System Reserve Partition

Good work Dusty. Now I would delete D and extend C into its space using Disk Mgmt

Next, Please again tap F8 at reboot to access boot manager.

Choose Win7 HD to boot then immediately begin tapping F8 again to access Advanced Boot Options menu.

Is Repair My Computer on this menu?

gregrocker said:

Good work Dusty. Now I would delete D and extend C into its space using Disk Mgmt

When I do this, what should I expect to happen to those applications that I have installed on the D: Partition? This will isolate the OS (my original intention) but it now resides on a 140GB HDD all by itself.

Where do you now recommend that I put the applications that currently reside on D:?

Next, Please again tap F8 at reboot to access boot manager.

Choose Win7 HD to boot then immediately begin tapping F8 again to access Advanced Boot Options menu.

Is Repair My Computer on this menu?

Yes, the above F8 exercise worked as described and I ended up in the "Advanced Boot Options" menu and "Repair My Computer" is the first option listed.

My responses are highlighted above.

Where might I go to learn more about all the other options in the "Advanced Boot Options" menu. Some sound self explanatory but others not so much so?

Advanced Boot Options

I would uninstall programs which were installed to the separate partition other than OS which no one would have advised you to do here. Programs write reg keys which integrate themselves into the OS so need to be on the same partition for imaging and other reasons.

Does the Repair My Computer console on Advanced Boot Tools menu work. See if it discovers your installation when you boot into it.

gregrocker said:

Advanced Boot Options

I would uninstall programs which were installed to the separate partition other than OS which no one would have advised you to do here. Programs write reg keys which integrate themselves into the OS so need to be on the same partition for imaging and other reasons.

Are you telling me that some applications might not work properly if installed into a location other than that of the OS?

Does the Repair My Computer console on Advanced Boot Tools menu work. See if it discovers your installation when you boot into it.

Yes, it works. It boots into W7 and takes me to the Repair Console after asking for my "password".

My responses are highlighted above.

I agree, get rid of that D: partition and turn E: into a primary partition.

Get it to look like this.

OKAY. I am following the lead.

Now I have a different problem. It might warrant a new thread but I am going to continue this one.

After achieving the reconfiguration show in the last snip above, I shut down and installed a HDD that I acquired. It is identical to the other two that have been in my computer.

After getting it installed (incorrectly I later discover), the system would not boot. After some frustration and cussing under my breathe at persons not to be blamd (or to be named), I gathered myself together and came to realize that 1) the recently introduced HD had an operating system on it (maybe not the cause of my problem) and 2) I installed it into SATA1. I have had the HDs in SATA2 and SATA3 which is where they were before back in the very beginning.

Right now, all I have connected is the primary drive in SATA2. My Data drive is disconnected as is the new drive.

My question is where must I install the three drives without creating more problems.

Is it necessary to have the drive with the OS (C:) installed in a lower numbered SATA position than the others?

Do they need to be sequential?

Does it matter where I install the new drive. I have openings (with cables) in SATA 1 and 2 and SATA 5 and 6.

This is going to become another one of those days. I now can not connect the HD that had been my DATA D: drive into the system. If I do, the systems comes up into Windows to the MS flags and hangs there.

Without doing anything else other than disconnect the SATA cable to the drive and reboot - all is well.

The new drive that was just introduced into the system (using the same SATA cable) works.

I find it hard to believe that I could stomp on a HD that way. This particular HD was loaded with files I really do not want to lose. I have backups but they are on other drives and flash sticks.