Hard Drive ?

[BChat]

I have 4 separate HDs

drive 1 - Ultimate 64 bit
drive 2 - Home Premium 32 bit
drive 3 - files
drive 4 - Windows 7 32 bit

VistaBootPro is installed on drive 1 with drive 4 set a default.

I deleted the OEM partition on drive 1, and now have 24 MB of unallocated
space. I want to make the unallocated space a volume, format the rest of the
drive, expand the 1st volume to encompass the entire drive and lay an image
of Ultimate 64 back on the drive. I was able to do this with drive 2, no
problems. BUT - I cannot format the Ultimate 64 drive, I assume this is
because it is the first HD and contains all the boot data.

Looked in the BIOS and can find no where that allows me to set which HD is
booted to 1st.
Thought of physically swapping drive 1 and drive 2, doing what I wanted and
then re-swapping them.

Anyone else's suggestions appreciated.

---thank God the Vista DVD is bootable and repairs boot up errors---

TIA
BChat

 

[Andre Da Costa]

Well of course you wouldn't be able to format the system partition since as
you noted it contains all the boot information. What are you trying to do,
make one of the other OS's on a logical drive the primary boot drive? I
don't think that's possible, might as well back the data up and do a clean
install.

 

[BChat]

Looked in the BIOS and can find no where that allows me to set which HD is
booted to 1st.

How old is that computer? That is hard to believe.

It is 3 years old. I cannot find where to select a HD to boot to.
I can select CD, Floppy (which I don't have ) SATA and I think USB.
I don't see where I can select which of the 4 SATA drive to boot to.
I guess it boots to the first....???
I have a Dell XPS Gen 5 machine.

Thanks for the reply Louie.

 

[BChat]

Andre,

I was trying to avoid a clean install since I have an image I can put back
on the drive after I make it a 1 partition drive with no unallocated space.
IF the unallocated space were after the OS partition, I could expand the
partition and all would be well. AFAIK, Vista will not expand a partition to
the "left", or to space before the partition. This is a nonsense project I
want to do to see if I can do it - really not needed .

BChat



Well of course you wouldn't be able to format the system partition since as
you noted it contains all the boot information. What are you trying to do,
make one of the other OS's on a logical drive the primary boot drive? I
don't think that's possible, might as well back the data up and do a clean
install.

 

[John Barnes]

If you want to have Ultimate 64 encompass the whole drive 1, you will need
to back up with a product that will allow you to restore to a different size
partition than was backed up. You would then delete any partitions on drive
1, create a partition using the full drive and recover your backup.

 

[John Barnes]

Look in the BIOS in a section called something like Boot Priority or Boot.
No computer built in decades doesn't have a BIOS that doesn't allow changing
boot priority. You would appear to have the DVD player as first in order
per your comment. Most BIOS's of the last 5 years let you select the boot
drive by using a function key F10 or other during POST.

 

[BChat]

message
dell has been known to do funky setups before but I doubt you cannot set
a boot priority of the HD's.
you must be over looking it.


--
serpentracer
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.com
-------------
I don't doubt you a bit -
but I'll be damned if I can see where I get to pick which HD to boot to.

Thanks for the reply
BChat.

 

[BChat]

If you want to have Ultimate 64 encompass the whole drive 1, you will need
to back up with a product that will allow you to restore to a different size
partition than was backed up.
I CAN DO THIS WITH ACRONIS - DID IT ON DRIVE 2



You would then delete any partitions on drive
1, create a partition using the full drive and recover your backup.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I DID ON DRIVE 2 - DRIVE 1 SEEMS TO BE A BIT MORE
TRICKY SINCE IT IS THE BOOT DRIVE - I WILL TRY AGAIN.
THANKS JOHN

 

[BChat]

How old is that computer? That is hard to believe.

It is 3 years old. I cannot find where to select a HD to boot to.
I can select CD, Floppy (which I don't have ) SATA and I think USB.
I don't see where I can select which of the 4 SATA drive to boot to.
I guess it boots to the first....???

Maybe if you hit ENTER on SATA, you can choose the order.

On my computer I can set the order - hard drive, CD, etc - and when I
hit ENTER on "hard drive first), I get to choose the hard drive order.

Louie,

just re-checked - ENTER is used to save changes.
I feel pretty safe in saying the HD order cannot be changed -
but I felt pretty safe getting married too ;-)
Thanks for your time.

 

[andy]

I have 4 separate HDs

drive 1 - Ultimate 64 bit
drive 2 - Home Premium 32 bit
drive 3 - files
drive 4 - Windows 7 32 bit

VistaBootPro is installed on drive 1 with drive 4 set a default.

I deleted the OEM partition on drive 1, and now have 24 MB of unallocated
space. I want to make the unallocated space a volume, format the rest of the
drive, expand the 1st volume to encompass the entire drive and lay an image
of Ultimate 64 back on the drive. I was able to do this with drive 2, no
problems. BUT - I cannot format the Ultimate 64 drive, I assume this is
because it is the first HD and contains all the boot data.

Looked in the BIOS and can find no where that allows me to set which HD is
booted to 1st.

Look for a bios setting named Hard Disk Boot Priority or Hard Disk
Drives.

 

[BChat]

<snip>

Look for a bios setting named Hard Disk Boot Priority or Hard Disk
Drives.

andy,

If there is such a setting in my BIOS it is very well hidden - no can find.
Only options I have are to boot to:

1. onboard USB or CD ROM drive
2. onboard SATA hard drive
3. USB device

I have 4 SATA HDs - no option as to which one boots in what order.

Thanks for your time.

BChat

 

[John Barnes]

Acronis will do it fine. You will need to use the bootable rescue disk to
reload and you can use your Vista DVD and the Command Promt command
diskpart to delete the partitions on the drive. Let Acronis create and
populate the new partition from the image.

 

[BChat]

all done - life is good again - thanks John


Acronis will do it fine. You will need to use the bootable rescue disk to
reload and you can use your Vista DVD and the Command Promt command
diskpart to delete the partitions on the drive. Let Acronis create and
populate the new partition from the image.

 

[John Barnes]

Once you select the SATA hard drive look closely at the screen and find
something that allows you to set the secondary priority within that
selection. Mine says 'hard disk boot priority'. Look for something
similar. Hope you can find it. Otherwise you are stuck swapping cables to
attach the HD you want to boot from to the MOBO connection which your board
boots from. That works too, but is awkward.

 

[John Barnes]

Mine says at the bottom of the POST screen <F12> for boot menu
Look for something similar

 

[John Barnes]

Good for you. You're welcome.

all done - life is good again - thanks John


Acronis will do it fine. You will need to use the bootable rescue disk to
reload and you can use your Vista DVD and the Command Promt command
diskpart to delete the partitions on the drive. Let Acronis create and
populate the new partition from the image.

 

[BChat]

Once you select the SATA hard drive look closely at the screen and find
something that allows you to set the secondary priority within that
selection. Mine says 'hard disk boot priority'. Look for something
similar. Hope you can find it. Otherwise you are stuck swapping cables to
attach the HD you want to boot from to the MOBO connection which your board
boots from. That works too, but is awkward.

John,

That was how I finally got the job done - swapped cables. There is no way to
set the HD boot order.
Thank you for your time in this matter. I am now off to see what else I can
tweak.

BChat