OS installed on system with Two Hard Drives

[Boblink]

Hi, Vista HP was installed on my system on Drive "A" which I Partitioned into
"C", "D" and "E" Drives / Partitions.
I later purchased a 2nd Drive, Drive "G" and installed Vista and Partitioned
it to "h" and "I".
I then reformatted Partition "C" on Drive "A" leaving me with Vista on
Partition "G" and to try and get things back to transitional patters, I tried
to Delete Partition "C" and rename Partition "G" to Partition "C" (and do
similar relabeling for some of the other Partitions) and ran into a problem.
I was NOT able/allowed to Delete Partition "C", it appears that some hidden
Windows files were still installed so my question is, how to I straighten out
the mess that I created? I would like to have Vista on Drive "C" and delete
and or combine some of the other Partitions so I am left with a "C", "D", "E"
and "F" Drive / Partition.
Any advice / suggestions, would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

C:\ is still seen as the "system" drive containing the boot files, and G:\
similarly is seen as a "boot" drive (contains the system to be booted). As
long as either of them retains those designations, you will not be able to
rename either of them. If you make G:\ active and do a startup repair, you
should be able to rename C:\. As long as G:\ remains as the installation
volume, you will not be able to rename it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Boblink]

If you make G:\ active and do a startup repair, you
should be able to rename C:\. As long as G:\ remains as the installation
volume, you will not be able to rename it.

Thanks Rick, I believe I can change "G" to be ACTIVE using Disk Management
(Admin) but I am not quite sure what you mean / how to perform "a startup
repair"?
Thanks,
Bob

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Read:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/5c59f8c1-b0d1-4f1a-af55-74f3922f3f351033.mspx#EX

Or from a command line WinRE environment:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Bob.

May I suggest a couple of references to clarify some of the terminology.

First, run Disk Management. This is a "snap-in" to the Microsoft Management
Console, a part of every Windows since Win2K. There are several ways to
start Disk Management; my favorite is to simply press Start, type
"diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter. (You'll need Administrator credentials.)
There is an excellent Help file here, but be warned that (a) it applies to
the entire MMC, not just DM; (b) even the DM part covers many exotic topics
that most of us don't need for now, such as GPT disks; and (c) it is
organized as a reference, not a text or tutorial, so it jumps around a lot.

Note that DM refers to the HDDs by NUMBER, not by letter. "Drive" letters
actually apply to partitions, not to the physical disks. You should see
that your Drives C:, D: and E: are on Disk 0, and your Drives H: and T: are
on your Disk 1.

Second, the terms "system volume" and "boot volume" are used
counterintuitively; we BOOT from the SYSTEM volume and keep the operating
SYSTEM files in the BOOT volume. For the official definitions, see KB
314470 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/314470). To see which
partitions are your current System and Boot volumes, look in the Status
column of DM.

In most computers, the first partition on the first HDD is assigned Drive C:
and is both the System and Boot volume. When a second OS is added to create
a dual-boot system, the boot folder (\Windows - and all the GBs of files and
subfolders under that) may go to Drive H:, but the updated SYSTEM files -
which actually start the boot process when the computer is powered on - are
still on Drive C:. So when we boot into this new OS, DM will show Drive H:
as "boot", but Drive C: will still have the "system" status. While booted
into this OS, H:\Windows is the "boot folder" and cannot be deleted, but
C:\Windows is "just another folder" and can easily be deleted. But Drive C:
cannot be formatted or deleted because it is still the System volume!

WinXP and prior versions of Windows Setup assigned the letter C: to the
System Volume - which was typically also the Boot volume. But Vista Setup -
when booted from the DVD - assigns C: to its own Boot Volume, even if that
is the 3rd partition on the second HDD! And then it assigns D: to the
System Volume - which is still the first partition on Disk 0. This does not
confuse Vista, but it does confuse a lot of users!

If we want to control assignment of the System and Boot volume letters, we
must boot into a Windows desktop that has the drive letters we want to use,
and then insert the Vista DVD and run its Setup.exe from the active desktop.
(Of course, we can change all the other letters by using Disk Management,
but the Boot and System volume letters are assigned at installation by
Setup.exe and can't easily be changed except by running Setup again: by
re-installing Vista.)

Maybe you already knew a lot of this, but it helps to review now and then.
And we never know who may be "reading over our shoulders" and can benefit
from some of this long-winded explanation. ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64

 

[Boblink]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation RC, I "old school", the more
information I have the better off I am so thank you again for your help and
as you indicated, if some other "dummies" like me, stumble into this thread,
I am sure that they would be just as appreciate as I am.

I would say that I was familiar with a little less than half the stuff you
stated and think that I am at the point where you said, "If we want to
control assignment of the System and Boot volume letters, we must boot into a
Windows desktop that has the drive letters we want to use, and then insert
the Vista DVD and run its Setup.exe from the active desktop".

For information purposes, I only have ONE desktop, the "G" Drive or
Partition (depending on what "language" we are speaking), I FORMATED "C" so
the version of Windows that was on "C" is gone but "the boot" remains in
"C" and Windows Vista HP is on "G".

This configuration appears to work fine but I am a stickler for detail and
would like Windows to be on "C" (where it belongs) which is why I am going
through this.

In any event, getting back to the task at hand, if I understand you
correctly, I restart my system which will bring up "G" , the ONLY version of
Vista on my system and am a little confused with "and then insert the Vista
DVD and run its Setup.exe from the active desktop"?

Are you saying that while Windows is open, place the Windows DVD in the
drive and navigate to SETUP.EXE?

And assuming that this is correct, follow Setup.Exe instructions to "marry
the boot and Windows on ONE Drive?

Thank you again for your help PC,
Bob

 

[Boblink]

Hi RC, I tried to implement some of your suggestions and Mr Murphy and his
Law struck again. Let me try and recap where I am and ask you for Plan "B".
The ONLY version of Vista on my system is on Disk 1 (the 2nd HD) and on
Partition "C". I have a Partition that I labeled "Old C" which is on Dosk 0
(the orhinial HD) and it is label Partition "D".
My objective is to DELETE "D" (i.e. "old "C") and then reallocate the FREE
SPACE to either a new partition or to extend (make another Partition bigger)
for additional storage.
When I try and FORMAT or DELETE "D" (old "C"), I am advised that I can not
format or Delete this volume and when I EXPORE the contents of the "D"
Partition, the only thing that I see is a Bootsect.BAK file that is 8,192
bytes in size and was created on 8/5/09.
When I go to "C" (where Vista is installed), I see a Bootsect.Bak file that
is 8,192 byes and created on 5/30/09.
This is confusing since I installed a NEW copy of Windows on 8/5 yet the
Partition that it was installed on has a 5/30 date for the Bootsect.bak file
while the Partition that Windows WAS previously installed on has a 8/5 date
for Bootsect.bak.
Also when I tried to ReSize the "D" Partition (where Bootsect.bak supposedly
was the ONLY thing that resided), the smallest size it allowed me to Shrink
the "D" Partition was 48.8Gigs.
So my next step was to RUN Windows SETUP.EXE and Run Repair which I was
UNABLE to do. When I placed the Windows install DVD in the Drive and booted
my system to open CD-DVD Drive 1st, the Windows INSTALL program opened but I
did not see an option for repair.
The Windows SetUp option allowed me to ReFormat various Partitions and
ReInstall Windows Vista but I'd rather NOT do that if possible because, I
would then have to also ReInstall all my programs and apps (since a "clean"
copy of windows would not have these and then reinstall my data files.
So if you can still follow me and I realize I may be speaking another
language, is it possible to Delete "D" (Old "C") and use the Free Space that
was created for future storage or must I reformat everything and reinstall
Windows (my software programs, apps, data files,.....)?
I appreciate your help RC and hope that you are able to advise me of a
solution that is not going to have me "waste" another day making Windows
happy.
Bob

 

[Boblink]

Hi RC, I had a little new news is which is NOT very encouraging.
I had a problem accessing the Windows Repair facility so I called Lenovo
Support and was advised that OEM systems do NOT include Windows Repair so my
question is, is their a Plan "C" (I think Plans "A" and "B" have been
exhausted).
Thanks,
Bob

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Bob.

Sorry you're having so much trouble with this. But the thread has gotten so
involved that I don't even recall either Plan A or Plan B - even when I
re-read the whole thread. :>(

Now that you have the terminology ("system" and "boot" and "Disk 0" and
partitions and such), please start a new thread and ask your question again.
Please tell us:

(A) Where you are now,
and
(C) Where you want to end up.

Then we can probably help you figure out (B) - How to get from (A) to (C).
In (A), please include a concise but complete description of your computer.
And for your goals: do you want a single OS, or dual-boot, or what?

No need to recite all your previous troubles again. Just tell us where you
ARE and where you WANT TO BE.

As I understand it, you now have a Lenovo laptop with Vista Home Premium
installed. (You never really said that as clearly as I just did; I had to
piece it together from tidbits that you scattered throughout your posts.)
You have two hard disk drives, but we don't know if they are 5 GB or 500 GB.
We don't know if you have a Vista retail DVD-ROM - or an OEM DVD-ROM. Since
it was a Lenovo laptop, I assume Vista was pre-installed, but you haven't
said that, either. Please don't get hung up on drive LETTERS. Those are
like shifting sands and can change; assign each partition a name - a label -
which will be written to the disk and will be the same no matter which OS is
running.

I was about to make a list of my guesses as to your system and your goals,
but I'll wait for your clear listing of those. And if I still don't
understand, I'll let someone else help you.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64

 

[Boblink]

I started a new thread on this titled " Reinstalled Windows on Disk1 need
help in Refomatting Disk0" .
Bob