Partition issues....HELP!!!

[Davy7RC]

Hi all.....Having a problem after dual-boot install of Vista & 7RC. My HD is 250GB, of which 225GB is used on the Vista partition. When I shrank the volume to create space for the 7RC it only would give me 7.62GB;tried over and over to make a bigger space, that's all I could get. Now the partition for 7 is pretty much full; only have 296MB left...while the Vista part used 158GB out of the 225. I read that you could delete the pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys to make more space available...Should I??? What would happen to my PC if I did so??? Thank you for any help!!!

 

[nate42nd]

You might try a third party partition program like

Easeus is free and does a good job
Easeus Partition Manager - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com

Paragon is good too

They will move the files and create what you want.

32 bit or 64 bit of the OS is also an important tidbit to put in your system specs so we know how to help.

 

[Davy7RC]

Thanks for your quick reply....I have a 32-bit system/ I have Easeus and tried it but it always says there's an error. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. I also updated my PC specs; they should be listed. Thanks again!!

 

[SIW2]

The error is the free Easeus doesn't come with a boot disc.

You can't move system files with the windows GUI while you are booted into the o/s partition, neither can you move them on the System partition that way.

There is a bootable partition manager attached to this tutorial:

Dual Boot using free partitioning software - Vista Forums

If you post a screenshot of Disk Management we can advise how to proceed, like this:



Also , do you need to keep your existing 7 installation, or would you be happy to reinstall after reorganising the partritions.

You don't have to reinstall, you can keep both installations by repartitioning and shifting - it's just a couple more steps are needed.

 

[Snufffed]

I have tested Acronis DiskDirector Suite v.12 on several systems, Vista and XP, on IDE and SATA HD. It has always been able to adjust partitions as I needed... both ways, up or down...

 

[Davy7RC]

Whichever way is easiest, but it's no biggie if I have to reinstall;already did it twice already. Trying to get a screenshot of my disk management;how do I do that? I have a ScanDisk CruzerMicro 2GB USB Flash drive; noticed that in the disk management ,when it's plugged in it shows as a 1.88GB FAT healthy (Active primary partition). Can I use that to help me? I can show it to you, if you explain how to take a screenshot and post it on here....

 

[SIW2]

Take a jpeg screenshot of the Disk Management window - use whatever screen capture tool you have, or the Snipping Tool.

Click the Go Advanced button at the bottom of this page , then follow Step 8 onward of this tutorial:

How to use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums

Hope it helps

 

[Davy7RC]

Ok, I'm downloading Paragon Partition Manager Express as I type (takes about an hour and some min) and I figured out the Snipping Tool...here's the screenshot; any ideas on what I could do? I appreciate your help!!

 

[YupYup]

WOW! the windows 7 setup let you install on a partition that small, that should not happen.

 

[Davy7RC]

Well it did and i've had no problems with it....WEIRD!!! I got it from the Microsoft site directly and used ISO Burner and burned it to a DVD+RW/4x 4.7GB 2hr disc, then created the partition and installed it; no probs at all...maybe there's some sort of compression involved here I really don't know....what's your take???:sarc:

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

You may be able to use Express version from within 7 partition , but you would need to make it the System partition to do that.

Get the boot disc - it is attached to tutorial link:

Click the Blue link - near the top of the page

Dual Boot using free partitioning software - Vista Forums

 

[Night Hawk]

The problem to start with is not having enough drive space to meet the minimum MS recommends being about 16gb. As soon as you went to install everything you ran out of space too fast. You will need to backup things from the Vista primary first and use GParted live in order to see the C Vista primary reduced while booted live from that rather then using any in Windows program.

Once the Vista primary is shrunk and you try to expand the 7 primary be prepared in case the resize sees 7 crash and made unbootable. The best move would be to first shrink the primary once files are removed to free up more space and then see a new larger primary created for 7!

 

[Davy7RC]

So what kind of files can I get rid of, and how? I already eliminated the Recovery Partition for Vista cause I have the disks anyways. The way it looks to me the primary Vista partition already has a ton of space available (158GB used from 225GB)....or am I wrong??

 

[Snufffed]

As per you post Win7 needs mininum or 12GB to - upgrade on the specific HD, your post shows only 7 GB and 500 mb free... it makes no difference how much C:\ has unless your going to clean install from C:\

Increase the FREE Space on D:\ to min 16GB. Then it will upgrade.

 

[SIW2]

You need to shrink the C partition first - there are system files in the way - you need to use one of the apps. you are downloading now.

It may take a while to do that .

You will then have ( depending how much you choose to shrink it by - you need to leave some breathing space on there) e.g.

C = 200gb
Unallocated Space=25gb
D=7gb or so.

Then you could either:

1. Simply boot the 7 dvd and reinstall.

During the installation, select Drive Options (advanced):





Delete D - you now have 32gb unallocated.

Make one partition of 32gb from the unallocated space.

Install 7 onto that new 32gb partition.

OR:

2. Use the Copy function the on boot cd you downloaded to copy D partition into the 25gb unallocated space.

Delete D then extend the newly copied partition.

Make a bcd entry for it - so you get the boot selection menu ( Running startup repair from the 7 dvd should do that).

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


Hope it helps

 

[Night Hawk]

GParted will easiy take care of shrinking the Vista primary down in size without worry of the unmovable files since no OS will be loaded at the time. The problem comes when trying to move the D primary 7 is on back to where the C primary is reduced to.

That's called a time factor and can take a few hours while not worth it. The easiest and best way to proceed since the 7 installation could easily be unusable would be simply seeing the Vista C primary shrunk, delete the existing 7gb 7 partition, and then create the new larger adequate size primary in order to see a good working installation of 7 go on.

Whenever going to dual boot with any two versions of Windows or other OS the first thing is planning out how much space will be needed to add a second OS with the first existing already in working order. You may end up wanting a bit more then a minimum 16gb once you start running 7 and start loading your regular programs on. 60-80gb at first would be an idea without shrinking the C primary too far.

 

[nate42nd]

Thanks for helping Davy7RC

SIW2 and Nighthawk

Sounds like very good advice.

 

[Night Hawk]

The unmovable file being referred to by SIW2 earlier refer to certain hidden system files known to be present. There are a few arounds discussed in some blogs while still not a reliable means for seeing any Vista primary resized.

placing the drive on another system to use the Disk Management there would work while being more of a hassle then worth in the long run just to get past those. Once you boot from a live drive tool lilke GParted those are no longer a concern since you are partitioning out side of Windows.

Just remember not to shrink the C primary down to far since some of the drive space reserved is for the paging file used for virtual memory. And moving D into the empty space towards the front of the drive?

Let's say a fresh install on a new primary takes far less time like 20minutes over an hour to start. Otherwise you shouldn't run into any other problems.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi all
Another one for GPARTED -- you can even COPY a partition to another area on disk just in case.

Get the Bootable ISO from here.

Works a treat -- and even if you don't know Linux it's a standard GUI so you won't have probs with it.

GParted -- Download

here's what it looks like after you've booted the live CD

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Night Hawk]

I see another new one is out already being the 0.4.4.1 release! SourceForge.net: GParted: Files

The general documentation/instructions for use are seen at GPARTED DOCUMENTATION - GENERALITIES