Dual boot problems

[colt1911]

I currently have Vista Home 64 bit installed on a 500gb hard drive and would like to test out Windows 7 . I've tried the partition shrink in Vista and keep getting an Error saying Logical Disk Manager access denied. I 've tried this after defraging the drive and in safe mode and nothing works. Does anyone have some suggestions?

 

[Brink]

Hello Colt, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Could you post a screenshot of your Disk Management window? This may help us determine what may be the issue better.

 

[colt1911]

Thanks Brink for replying here's the screenshot

hope it works.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello colt1911, welcome to Se7en Forums!

Have a look at this, for adding it to your Vista; maybe this will resolve the issue.

Context Menu - Take Ownership - Vista Forums

Keep us informed!












Later :shock: Ted

 

[colt1911]

Don't think this will work . Under the manual instructions it says not to try this with the hard drive that vista is installed on, or maybe I'm not understanding correctly.

A) Right click on the file, folder, or drive and click on Properties.
EX. File: winload.exe.mui
WARNING: Do not do this to the hard drive partition that Vista is installed on. It can mess up the boot files.

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

Have you partitioned successfully before?

Try right clicking the Vista drive and check under Security tab - make sure the account you are in has Full Control.



SIW2

 

[colt1911]

Not with Vista but I have on XP using Partition magic 8.0 and I do have full control and access.

 

[Brink]

Colt,

If you do not want anything that is on the D: Drive, then you can use the Drive option (advanced) option during the installation of Windows 7 from boot to delete and format the D: drive partition before continuing to install Windows 7.

You could also use it to Extend the C: drive by how many MB you want for a new partition for Windows 7.

See step 8 here to help get a better idea of this.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-beta.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

That may be the problem - partition magic uses the old partitioning system.

Vista and Win 7 begin and end their partitions with different positions from the old way of doing it.

Could well be causing that odd error.

If you use a partition manager ( you may need to use it's bootable disc ) that is compatible with the new partitioning rules, you may find that fixes it.

Simply shrink the Vista partition a small amount, and hopefully the partition "markers" will be recognised.

Do you have one of those ?

SIW2

 

[colt1911]

I have Partition Magic 8 but it does not work with Vista . If I move my files from my D : drive and format it then install Windows 7 will I need a boot loader to choose which OS to use or can it be done from when I start up the pc where it would give me the option to choose Windows 7 or an earlier version of Windows.

 

[Brink]

Colt,

As long as the C: drive with Vista is plugged in, it will automatically add Windows 7 to the OS boot list when you install Windows 7.

 

[Guy with a Colt]

you could also try to shrink c:\ in windows 7 installer using the advanced option to shrink c:\ or d:\
you create a partition and account for 200mb taken for setup files.
Partition sizes is up to you, I used on my 1TB 250mb thats 256000 in the setup or 300gb thats 307200 in the setup
basically 1024 * 250 or 1024 * 300 (1024 being 1gb)

I'm currently tri booting xp, vista ultimate and win 7.
Best of luck m8

 

[limneos]

If you're having trouble gaining access to the partition, you could try downloading Gparted for free and burning a bootable CD that will probably let you handle the partition with no problems.

 

[colt1911]

Colt,

As long as the C: drive with Vista is plugged in, it will automatically add Windows 7 to the OS boot list when you install Windows 7.

Thanks Brink , sorry it took so long to get back with you my work schedule has been crazy. From my understanding then all I need to do is reformat my D drive and install Windows 7 on it and leave C drive alone. I will be able to boot to either OS on start up from the boot selection. If this is correct then I 'll precede with my install and I appreciate all of the help that I've received.

 

[Brink]

No problem Colt,

Yes, that is correct. After installing Windows 7, it will be the default OS to start if you do not select one at boot.