Cannot install Windows in this partition

Hi folks

We're trying to create a dual boot environment on a Lenovo laptop with XP intstalled already.

To do this we have cloned the original 80GB disk using Macrium Reflect to a 500GB drive. This was successful - the cloned drive booted with no problems. We then made the unused area of the disc an active partition and formatted it (now drive F) as NTFS.

So following the tutorials here and elsewhere, installing Windows 7 (retail version) to this partition should have been straighforward. Installing as a "Custom Install" we told it to install on drive F, when it immediately told us it couldn't because it needed to be installed on an NTFS parttions (which it was).

Any suggestions where to go from here?

Regards

John

It didn't I'm afraid - it did not cover my problem at all. I am basically asking why I cannot install to a partition that is NTFS formatted (the error message saying that it's not an NTFS formatted partition). All the articles and tutorials I've looked up imply that I have followed the instructions implicitly - so why am I getting this error?

Windows XP is NTFS - that's what we used to format the new partition as NTFS.

I think I know what we did. We formatted the partition first, rather than leave it unallocated. Am I right in thinking that we should install 7 in an unallocated space?

John

This was successful - the cloned drive booted with no problems. We then made the unused area of the disc an active partition and formatted it (now drive F) as NTFS.

WHY?

The Win XP boot partition is the ACTIVE partition.

OK so if I install 7 in the unallocated space, it will install correctly (and be dual bootable)?