive and I wonder if that could of caused it. Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs
You should really listen to the advice here. If you want more help before you do this I would apologize and ask really nicely or we'll see you again when you can no longer boot.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU
Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz (3.77GHz OC)
Motherboard
Asus P5Q-E
Memory
Corsair 4GB DDR2 (4x1GB CM2X1024-6400C4)
Graphics Card(s)
Palit GeForce GTS 250 (1024MB)
Sound Card
On Board (ADI AD2000B 8ch HD)
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung 32in LCD TV
Screen Resolution
1360x768
Hard Drives
2 x 1TB Samsung 103SJ (Raid0)
2 x External 500GB Samsung 502IJ (NexStar 3 HD Enclosures)
PSU
550W Antec Neo HE 550
Case
Antec P180
Cooling
Xigmatex Red Scorpion CPU Cooler. 3x120mm Fans
Keyboard
Logitech MX5000 Laser (Combo)
Mouse
Logitech MX5000 Laser (Combo)
Internet Speed
ADSL2+ (avg 10 Mbps Down, 0.80 Mbps up)
Other Info
Gigabyte GN-WP01GS 54g Wireless Lan Card
It is exactly as I suspected. Your bootmgr is sitting on partition G and gets automatically imaged with the system. Run these 4 steps and move the bootmgr to C.

No my bootmgr isn't sitting on partition G. I can go in and delete every folder on G drive and if I have an system file it won't delete.
As has been stated, your G partition shows as "active". This means (a) by definition that's where the BIOS of your machine will go to at boot time in order to find the "boot manager" files, for WinXP, Win7, and any other form of Windows, and (b) by definition there MUST be the boot manager files located there to be found and used... else your system would not boot.

That is precisely what "active" implies.

And since it is the "active" partition required at boot time, it CANNOT be deleted... unless you move the boot manager files off of G and somewhere else, most conveniently into C itself (where the rest of Win7 lives for you). There's no problem having both boot manager and Win7 system files in C. The process of moving the boot manager files over to C will also mark C as the new "active" partition and G will be marked "inactive", and thus will now be eligible for deletion or whatever you want to do with it.

Also, the boot manager files (BOOTMGR and BOOT.INI for Win7, and/or the old NTLDR file for WinXP) are "hidden" files. You would normally not see them with Windows Explorer unless you've changed your Folder Options -> View to "show hidden files". That may be why you think they're not there... but believe me they MUST be there, since it's the "active" partition, in order for your machine to boot to Windows.


Now, how the boot manager files got to be there? Well perhaps did you at one itme use that partition for WinXP? And then did you install Win7 as a second OS? And then did you remove WinXP?

If so then that is EXACTLY how you got the boot manager files onto what you now call G. That's where WinXP was, and thus in your 1-Windows environment the WinXP installer made that partition "active". And when you installed Win7 as a second optional Windows the boot manager and menu needed to support booting to either WinXP or Win7 was placed in that "active" partition (which was WinXP at the time).

Just because you removed WinXP didn't change the nature of that partition from "active". And you obviously didn't FORMAT that partition that partition else you would have erased boot manager and made it impossible to boot your system at all, which is not what happened.

Anyway I'm only speculating as to how it is absolutely possible to end up with boot manager on your G drive which is still marked as "active" even though you never did anything yourself. WinXP's installer marks its own partition as "active". With Win7 being installed as a second OS in an operational WinXP environment, Win7's installer sees the existence of another Windows in an "active" partition and replaces that partition's boot manager (i.e. NTLDR and BOOT.INI) in that "active" partition with the Win7 boot manager (i.e. BOOTMGR and BOOT.INI), and then installs Win7 into its own second partition. The BIOS still goes to that "active" partition at boot time, where it now finds Win7's boot manager. You then pick WinXP (located in the same partition along with the Win7 boot manager) or Win7 (in the second partition where Win7 was installed to)... but it is still that WinXP partition which is "active" and also holds the Win7 boot manager files. Removing WinXP did not remove the Win7 boot manager files from that "active" partition.

NOTE: even if you had formatted that G partition (thus erasing EVERYTHING that was on the old WinXP partition) before installing Win7 brand new by itself, since that now formatted G partition was still marked as "active", then the Win7 installation process would put its boot manager files there. Normally, on a completely formatted drive the Win7 boot manager files go into a small 100MB "system reserved" partition which is marked "active" for BIOS requirements. And the Win7 system goes into a second partition, which becomes C. But in your case, if you'd formatted that G partition but left it "active", the Win7 installer had no reason to create a separate 100MB "system reserved" for boot manager files. It just put them into that "active" G partition (as you call it now), and built Win7 in C where you told it to install. So this is another way you could have ended up with G as "active", even though you formatted it to erase WinXP since you wanted only a pure Win7 system. Sheer speculation, of course, but this is another possibility.


Bottom line: you must move your boot manager files over to C using the recommended approach identified above. This will mark C as now the "active" partition, and G will be marked "inactive". Then you can do anything you want with G.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home-built, two systems (1) and (2)
OS
Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
CPU
i5-3350p 3.1Ghz/6MB-cache (1); E8400 3.0Ghz/6MB-cache (2)
Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro (1); ASUS P5Q3 (2)
Memory
8GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1); 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 (2)
Graphics Card(s)
ATI HD7750 (1), (see TV cards); ATI R7 250 (2)
Sound Card
Realtek ALC892 HD Audio (1); Realtek ALC1200 HD Audio (2)
Monitor(s) Displays
Eizo HD2441W LCD, Eizo S2433W (1); Eizo 24" S2433W (2)
Screen Resolution
1920x1200, 1920x1200 (1); 1920x1200 (2)
Hard Drives
(1) 1TB SATA-II (7200RPM), 2x2TB SATA-III (7200RPM), 250GB SATA-III (10000RPM) for OS; 2x2TB external USB 3.0

(2) 320GB SATA-II (7200RPM), 750GB SATA-II (7200RPM), 150GB SATA-II (10000RPM) for OS; 2TB external USB 3.0
PSU
Nesteq ECS-6001 600W (1); Nesteq ECS-5001 500W (2)
Case
Acousti-Case 360 (1) and (2)
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 for CPU, 2x120mm case fans (1) and (2)
Keyboard
IBM PS/2 (1) and (2)
Mouse
Logitech MX Revolution wireless (1); Microsoft wired (2)
Internet Speed
100mbps down / 10mbps up
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials; Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Pro
Browser
Firefox
Other Info
Ceton InfiniTV 4-tuner cablecard-enabled TV card as well as Hauppauge HVR-2250 OTA/ATSC 2-tuner TV card in (1), running under Win7 WMC
Not to pile on, but I have to ask...why do so many people over-complicate the process of posting a screenshot? Windows 7 includes the Snipping Tool, and this forum is by far, the easiest at attaching an image.

If people are willing to read your issue and try to help, the least...the very least, you can do, is give people an easy screenshot.
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3
Memory
12 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GTX 470
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility3 240 GB, WD5001AALS, WD7501AALS
PSU
OCZ ModStream 700W
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced
Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Bottom line: you must move your boot manager files over to C using the recommended approach identified above. This will mark C as now the "active" partition, and G will be marked "inactive". Then you can do anything you want with G.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your explanation, I do appreacted it. I will real it over a couple of time to make sure I get it. Thanks again.
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs
Screen shot

If people are willing to read your issue and try to help, the least...the very least, you can do, is give people an easy screenshot.[/QUOTE]

I've never given a screen shot before. What would be an easier way?
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 x64 RC1, Vista Ultimate, XP Pro
CPU
AMD 955
Memory
4 gigs - 1333
Graphics Card(s)
5750
Monitor(s) Displays
i-inc 28"
Screen Resolution
1920x1200
Hard Drives
2 SATA2 750 GB - 1 SATA2 1TB - 1 SATA3 1TB - 1 USB3 2TB - 1 USB3 500 GB, SSD 60 GB
Internet Speed
7 Megs
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