More than 4 primary partitions?

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  1. Posts : 13
    windows 7 home premium 64bit.
       #1

    More than 4 primary partitions?


    Hey, I am sorry if this is in the wrong category, But I didn't know where to place it.

    I was wondering if there is any way to have more than the default 4 primary partitions. It's not me having 4 partitions up running, but it is my HP computer. What I have on my partitions:

    C: My main drive.
    HP_TOOLS: Eh.. I don't know
    RECOVERY (D) : My recovery partition. I am not allowed to access it or delete it.
    SYSTEM: I think that this is the partition windows stores the files needed to launch.

    So, All my 4 primary partitions are used up by my PC.

    What I need another primary partition for? Well, I want to have windows 8 AND windows 7 running on the same machine. I will buy Windows 8 if I like it. And/or have Linux running on it.

    Please help me, If it even is possible. If it isn't possible, It will be time for me to buy a new PC with Win8 pre-installed, and use this PC as testing PC.

    Windows 7
    HP DV6
    500 GB harddrive
    4 GB RAM
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 16,131
    7 X64
       #2

    Please post a screenshot of disk management window, like this:

    More than 4 primary partitions?-dm.jpg
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 13
    windows 7 home premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I just turned my PC off. I will send you a screen shot tomorow. Only one thing. I'm from Norway, and my PC language is Norwegian too, so you won't be able to understand that much.

    I can tell you that it looks mostly the same as your screenshot, but only with the 4 partitions showed in the main post.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 13
    windows 7 home premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #4

    When I tried to make a new partition (yes, I freed memory from the main drive) it gave me a creepy warning at the end. It was something about "making partitions dynamic" and it said I would not be able to boot from them.

    If there isn't any other way to bypass the max 4 primary partitions, which of those 4 would you recommend deleting, if that would be a good option.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 13
    windows 7 home premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #5

    It looked exactly like this screenshot by tyme. He has the same problem with 4 primary partitions pre-installed. too many primary partitions

    Edit: Sorry for the "spam" by me above. I should have posted them in one reply
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #6

    Just do what SIW2 in post #2 has requested.
    Surly it doesn't take that long to boot your computer to complete this task.

    Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums
      My Computer


  7. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #7

    You have 2 options:

    1. make the C partition a logical partition. You can do that with the bootable CD of Partition Wizard. Download the .iso from the last box on the website, burn it to CD and boot with that CD.

    2. Move the bootmgr from the system partition to C and then delete the system partition. Here is how: Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD

    In both cases you end up with only 3 primary partitions and can then create an extended partition under which you can define many logical partitions (up to 120).

    But creating more than 4 primary partitions (or 4 primary partitions plus an extended partition) is not possible in the NTFS file system. For that you have to go to EFI.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 13
    windows 7 home premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Both options sound dangerous, but I want to go for option 2. But before I do that, I want to know if it is safe. I don't want to follow those steps and end up losing everyting, and that I can't boot anymore. So please tell me more about option 2, and if you have time, make a step by step/video on how to do that. Another question I have is if the SYSTEM partition only has the bootmgr on it, and nothing else. And how do we check, because I can't access the SYSTEM partition. Thanks
      My Computer


  9. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       #9

    Neither of these options is dangerous if you follow the instructions. Actually option 1 is the least dangerous because you can always undo it. But there is no problem. Since you have the system partition which is active, the C partition need not be a primary.

    But in order to double check all that, we are still waiting for a picture of your Disk Management.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,711
    Win 7 Pro 64-bit 7601
       #10

    koec12 said:
    But before I do that, I want to know if it is safe. I don't want to follow those steps and end up losing everyting, and that I can't boot anymore.
    Before doing something like that (and especially if you intend to experiment with multibooting), it's always best to have a Windows 7 installation DVD or thumbdrive handy. This tutorial explains how to make your own, and provides official Windows 7 download links. Just remeber that your activation code (in the sticker) works only for Home Premium installations.
    Once you have that burned to DVD or on a thumbdrive, you simply boot from that and fix the issue with the startup repair option, as explained in this tutorial.

    For the sake of history, the older way to do that before EasyBCD was simply deleting the tiny system partition (this tutorial) and then do a startup repair as described in the tutorial above.

    Another question I have is if the SYSTEM partition only has the bootmgr on it, and nothing else.
    According to MS, it has boot code and some files needed for Bitlocker drive encryption. Since your version of Windows does not have Bitlocker (it is a feature reserved for the Ultimate and Enterprise versions), you aren't losing anything.
      My Computer


 
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