Creating a new partition on my new laptop

[Alleyoop]

I've just purchased a new laptop, a HP-DV6. It has a 640 gb HDD, the C partition is 582 gb. I like to have my data on a separate partition to the OS and programs so that I can more easily image and restore the active partition and deal with my data backups independently from the C drive images.
I presume that means shrinking the C drive. Can anyone help me with the maths, and the steps toward a new partition?
In the shrink window it says:
Total size before shrink in mb: 595995
Size of available shrink space in mb: 290572
Enter the amount of space to shrink: 290572
Total size after shrink: 305423

Why am I limited to 290572? I was figuring on a C partition of about 120gb, giving me about 462 gb for data, which is the amount I want. :huh:

Is there another way to achieve what I want?

Thanks.

 

[solarmystic]

There may be data spread all throughout the drive, i.e. non-contiguously so the maximum size of available shrink space depends of that...

To get better results you could try to defragment your drive a couple of times prior to the shrink..

Hope that helps!

 

[DavidL]

I have a brand new Toshiba Ultrabook with 128GB SSD and want to create a D: drive for my data. It already has 4 volumes ("Active, Recovery Partition", "Hibernation Partition", "Primary Partition" and "Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition" - all Simple Basic). I have shrunk the last partition and now have 30GB unallocated. But, if I try to create a new volume (D I get a message that says I am about to convert my basic drive(s) to a dynamic drive(s), with consequences. Others have said this should not be done. So, how can I create a new D: drive?? Or, can't I make the change?

 

[Alleyoop]

There may be data spread all throughout the drive, i.e. non-contiguously so the maximum size of available shrink space depends of that...

To get better results you could try to defragment your drive a couple of times prior to the shrink..

Hope that helps!

Thanks, I thought that may be the case. Gave it a try but it didn't help. Guess I'll just have to have some of my data files on the C drive.

 

[solarmystic]

I'm sorry that didn't work out Alleyoop,

If you're willing to try out some other Disk management software for shrinking your partitions, give Acronis Disk Director (Hard disk drive management software, partitioning manager and partition recovery utility) a shot, i've had better results using it than the default Disk Management software that comes with windows.... It's not free though (only comes with free trial), but i've had great success using it for other purposes so it's worth the purchase cost for me...

 

[F5ing]

As you've found, the Disk Mangement tool is somewhat limited when it comes to doing this sort of partition manipulation. This tool can come in handy, providing more flexibility in managing partitions: Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD (by Bare Foot Kid)

And the version that runs under Windows 7: http://www.partitionwizard.com/free-...n-manager.html

 

[F5ing]

For DavidL: don't do the conversion from a basic disk. You can only have 4 primary partitions, or 3 primaries and 1 extended. Within the extended you can create numerous logical partitions.

One of your primaries needs to be converted to extended first. It would be best if you gave us a screenshot of Disk Management, window maximized and columns/panes adjusted to reveal max info.

Better yet would be to start your own thread for your issue.

 

[gregrocker]

With HP's what works best to keep Factory Recovery and bootable Tools Diagnostic partitions operable is to convert C to Logical, then Resize it to desired size to create a new Logical data partition in the shrink space. Use Partition Wizard CD linked above.
How to set partition as Primary or Logical.
Partition Wizard Move/Resize Partition Video Help.

With HP's you also get the worst load of preinstalled crapware in the industry. At a minimum I would Clean Up Factory Bloatware although most tech enthusiasts Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

 

[Alleyoop]

With HP's you also get the worst load of preinstalled crapware in the industry. At a minimum I would Clean Up Factory Bloatware although most tech enthusiasts Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

Thanks, a clean reinstall appeals to me. That way I can set it up how I want it. Now is the time, as I haven't begun to load my programs yet. I've taken an image of how it is now just in case.

 

[F5ing]

Way to go! With nothing loaded on it your timing is perfect for going clean. In addition to an image, make your recovery disks. Keep in touch.

 

[Alleyoop]

I use Macrium Reflect as my back up program and I have a boot disc for that, should be sufficient.

 

[Alleyoop]

OK, I've clean installed and have the partitions created to my satisfaction.
Obviously I'm missing a lot of drivers. The screen resolution looks terrible and I can't coonnect to the internet, can't find a network, so I'm on to the HP website busily downloading drivers for the model, audio, chipset, network etc.
I presume this is the correct action?

 

[solarmystic]

Hi Alleyoop,

Yes indeed, the best drivers are the ones supplied by your manufacturer, except for the network adapters, and graphics card, which should be direct from the card manufacturers themselves, not HP, unless you have dual graphics solution like Intel's HD 3000/4000 combined with a AMD/NVIDIA dedicated graphics card

This is because HP's (or any other OEM) provided drivers for the graphics solution are often outdated compared to the ones released by the card makers

 

[F5ing]

Have you used Windows Update yet to download updates/drivers? Did you not follow the tutorial Greg posted?

 

[Alleyoop]

Yeh, I followed the tutorial, it was really helpful. I hit a hurdle when I couln't access the internet, so I was trying to download drivers from another computer.
Eventually I accessed an ethernet connection and everything looks good now and I'm accessing the net Wi Fi.
I'll look into manufacturers drivers for graphics card and network.
Thank you all so much for the help, it was the long way around, (reinstalling the OS), but I think all for the best in the end.
This forum is fantastic!

 

[F5ing]

Great! Glad the forum was able to provide the needed help. Post back again when you're really 100% complete to let us know. You can mark the thread solved when you believe you're ready to call it.

 

[gregrocker]

It says clearly in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 to put your network driver on a stick or CD so you can get online quickly to get newer drivers via optional Windows Updates. Apparently you didnt' follow the tutorial if you weren't prepared to get online and now think you have to import manufacturer's drivers into an OS which is driver-complete with few exceptions.

 

[Alleyoop]

Yes, I'm sorry, got distracted with other things toward the end of the install and didn't do that. Reread it later.

 

[SIW2]

@GREG,

It is possible to get a crap free reinstall with new version of HP recovery.

It is one of the options.

It is called something like minimum restore .

 

[gregrocker]

Yes, it is in the Special Notes to HP owners at the end of the tutorial Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7:

   Information

Special notes to HP owners:
HP Recovery will now do a Minimized OS Recovery when booting from F11, which retains only the OS, Recovery Manager, HP Support Asst, and HP Wireless LAN. This is as close to a clean reinstall as you can get without using a retail DVD with COA key.
● If you clean reinstall only to C and leave all other partitions intact, F11 Recovery key should still work later if you need it.
● You can also Extract HP 3rd Party Software from RecovCD.

​