Cant Format E Drive Old copy of windows seems stuck on it

[TVeblen]

I have got to leave for the day in a few minutes.
You will need to run Startup Repair on the SSD (as the only connected drive) to get that to start normally. You should remove the Active flags on the other drives before that:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/197157-partition-mark-inactive.html

I hope that rvcjew can guide you through the rest of the cleanup so you don't have to wait till I get back.

More info:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105541-startup-repair-run-3-separate-times.html

 

[Pitbull69]

Thanks, I tried to get the computer to boot startup repair, from the windows 7 disk I have, I tried to boot and then used F8 for more options, but couldnt find start up repair. Thanks very much for your help, been most helpful.

 

[rvcjew]

Thanks, I tried to get the computer to boot startup repair, from the windows 7 disk I have, I tried to boot and then used F8 for more options, but couldnt find start up repair. Thanks very much for your help, been most helpful.

you need to have it load the disk then click repair my computer and its will bring up this window and you want to pick startup repair and like TVeblen said you will probably have to do it three times. Or you can try to use easy bcd instead. First thing lets move your page file to the ssd so its not an issue. go to how you got to the time delay options for the os time frame at boot and instead of clicking settings for startup and recovery choose settings for performance and virtual memory then go to the advanced tab and click on change and then click on C and choose system manged and then click set then reboot (but wait about 5 minutes as it will move the page file first).


EDIT: do you have a means to report back to this thread when your doing the next step(bcd repair) so if something goes wrong you can still ask us questions?

 

[Pitbull69]

I can try and get on via the wifes laptop/netbook should there be an issue, thanks for the help, I will try and move the page file now

 

[Pitbull69]

do I load the disk while PC is actually on ? rather than boot from CD ? as when I booted from CD I didnt get any repair options..

I have done the above moving the page file, how can I check to make sure its done what its supposed to ?

 

[rvcjew]

do I load the disk while PC is actually on ? rather than boot from CD ? as when I booted from CD I didnt get any repair options..

I have done the above moving the page file, how can I check to make sure its done what its supposed to ?

If you go to the area again it will show it is set at c and if system manged will be same size as your RAM amount. As for the repair disk it does not show up as follows? Make sure ONLY the install dvd and ssd are attached to the system.

Taken from: A guide to recovering from Windows 7 Home Premium User Account lost - Microsoft Community

Insert the Windows installation disk, restart the system. As soon as the PC maker’s logo appears, set the system to boot from the DVD / USB drive as appropriate by pressing repeatedly on the Boot options key or the BIOS key identified onscreen at this point [or identified in the PC manual].

7.2 After several minutes [that can include periods with a blank screen & no apparent activity], wait during the “Starting Windows” screen then, at the first Install Windows dialog, select the language the time-currency format & the keyboard. Then click Next.

7.3 At the next Install Windows dialog, select Repair your computer, wait while it searches for windows installations.

7.4 At the first System Recovery Options dialog, accept Windows 7 as the OS to repair & note the location of the Windows installation [for example, C: on the drive named OS], click Next.

7.5 At the System Recovery Options menu select Command prompt.

 

[Pitbull69]

thats what it looks likes now, wont let me set system managed size, says drives to small or lack of space,

will try the recovery in a minute, once I know above is ok

EDIT: Removed some stuff from C, and now set it like you said, Do I set F to have no paging file ?

 

[rvcjew]

View attachment 356837

thats what it looks likes now, wont let me set system managed size, says drives to small or lack of space,

will try the recovery in a minute, once I know above is ok

If it's 800 your fine as it can dump bsod info with that much and I only made mine 800 like you saw because of that or I would not even have one. above 8GB of ram it seems pointless unless you have certain virtual ram issues. So try your startup repair next and the guide that TVeblen posted is very good for that.

OH and set none for the F drive.

 

[Pitbull69]

Tha ks very much, will try the repair now and report back here if I do it and what the outcome is, do I do the repair with just the C Drive plugged in ?

 

[rvcjew]

correct the ssd.

 

[Pitbull69]

Rebooted after removing Page File from F and got this error message ? should I continue with the repair ?

 

[rvcjew]

View attachment 356840

Rebooted after removing Page File from F and got this error message ? should I continue with the repair ?

Yeah that's fine, when were are all done you can put a system manged one back on a drive with space. You should probably try to free up your ssd a little for free space if you can. Just worry about the startup repair first.

 

[Pitbull69]

Thanks mate, on to repair I go now

 

[Pitbull69]

finally got repair to start, had to plug the other HD back in or it would hang and not load from CD..

Problem is, when in repair it shows my operating system, but says its on my D Drive, nothing showing for my C Drive, do I repair the D or is there something else I should be doing ?

 

[Pitbull69]

Much Much Much respect guys, Z Drive now formatted, C drive now set as it should be,

Only thing I can see as a possibly issue atm is my virtual memory. Im guessing I need to clear my C drive to make this better ?



Only having a 60 GB SSD trying to remove anything is near on impossible, so think im going to need to Buy a bigger C Drive at some point, Will it hinder me much atm ?

 

[TVeblen]

In Virtual Memory, select Custom Size, and make the initial 1024MB and the maximum 2048MB. That is plenty for a small drive.

Windows likes some overhead for various functions and you get best performance when the C: partition is no more than about 75% full. There is no problem with less free space, but your performance may drop off the more full it gets.

 

[DavidE]

Much Much Much respect guys, Z Drive now formatted, C drive now set as it should be,

Only thing I can see as a possibly issue atm is my virtual memory. Im guessing I need to clear my C drive to make this better ?

View attachment 356883

Only having a 60 GB SSD trying to remove anything is near on impossible, so think im going to need to Buy a bigger C Drive at some point, Will it hinder me much atm ?

Make sure the drive doesn't completely fill up or you could end up with a system that won't boot. WizTree is the best utility I've found for checking where space is used. They have a Portable Zip available, so you can unzip and run it, without installing it. [url=http://antibody-software.com/web/software/software/wiztree-finds-the-files-and-folders-using-the-most-disk-space-on-your-hard-drive/]Antibody Software - WizTree finds the files and folders using the most disk space on your hard drive[/url] There are utilities and options to help free up space if you're interested, such as CCleaner TFC - Temp File Cleaner turn off Hibernate

 

[Pitbull69]

Wont let me multi quote for some reason, Thanks TVeblen, set it as you have suggested, just doing that has given me more space on C Drive, now have 17 GB spare of 55 GB

Will have a look at Wiztree DavidE, I already have CCleaner I just looked at a guide for turning hibernation off, and found a Microsoft fixit, I now have 29.1 GB free on C.. great help DavidE

Im guessing I dont need the hibernation, cant beleive in all my years using PC's I have never heard of this before.

This forum is a fountain of great information and help, cant thank you all enough

 

[rvcjew]

Wont let me multi quote for some reason, Thanks TVeblen, set it as you have suggested, just doing that has given me more space on C Drive, now have 17 GB spare of 55 GB

Will have a look at Wiztree DavidE, I already have CCleaner I just looked at a guide for turning hibernation off, and found a Microsoft fixit, I now have 29.1 GB free on C.. great help DavidE

Im guessing I dont need the hibernation, cant beleive in all my years using PC's I have never heard of this before.

This forum is a fountain of great information and help, cant thank you all enough

Yeah Hibernation file takes a lot of space.

 

[TVeblen]

One other thing you can do to save space is to limit your Volume Shadow Copies (System Restore Points) size.

Start > Computer > System Properties > System Protection > select Drive C: > Configure > And move the slider until you have 5% or 5GB, whichever is less. You could go as small as 2GB without issue if you wanted, but don't allow more than 5GB on a small drive.