Partitioning my Envy 14

Hi

Just got my Envy, just did a minimized image recovery but want to know if I could partition the 500gb HDD into 3 drives.

So C: - Windows/Program Stuff 100GB
D:Graphics - Work 200GB
E:Media - Fun stuff 200Gb

Thinking of using Partition Magic would that work and be safe?

 

Anyone please, not going to install anything until this is sortted.

 

Thanks, another question I have Windows x64 but is going back to 32 a step back?

 

OK I'm on 64 bit Windows 7 I was wondering is it bad idea to go back to my old and trusty 32 bit Windows 7?

 

Cheers the system has 4GB so I may upgrade in the future but that be another year or so. So not totally a bad idea then to go back to 32 bit?.

 

You could try Windows Disk Manager to partition but I doubt you'd get very far with that. For some reason it never allows me to cut out a partition bigger than half of the remaining free space. Yes I did try to defragment free-space consolidation. Partition Magic is nice, but the easiest program to use is Acronis which does all the file moving (including "non-movable" system files) for you.

 

Ok I did a clean install with Windows 32 bit and crap think I screwed up, instead of loading straight to windows it goes to windows boot manager with the option of windows 7, windows 7 ems setup?. How do I stop this from happening?.

Ok 1 goes to windows which I did a clean install the other is for HP's recovery manager preventing me from booting into windows instantly and enabling the boot manager

anyone please?.

 

Delete the HP recovery partition when you install.

 

Is that a bad idea? I mean that means I won't be able to use that function ever again?. However, I made the recovery disks and would that void my warranty too?.

Stupid I know.

anyone please help confirm

Great I deleted the boott manager

 

If you want to go back to stock, boot off of the recovery disks you created. It will rebuild the drive like it came from the HP.

Why would you want to install 32 bit windows anyway?

 

rirawin,

Kindly do not start a thread for each question that comes to mind. I consolidated not only your threads but also your posts.

Please keep your questions to this thread.

Thanks.

NBR Staff.

 

Apologies

Can I ask please and hopefully someone can asnwer can I completely delete all the partitions like HP recovery, tools and do a complete format with a fresh copy of Windows?. All those partitions needed?. If I had to go back the recovery disks will help create?.

 

if i'm not mistaken, the disk is partitioned as a dynamic partition split into 4 parts by default - system, windows, hp tools, recovery. if you do repartition and format, i do believe you have to delete all the basic partitions and change the harddisk back to a single partition to be able to let the recovery disc do its job.

 

I believe I have read that partitions reduce speed. Is this so?

 

Well I deleted them and I have to say Windows 7 boots up much faster.

 

No.
There *may* be certain circumstances where it could possibly occur; i.e. repeatedly requiring files on partition 1 at the beginning of the disk and partition 4 at the end of the disk necessitating the head to move a lot.
However, the odds are so much against it, I will stick with "No".

 

I was able to get rid of all partitions but the main Windows (C) partition during a clean install.

There are 3 partitions that you don't really need: a 100 MB SYSTEM partition, an HP_TOOLS partition, and a RECOVERY partition.

The RECOVERY partition can be deleted if you have made a set of recovery disks so that you can restore your system to its factory state. Although if you only plan to do clean installs then you won't need them for anything.

The HP_TOOLS partition is used by the HP BIOS Update Utility, although it's not too hard to update the BIOS without it. You can also create an HP_TOOLS partition on a USB drive.

The SYSTEM partition is the trickiest one to remove. It's only really necessary if you use BitLocker (drive encryption) I think because the BIOS would have a hard time booting from an encrypted partition. The other functions of this partition, mainly booting, can be performed from the main Windows partition. To get rid of it during a clean install see this article. "Method 3" as described in the article describes how to remove it without any special utilities. Basically, you tell the Windows installer to delete all partitions except the system reserved partition. Then you extend the system reserved partition to be as big as you'd like, and that's where you install Windows.