Want to dual boot but have too many partitions!

On my Dell XPS M1530 I shrunk my primary drive and created an ~30 gig unallocated partition. However, when I go to create a simple volume, all goes well until the end when I receive the following message:
You cannot create a new volume in this unallocated space because the disk already contains the maximum number of partitions

Is there any way around this? Thanks

BTW I already have 4 partitions that came with the XPS (94MB, 10GB RECOVERY, PRIMARY, 2.5GB)

 

More than 4 partitions = search of a holy grail!

I wish I can do that or find out something about that as well.

cheers ...

 

Darn, no W7 for me...

 

The easiest thing to do is back up all of your important files to DVD/external drive/etc, and then remove all partitions, including the hidden one(s). Create three new primary partitions - one for Vista, one for W7, and a common drive where you can keep your files.

Yep, it means reinstalling and updating, but in the end it's a lot less hassle. Or, just spend $60 and get a new drive.

 

Could I not simply remove just 1 of my partitions?

 

Sure you can, if you know which one you can do without.

cheers ...

 

Google informed me that they are all needed if I want to keep my "Restore to Factory Settings" options available

 

Merge the other 2 into 1, leaving the hidden /recovery partition alone. Then carve out some the just merged partition - good to go.

cheers ...

 

That's very interesting. So you would recommend merging the EISA config partition with the Healthy partition? There is little chance that something could go wrong, right?

Although I don't think Disk Management does merging...

 

Vista Disk Management does not support Partition Merging.

I would not touch the EISA partition since it is your recovery partition. What other partitions are you having?

cheers ...

 

Check my attachment above:
1)94MB Healthy (EISA configuration)
2)10 GB RECOVERY (D) Healthy (Primary Partition)
3)220.29GB OS (C) Healthy (System, Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition
4)2.5GB Healthy (Primary Partition)

 

What do you have stowed away in partition (3) - your OS partition - that requires 220.29 GB of space? How much of that is unused space?

 

Of the ~220GB I have ~113GB free, or just over half.

 

And you couldn't pull any more of that out? Also, what is with the tiny little 2.5GB partition?

 

You can only make 4 primary partitions on a single hard drive. However, if you make an extended partition, you can create many logical partitions within the extended partition.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "pulling more out of that" . If by that you mean clearing up more space, I'm not sure how that would aid the windows 7 partition I want to form.

And honestly I have no knowledge of what that 2.5 GB partition does other than that it came with the computer.

 

So could I make, theoretically, a 30 GB extended partition and another 29 GB logical partition inside of it? If that's the case then it sounds too easy to be true

 

Yes, you can actually. The extended partition is basically a container to create logical partitions on. That way, you can have more than 4 partitions on a single hard drive. The catch is you can only create 1 extended partition on a single hard drive. So you can have a max of 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition.

If you want to know more about extended and logical partitions, read more here: http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_drives_07.htm

I have made 10 logical partitions inside of an extended partition before. Just be careful modifying the extended partition because you can lose the logical partitions within it.

FYI, some OS's (like Windows 98) prefer to be installed on a primary partition instead of a logical partition. I have not tried installing Windows 7 RC on a logical partition but it should work (in theory).

 

I'll look into it, but I would feel safer if I could somehow merge some of those 4 partitions I have to free up a slot designated solely for Windows 7.

EDIT: I was reading through the link and came across this statement: Functionally, I've never found there to be any difference in how the two types operate, other than the fact you can start operating systems from Primary partitions where that isn't possible with an Extended partition.

Does this rule out using an extended partition for win7 dual boots?

EDIT EDIT: You can only make extended partitions if you have LESS than 4 primary partitions. I have 4 primary partitions...

 

Would it be at all possible to move 2 of my partitions into separate logical partitions but all under one extended partition? Only problem I can see is that I can't create an extended partition without getting rid of one of my primary partitions first.

 

Ok. What's stored in that partition? It strikes me that you've got more partitions than, strictly speaking, should have come from the factory. For example, the _HP I just got had only two partitions from the factory, a d:\ recovery partition and a c:\ partition for everything else.

The size also strikes me as rather odd. It seems to me that, unless there's something on there that must be kept in a separate partition, that partition could be merged back into the large system partition, and a new, bigger fourth partition subsequently carved back out of the system partition.

 

Well I'm pretty sure that the drive is my system partition. Here, take a look at this (both are the same picture): http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2431/partitionse.jpg

 

The only one that should matter is the one labeled "OS (C " - that is where your OS is located, and most likely everything else (other than your recovery partition).

As far as I can make out from sources like this thread, the EISA partition is a FAT32 partition that contains some utility applications for really, really old bus architectures (architectures that are no longer used).

The (E drive is, obviously enough, your CD/DVD optical drive, and is a separate physical device.

The partition labelled "Recovery (D " is self explanatory and should be there.

That leaves just the unlabelled partition that is nothing more than a garden-variety simple partition of the primary type.

That partition does not seem to be doing anything here, so unless you've got stuff on it that can't be put anywhere else, the best I can come up with is that somehow there was a little bit of left-over unallocated space on your physical hard drive that someone decided would make a nice little sliver of a fourth primary partition.

You should check with your documentation and with customer support from your manufacturer to make sure that there isn't some esoteric reason for that partition, and if nothing comes up, just delete it. Once it's gone, that leaves you with only three primary partitions, which means you can lop off a bunch of the space on your (C:\) partition that's not being used, which will cause it to become unallocated space, and then put the new space and the left-over 2.5GB from this rump partition together on the same side of the now smaller (C:\) partition, and turn it all into a new fourth partition (preferably an extended partition if you want to be able to make some more logical partitions and get beyond the 4 primary partition limit).

 

So what you're saying is shrink my "C" partition, create an extended partition from the unallocated space, and merge the 2.5 GB partition into the extended partition? Then use the freed up primary partition to load win7?

Also, I had called Dell earlier in the day, and they were of no help in identifying the partitions apart from my "C" drive and "D" (recovery) drive.

 

Basically, that's what I'm saying, but in order to do that you're going to have to get rid of that little 2.5GB rump partition first because as long as it's around, you won't be able to create any new partitions. I suppose that you might also try removing some space from your (C:\) partition and converting it into unallocated space, and then adding that space to the existing rump partition, although that would still leave you with 4 primary partitions (and thus no ability to create logical partitions within an extended partition).

All in all, if _Dell has no idea what that partition is doing there, and if you've gone through it with a fine-toothed comb and haven't found anything that looks like it shouldn't be disturbed, then I'd say that partition is way past its use-by date and ought to be terminated with extreme prejudice.

 

It seems as though many dells have this plaguing 2.5 GB partition
(From a post found here: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache...ion&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a)

"Im having the same problem as jaybaz. My sys is Dell M1530.

C drive with 220GB – OS
D drive with 10 GB – Recovery by dell manufacture (MS Work)
Hidden drive with 78MB – Primary partition (EISA Configuration)
Hidden drive with 2.5GB – Primary partition

Question1: Cant create new partition with the unallocated space i managed to get after shrinking C:

Question2. When i wanted to delete the 2.5GB hidden drive, i’ve got a prompt: This partition is not created by windows and might contain data recognised by other OS. Can i delete this drive ?

I believe i cant create new partition cz sys only allows 4 primary partition. Correct me if im wrong. Thx in adv."

This makes me a little hesitant as to deleting it. Maybe it is for mediadirect?

A little further down the comments and I found this:

"Deleting the partitions created by the OEM is often not possible due to the way the OEMs configure the partitions. Therefore, our advice to customers is to extend the operating system partition back to the original size to regain use of the unallocated space. If additional storage is needed, consider adding an external USB hard disk."

 

It could be. Do you use mediadirect?

 

I found the answer, it is mediadirect, and I have no use for it

"I did approximately that, nuking the Dell Media Direct 2.5 GB Primary Partition and then using all unallocated space for a New Volume. Disk Management did make the new, 4th partition a Logical Drive (Healthy, Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Logical Drive). I installed W7 on this new partition and I can boot to it.

The first partition, that was labeled as EISA and Primary in Vista, now says "Healthy OEM Partition", without the word Primary.

C: and D: still remain as primary. and my New Volume (W is as described above.

Also my DVD to install W7 shows up as "primary partition"
Found at: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21711132-Vista-Disk-Management-Max-Number-of-Volumes-on-Disk

 

Then, keeping in mind that you've paid me zero, so my advice is worth precisely that, and thus the onus for making a mistake will be on your shoulders (hey, I gotta CYA every so often ), I'd say, make a full backup of that partition (and maybe clone an image of the full drive if you've got the software to do it), and then delete that partition. Once it's gone, you'll be able to carve off some of that extra space from the (C:\) partition, lump it together with that now-unallocated 2.5GB, and then make yourself a brand-new fourth partition for Win7 purposes (I'd make it an extended partition so you can have some logical partitions to complement your 3 primaries, were I you).

 

Darn, I just did the exact opposite! Instead of lumping off space from the C: and merging it with the unallocated, I merged the unallocated with the C: and tried to shrink it. Now I am unable to shrink my C: more than 2.5GB.

I'll backup and see if my third-party app can't do the job.

 

Yeah, for some reason the built-in disk manager in _Vista is a bit too conservative when it comes to resizing the system partition - I don't know why, and it wasn't even that bad in XP. Since you've hit that snag, I'd suggest giving the EASEUS partition manager a try. It's pretty simple and intuitive, and gives you plenty of second chances before you actually commit to making any changes. Just be aware that it does most of it's operations in DOS mode before the OS loads, so it'll do a lot of system restarts.

 

Everything should work, right? I mean, easueus won't go crazy with the hard drive? I would really prefer it if I didn't have to go through a system restore .
I feel like part of me just wants to leave it alone

 

For what you want to do EASEUS shouldn't give you a lick of trouble. Just remember that if you have to do anything complicated, like moving around unallocated space, do it in as many simple steps as it takes; don't try to get cute and fit it all into one single step.

I have only ever had one bork with EASEUS, and that was from trying to do something very complex in a very dumb, complicated way - even then, all I really did was blow out the partition tables, so I was able to repair that with EASEUS' partition table doctor, although I did have to pay for the license for that.

 

Pretty reassuring, thanks. I'm off to see if it all works out *fingers crossed*.

 

Just work at a slow, deliberate pace, and make sure you know exactly what the software's going to do before you pull the final trigger and tell it to execute. For the most part it's self-explanatory, although sometimes you have to read carefully; if something just doesn't make sense to you, put up a screenshot showing what's not making sense, and the rest of us will see if we can sort it out for you.

 

Well here's one. I just partitioned my drive into the 30 GB I wanted to reserve for win 7, but the new drive doesn't show up in my computer?

 

Did you actually go through and commit to having the change made?

 

Wow, I didn't even see the apply button! Everything partitioned perfectly, all that's left now is the windows 7 install!

 

Whew! You had me worried there for a second! Don't feel bad about missing that button, I missed it myself the first few times I used the software - I still remember sitting there thinking "ok, what's going on, why didn't it do what I asked it to do?"

Glad it worked out, and good luck with the Win7 install.

 

Everything went very smoothly, thanks all for the help!