Screen blanks as Win7 starts up after POST then displays normally

Hi loninappleton,

loninappleton said:

Also I never learned the MBR commands in Win7 after having XP actually being able to rewrite Windows. Can these tools you mention help with any of that?

I must admit that I have never had reason to do this, but maybe someone else might be able to help you!

loninappleton said:

Then if I want to build a partition for the Win7 and a data partition, is there a good tutorial for that on size of partition for Win7 and so on? My worry is that with partitions I will never keep anything straight with drive letters and whatnot.

You obviously build the Windows partition on the installation.
If you want to create a new partition to use for your data/user folders you could use AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Then you could use one of the following tutorials:

User Profile - Change Default Location

How to Change the Default Location of User Folders in Windows 7
User Folders - Change Default Location

If you wanted to create a data partition during the installation and transfer the User Accounts then this tutorial will help:

How to Create User Accounts on another Partition or Disk During Windows 7 Installation

I hope this helps!

Yes, the Class Action Suit is regarding certain 3TB Seagate drives, however, as I stated, I've read a more than one tech forum that Seagate is being generous with warranties on all drives, and free data recovery on some.
You can run SeaTools for Windows, run SMART and Short, if they pass, you're good to go. There is a repair option for Seagate drives specifically.
Windows creates unmovable files, usually at the end of C drive, pagfile.sys, etc. If you use just any old partition manager, and resize the partition, you can trash your windows.
Here's a tutorial on AOMEI Partition Assistant. I use a different partition assistant to resize my laptop drive for dual boot, but, at the moment, I'm at a loss as to which one. Irregardless, the info in the link provides you info on it.

Shrink Volume with Unmovable Files at the End of the Volume

The Class Action Suit is for specific 3TB Seagate Drives. I've read on other Tech forums that Seagate is being generous with all drive issues in light of the law suit. I resized my C drive on one of my laptops for dual boot, Win and Linux. I used PerfectDisk trial & it worked flawlessly to resize partition. Installed it via Revo Uninstaller Install Program. When I was done I uninstalled it with advances mode checked which deletes everything installed, trial cookies included. (I tried partition wizard first and it trashed my drive because it didn't warn me that there were unmovable files at the end of the drive, it just resized it and trashed windows
AOMEI Partition Assistant tutorial on unmovable pagefile.sys, etc.

Here's a program by Seagate to check and repair their drives.
SeaTools for Windows | Seagate
It will also check other manufacturer's drives, but won't repair, don't use repair on non-seagate drives. start seatools, it will scan for drive, accept eula, click on check-box for drive you wish to scan. Basic test, run SMART, then Short, it the drive passes your good to go. If not, and it's a Seagate drive

Most drive manufactures have their own drive health scanning software. A little Googling will get you to their site.
Here's a tutorial on seatools, read it BEFORE you run the program on any of your drives.

How to use SeaTools for Windows


What is S.M.A.R.T.?
How Hard Disk S.M.A.R.T. Works? - Hard Disk Sentinel

No partitioning or formatting on the problem one. Can I ask at this time: Should I lay down
what Windows calls a Simple Volume before using Victoria?


No idea, never used Victoria. Have Dr. appt shortly. I'll check out Victoria when I return.