Solved Fresh Win7 install now cannot access partition on C drive

[danter]

Fresh Win7 install - boot on wrong partition and can't access

I upgraded from XP to Win 7 64 bit. I did what I thought was a clean install with the C drive reformatted. But alas no. The C drive was originally partitioned into 2 (C & E) with one holding the operating system and the other for general use. Now I find that the original partitions are still there. Win7 has installed onto the C partition and operates normally (however, when I boot up, I get the option for Win7 or original system - haven't clicked the other option for fear of screwing things up).

Big issue is the C (logical) drive is now full causing all sorts of dramas. The other partition E (Primary) is about 120 GB and I cannot expand the C partition into it. I tried simply deleting E with MiniTool Partition Wizard, but it screwed up the PC (from which it automatically recovered itself). In MiniTool, the C drive is listed as 'System' and the E drive as 'Active & Boot' which I assume is the issue.

So, how can I delete the E drive partition and expand the C drive? Thought simply deleting all in the E partition would allow me to expand C, but obviously as it is 'Boot', no can do. Can C become the 'Boot' too easily?
Also, in Explorer, E is unseen.

Any advice would be appreciated. Hopefully there is a solution that doesn't require a complete reinstall.

NB: After a bit more reading her, worked out it is the Boot drive being installed on the E partition and not the C. Can this be moved - or installed onto C and point the start-up to C? Then, how does the E become visible and accessible?

 

[theog]

Try cleaning the HD Drive & reinstalling.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html?ltr=C

 

[danter]

Was kinda hoping to avoid a complete reinstall.

Is it possible to install the boot files onto the C drive and then point window to boot from the C drive? I could then hopefully be able to delete the E partition (as it would no longer be required to boot) and extend C partition to the capacity of the drive.

I have read a few threads now that suggest that the System Recovery Options may be able to do this?

 

[TJG]

Hello danter
you need to boot from a repair disc or installation disc and get to a cmd prompt. Then check the drive letter of partitions as they sometimes are different when you boot from disc. Best to only have the one HDD connected. You can do this with notepad. Then run DiskPart.exe and select the partition that your windows are installed on and make that partition active.
Then select the other partition and type assign <enter> that will make a mounting point for that partition. Last step, exit diskpart then change to drive letter of partiton that windows is on and goto and run:
?:\windows\system32\bcdboot.exe ?:\windows
replace the ? mark with correct drive letter. This will install boot files to the active partition. It's easy.
TJG

 

[Zomby88]

When your installing windows is when you would delete all the partitions. When you come to the page that shows your partitions, delete everything down so it shows your entire hard drive and nothing else.

Why wouldn`t you want to do a complete clean install ? Only takes about 5 minutes. LOL !

But seriously that`s the way to go.

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk Mgmt drive map with listings showing all columns. Use Snipping Tool in Start Menu. Explain what is on each partition or label them first in Computer/Properties.

 

[danter]

The first hard drive contains C and General. C partition holds the operating system. General partition was for general use but now holds the boot files. Nothing on the General partition is required as it was all backed up prior to the Win7 install.
The Seagate drive is the only other internal hard drive for general use. The others (Elements and MyBook) are external drives and NABAFL the CD drive.

 

[TJG]

Looks like your C partition is a logical drive, boot files must be on a primary drive.
TJG

 

[danter]

So I assume that this means I cannot simply follow the instructions of your previous post? Surely the boot files can reside on the same drive? What about PCs with just one unpartitioned hard drive?

The real issue is - my C partition is out of disk space causing all sorts of bother. The General partition is about 122 GB of which its only use is for the boot files. I need to use this unused capacity to increase the C partition.

Just a thought - there is a very small unallocated partition of 20gb on the same drive. Can I make this a primary drive and put the boot files there, then delete the General Partition. Then create another small partition and move the boot files to that so I end up with a large unallocated space right next to the C partition - I then simply expand the C partition into this space?

 

[theog]

You can take look at this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93322-partition-wizard-use-bootable-cd.html
but made sure you backup your DATA.

 

[TJG]

The boot files must be on the same drive as windows. Must be an active primary ntfs partition of about 100mb. So you should be able do what your trying to do on the 20gb partition.
TJG

 

[danter]

The Partition Wizard bootable CD looks the go. Downloaded - only not too sure exactly what to burn.

Unzipped the download and it resulted in BOOT and [BOOT].
[BOOT] contains Bootable_noEmulation.
BOOT contains ISOLINUX, BZIMAGE and tinycore.zip which unzips to tinycore
ISOLINUX contains BOOT (security catalogue), ISOLINUX (VLC file), ISOLINUX.CFG, Splash (jpg file) and VESAMENU.C32

What exactly do I need to burn the image of?

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

[karlsnooks]

Danter,
You received excellent advice from Theog:

Try cleaning the HD Drive & reinstalling.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

Clean Install Windows 7

Please read those tutorials.

Also the partition tool of choice for the vast majority of those with much experience helping others is Partition Wizard.
Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD
How to Use the Bootable Partition Wizard CD to make Changes to the Partition Structure

 

[danter]

Thanks Karl but I was trying to avoid a complete reinstall. Post above apologies - I meant the Partion Wizard bootable CD (I have edited to fix the post). The third option here ... Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD would appear to do pretty much what I am after. That will be my first point of call. If not a reinstall may be the only option (where I will of course do it right this time with the help of the listed tutorials - thank you).

Fortunately, there is no data on the 'General' partition that is not backed up elsewhere, hence the eagerness to delete is and expand the C partition. If I can do the resize via the Bootable CD, that would be the preferred option.

 

[karlsnooks]

danter,
Personally, I'd opt for the clean install, but the call is yours.

In any case, make a backup of everything dear to your heart. There are too many things that can go wrong and you don't want to lose everything. There are those following this thread who can vouch for the necessity of making a backup.

Never forget Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.

 

[gregrocker]

To correct what you have, download, burn to CD and boot free Partition Wizard bootable CD ,

rightclick on C to Modify>Convert to Primary, OK. Apply.

Then rightclick on C to Modify>Set to Active, OK. Then highlight the HD, from Disk tab select Rebuild MBR, OK. Apply steps.

At reboot if Win7 doesnt start, boot into Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times to write the System boot files to C until it starts on its own.

 

[danter]

Well, being my typical impatient self, I had dramas with the Partition Wizard bootable CD, so I ploughed on ahead myself.
I cut the General partition in two, copied what was on it to a the new partition and named it K. Renamed the General to O. Then deleted the O partition and now I have a lot of unallocated space next to C which I can expand into!
BUT...
I thought the K partition would be identical to the O (original General) partition. But the Boot files are no longer there - only a file called Boot.BAK (1kb). I have to shut down to complete the expansion of the C drive. But I know once I do the PC wont boot up as the partition with the Boot files is gone.
My thoughts were to shut down and boot from the Win7 Installation CD - go into Repair your Computer - System Recovery Options - Start-Up Repair and hopefully it will recognise the issue and reload the Boot files. Am I being overly optimistic? Here is the set up now...

 

[gregrocker]

Why is it you could not follow simple steps given out here thousands of times to solve your situation? If you have any questions you should ask back before recklessly acting randomly without following a single step given.

The reason you have to convert C to Primary is to accept the boot files which were incorrectly placed on General. This is done by marking C Active which can only be done when it is converted to Primary, then use the Rebuild MBR function on the Disk tab of PW CD. Next if Win7 doesnt start, boot into Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate time with reboots until the Repair function writes the System boot files to the Active partition and Win7 starts on its own.

Now let's see if you can follow simple steps since you apparently didnt follow a single step given but just acted randomly without asking back a single question:

Rightclick from booted PW CD on C to Modify>Set to Primary, OK, Apply. Then rightlick again C to Modify>set to Active, OK. Next rightclick C again to Resize, drag left grey border to far left and right grey border as far to right as you want to expand C, OK. Apply steps.

Finally highlight the Win7 HD by clicking on it, from DIsk tab choose Rebuild MBR, OK, Apply,

If Win7 doesn't start boot into the Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD, accept any offered Repair. If Win7 doesnt start boot back in to run Startup Repair from Tools list up to 3 separate times with reboots until Win7 starts on it its own.

 

[danter]

Why? Because regardless of link or download, I have not been able to get a PW bootable CD - without which, I cannot follow the steps given as all rely upon said CD. The 'reckless abandon' is because I have nothing on that drive that is not backed up and recoverable - so the worst case scenario is a reinstall with nothing lost but time and effort.

I am/was simply trying to avoid a complete reinstall that is becoming more likely. Apologies if you feel I have wasted your time, but believe me when I say this was not the intention. I have spent a fair few hours trying to image burn the CD but either the downloads don't complete or there is no image file to burn. I will press on and try and produce the bootable CD, but if not will resign myself to a full reinstall (carefully following the tutorial links kindly provided above).

 

[Bill2]

Open an elevated command promt (cmd- run as admin), then type:

bcdboot c:\windows /s k:

Hit Enter. What this command does is to copy the boot environment over to the partition of choice. So after successfully running this command, k partition should be primary, active and system. In other word, the previous somewhat chaotic setup would be restored.