MiniTool Partition Wizard reports different partitions to others

Hello everyone

Very much a newbie to this OS and to partitioning with MiniTool Partition Wizard. It seems lots of folk here use this tool so as I can't find an answer anywhere to this thing that's bugging me ... .

I installed and used 'MT' to 'Expand' my C drive, taking a chunk from the D drive to its left. All looks fine until I go to Macrium Reflect to make a backup and its reporting an entirely different partition schedule to MT. In fact it's reporting an older one with un-resized partitions and a third partition which I formatted as NTFS (using Disk Management) as HFS+, which it was previously. So what does Disk Management now say? Same as MT. OK, I think, so Macrium's wrong, best not use that then. But it niggles me so I boot with a GParted Live CD. But that agrees with Macrium and moreover reports the 'chunk' I thought I'd taken from the D drive as unallocated.

So which is right, MT/DM or Macrium/GParted?

This is probably more worrysome because I'm new to this side of the field but any insights would be most appreciated.

Best,

S

Thanks Doc. As you can see from the att. DM & MT agree; partition readers from two different Linux boot CDs differ, but agree between themselves.

It would be strange if the Linux boots can see some trace of HFS+ left over from a reformat, though I don't know how even that could happen. My chief concern is that I used MT to expand the C drive and the Linux programs suggest this has failed ...?

Best,

S

Did you miss the clearly stated step in Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image
to maximize the window and expand all columns so we could see the recorded sizes on disk?

The disk is set up with the OS way over on the right side which is where one would only deliberately put it to get the slowest possible reads from the disk head which parks on the left side. This is why OS's are normally installed on the left side, not a bunch of data partitions which don't benefit at all. The 200mb System Reserved partition has also been abandoned somehow with the System now booting from C.

What I would do is start over, back up data externally, wipe the HD or delete all partitions during booted install then follow these same steps for a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 . As long as you stick with the tools and methods in the tutorial you will get and keep a perfect install, better than 95% of all others out there.

Dear gregrocker

Thank you very much for the feedback. Please accept my apologies for failing to read the Post a Screen Capture Image tutorial - in my arrogance I believed I knew how to do this! I have now att. a full screen grab which I believe shows the 200mb System Reserved partition on the left and C partition, as you write, on the right. The reason for this arrangement is, as far as I understand it, down to the guy who sold me the PC having installed an Apple OS on what is now the E partition. When I discovered that this installation contravened Apple's OS license I re-formatted the partition with it on.

Many thanks for the link to the excellent re-install tutorial. I'm afraid that that only causes me a new worry now: that this PC does not have a COA sticker. Does this mean that the W7 install is also in contravention of a licensing agreement? Presumably without this sticker I also cannot follow the re-install tutorial - is that right? I really hope I don't wind up having bought an OS-free PC!

Re. my original question - does anyone know why there are conflicting reports on how this drive is partitioned?

All good things,

S