Partition Problems

[Necrosis]

So, I've been trying to install Vista on my comp just for testing purposes, and I wanted to create a new partition to put it on (just so I could separate my XP OS/programs from Vista, and so forth). I used my friend's PartitionMagic program (norton? i think) and resized the partition so I could allocate some space to a new partition. I clicked apply, with a bunch of space unallocated, and restarted. My computer would not boot after this, it would freeze up a little while before I got to my desktop.

I then slaved the HD on another computer and set the original windows partition as "active"-- i don't know how it was changed off this setting in the first place, this allowed me to boot my computer. Anyways, I was wondering-- what do I need to do to create a new partition without these problems?

Thanks for any help.

[Cephius]

After you resize the partition, you have to select the unallocated space and select "Create New Partition" and then assign it a file system format, drive letter, and primary/logical status. If I read your post right and you just left all that unallocated space on your hard drive, that's likely what's causing your OS to not reboot. Probably because the size of the partition the OS is on changed and there's suddenly all this extra room that hasn't been assigned. Anyway, create the new partition and then Start Menu -> Right click My comptuer -> Manage -> Disk Management -> Right Click on the partition you just made -> Format. Let it do its thing, reboot, and your new partition should be ready to go.

Just FYI, the Vista install CD comes with the ability to partition your drive for you and then install itself on it. http://apcmag.com/5023/dual_booting_xp_with_vista is a fairly decent step by step guide on how to do it. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully though and use the right partitioning utility.

[Necrosis]

Small problem. So I made that partition, and on the reboot, i got a "NTLDR is missing,, press ctrl-alt-del to reboot". My boot.ini must be screwed up or something, but I made a boot CD and i'm in windows. Anyway, I try to install vista nonetheless and it's like it doesn't recognize the other partitions altogether, it just says that my system partition (H does not have enough space on it.

My disk has always been kind of messed up, I originally installed XP on it when it had two partitions; I installed on the smaller partition and used the larger one for the bulk of my files. I have a "WINDOWS" folder in both C:\ (largest partition) and H:\ (the smaller, 4gbish one). WINVISTA is the partition I created for, well, vista. Here's a screen of my disk management panel, if it helps

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...management.jpg

[Cephius]

That error message basically means you're trying to boot from somewhere that isn't bootable. It looks like you're trying to boot from partition H when your OS in on partition C. Try going into your BIOS and checking where it's looking when it tries to boot your OS.

As for installing Vista, it should list all the partitions on your hard drive and all you have to do is choose the right one to install it to. Make sure you pick the right one, I dont think it lists actual drive letters so you just have to pick the one that's about 13 Gigs.