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    Boot drive question

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Jester471, Aug 5, 2012.

  1. Jester471

    Jester471 Newbie

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    I have a ideapad y580 and I have installed an mSATA SSD, installed windows 7 on it and wiped the HDD and have used the HDD for data storage. However, I'd like to install another copy of windows on the HDD. I have a program from work that I would like to install on my computer. Its notoriously unstable and rather than a single program it is a large collection of programs that work together. I want to isolate it from my main operation system so I can easily remove the entire collection of programs without much trouble, especially if it crashes or needs updates. I'd like to install it on a HDD partition which I can format (therefore removing the program and all its subcomponents) at any time. However, when I use a windows install disc or a recovery disk it wants to format my entire HDD and doesn't give me the option to install it on the partition I've already created. I already have a lot of data on that drive as well as some programs. I'd rather not have to move everything to an external drive and copy back after installing windows, especially if I have to frequently remove and install the updated version of the program.

    Does anyone know how to get the computer to recognize my existing partition during an initial setup so I don't have to format the entire drive? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
     
    Jester471, Aug 5, 2012
    #1
  2. Shemmy

    Shemmy Notebook Evangelist

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    I know this is not what you asked, but why not use an application such as VMWare Player or Virtual Box to create a virtual machine in which to use the application?
     
    Shemmy, Aug 5, 2012
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  3. Jester471

    Jester471 Newbie

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    That's a good suggestion. I've never used one of those programs before. Have you or anyone else had any success with them? Are they pretty stable? How easy would it be to delete the program and all it contents?

    I'm going to give that a try and let you know how it works out.

    On another note, my SSD boot drive is 120GB and I can only use 100 due to a "Healthy OEM Partition." I'd like to get rid of that volume and regain that extra 20 GB but it doesn't give me the option to shrink or delete the volume. Any ideas? Does it contain any critical information? Disk Manage.PNG
     
    Jester471, Aug 6, 2012
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  4. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    That partition should actually be the recovery partition, it's just hidden. If you delete that, you will definitely have nuked the recovery partition for good.
     
    tijo, Aug 6, 2012
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