Want to move Boot partition to the beginning of the drive

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  1. Posts : 9
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
       #1

    Want to move Boot partition to the beginning of the drive


    I had a disaster with my Laptop and to cut a long story short, I installed windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.
    There was a recovery partition (D drive) which I forgot about. This was at the beginning of the drive. I have deleted this partition and I now have the following:

    219.96 GB 78.13 GB 297.69 GB 398 MB
    Unallocated Free space Boot (NTFS) Unallocated

    This is as viewed from Disk Management. The 219.96 GB unallocated was the old D partition. I am assuming
    that this space is at the beginning of the drive. I would like to move the Boot partition to the beginning of the drive. Cannot see how to do that.

    Any help would be appreciated.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 13,576
    Windows 10 Pro x64
       #2

    Post a shot of Disk Management.

    I would just reinstall Windows

    219 GB is way too big for a Recovery partition.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       #3
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 9
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    AddRAM said:
    Post a shot of Disk Management.

    I would just reinstall Windows

    219 GB is way too big for a Recovery partition.
    Thanks for your reply.

    I will see if I can work out with what is installed so far, how to create a screenshot.

    I have spent the last 3 days installing Windows and gathering the various drivers via my Desktop, copying them to a Flash Drive and then transferring them to this Laptop. Did not get the correct Drivers first time.

    So why would I have to jump through hoops

    This Laptop has a 640 GB Hard Disk Drive and was purchased new a number of years ago. The drive was partitioned by the manufacturer into two equal partitions. In the first partition (C) was a cut down version of Windows 7. In the other partition (D) was the recovery software which would put the C: partition back to what it was when purchased. There was an option to a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium which I opted for.

    There was no CD/DVD sold with this Laptop.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 9
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Screenshot


    Theog, thanks for your reply.

    OK, here is a screenshot of Disk Management for you and AddRAM to peruse. Please note that since my first post I have created a partition where D was and formatted it. So, we have a D partition as before but now it is empty.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Want to move Boot partition to the beginning of the drive-disk-management.jpg  
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #6

    Why 398MB unallocated? Is something shown to the left side? (next time show a largeer screenshot with more informstion).
    What's on the 219GB partition? No signs seen yet of any recovery partition.
      My Computer

  7.    #7

    You should have deleted all partitions during the booted install, after backing up your data. You installed over the Data partition so you wiped out your data anyway if it wasn't backed up.

    So I would start over and this time do it correctly following Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

    Pay close attention to how drivers are handled in Win7 as they are not handled like you are doing now. This is not XP. This is a driver-complete OS. The instructions about drivers are printed in red so you cannot miss them.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #8

    gregrocker said:
    You should have deleted all partitions during the booted install, after backing up your data. You installed over the Data partition so you wiped out your data anyway if it wasn't backed up.

    So I would start over and this time do it correctly following Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

    Pay close attention to how drivers are handled in Win7 as they are not handled like you are doing now. This is not XP. This is a driver-complete OS. The instructions about drivers are printed in red so you cannot miss them.
    Disk C is boot/system so active. D isn't touched at all in the install process. Please explain what you mean Greg.
      My Computer

  9.    #9

    I meant that the partition labeled Data was formerly D and was carelessly installed upon and now therefore C. Apparently OP didn't even look at which partition was selected to install upon which should be the farthest left partition unless there is a small boot partition created first. It's also always best to delete all partitions to get the cleanest install.

    If he's really attached to the install he did then he can boot free Partition Wizard boot CD to delete the first partition, then rightclick on new C to Resize, drag the left border all the way to the left, then drag the right border to where he wants it to save space for a storage partition, create and format it using same disk.
    Partition Wizard Move/Resize Partition Video Help.
    Partition Wizard Create Partition - Video Help
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 9
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing

    I did not overwrite the Recovery partition. When I installed a fresh copy of Windows, I could see the Recovery partition and the files in it. That said, it was a waste of space (literally) as it would have taken me back to the state as if I had just purchased the Laptop. That is if I could get to it. The disaster I had preventing me booting the system or doing anything else.

    What I should have done is to have reformatted the drive, created a partition and then reinstalled windows.

    Having spent days to get a working system without CD/DVD with a complete set of drivers, I do not want to start again. I am completely up to date with all the Windows Updates.

    I think the point of the question has been missed. Can I safely move the current C partition to the beginning of the drive?

    I have a bigger screenshot of the Disk Management screen but it is not going to give you any further useful information.

    Thanks for your response.
      My Computer


 
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