[SOLVED] Dual Win10 and Win7 partition questions

[kajen]

So I had win 10 installed on C:. Then installed win 7 on partition D: that I had converted to Primary (to get a dual OS setup).
After D: I have unlocated space that I planned to use as a storage drive for photos etc. accessible from both OS's.
But now I can't create a partition from that space. Disk management warns me it would make the disk dynamic and something about only being able to boot OS from current drive. So i didn't go ahead to do that. Ease us says I have to make a primary into logical first.

Not sure if I can even merge it to the new Primary drive either (maybe in windows disk management?, but not in EaseUS at least).
So if I want to use that space to create a new partition how can it be done?
Or what did I do wrong?
I could remove the D: partition if needed.
D: was before a logical drive but I converted to Primary as it wouldn't install win7 otherwise.

 

[Darkbreeze]

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...r/7e43130f-11a9-4167-832e-97ed168ae369?auth=1

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2108-dual-boot-windows-10-windows-7-windows-8-a.html

Do you have entirely different licenses for both these OS versions? Because if you upgraded your Windows 7 license to Windows 10, it is no longer any good for Windows 7.

 

[kajen]

Yes, thanks. I actually followed that first guide. Until I ran into problems with not being able to install onto a logical drive (then I created a new primary).
The guide doesn't cover that problem.
Should I have created a primary partition for ALL remaining space after C: on the disk, and then after installing windows 7 shrunk that drive and created that E: storage partition (logical) from the space freed? Would that have worked?
Any solution without deleting D:?

And yes I have a seperate Windows 7 key that I'm using.

 

[Darkbreeze]

My advice would be to use a third party partition management utility. Windows disk management is VERY fickle about what it will or will not allow you to do. I recommend the free version of paragon partition manager.

 

[kajen]

I installed that app but only the view and properties options are available (for the unallocated space at the end of the drive).
Expanding D: was only doable with space from C:

So only option to delete D: and make a new bigger D: primary partition which I then shrink after I reinstalled Windows 7 on it!

 

[SkyNetRising]

Expanding D: was only doable with space from C:

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Math Geek]

yes please upload a pic of disk management. depending on what it shows to what software may or may not be able to help. it is often possible but need to know what exactly you ended up with.

for future reference, you should install multiple os's from oldest to newest. so win 7 should have been first followed by installing win 10.

it may end up that you need to start over and remove all partitions and do it the right way.

 

[SkyNetRising]

for future reference, you should install multiple os's from oldest to newest. so win 7 should have been first followed by installing win 10.

it may end up that you need to start over and remove all partitions and do it the right way.

Not really a big problem.
Just need windows 10 installation media to rebuild bootloader and fix it.

 

[kajen]

Well here are two photos on Imgbb:
https://ibb.co/RC7cpK4

IMG-20200928-004954804

Image IMG-20200928-004954804 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

The disk management one is in Finnish so a bit hard to understand maybe ^^ But the Ease US is in English.
The error message in EaseUS is after if I click create.
C: is my Windows 10 partition.

(The reason I installed win7 after 10 is that after upgrading to Win10, I realized the laptop keyboard/drivers aren't compatible with Win10) so Win7 can come in handy for some tasks).

 

[Math Geek]

ok pic looks good. try this program to make that last partition.

been using it for years now and so far have had no issues.

AOMEI Partition Assistant | Partition Manager Software for Windows PC and Server

As alternative to partition magic software, AOMEI Partition Assistant is an easy partition manager and complete hard disk management tool for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP and Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019.

www.diskpart.com

it should have no problem making that last partition for you

 

[SkyNetRising]

You have hit partition number limit on MBR drives. 4 primary partitions is the limit (or 3 primary + 1 extended).
That's why you can not create partition in unallocated space.

Delete 19.72GB partition and then you'll be able to create 239GB partition.

 

[Math Geek]

i need to stop answering questions while watching football

i'm so used to working with gpt now, i forgot about the mbr limit. the software i linked will allow you to delete that first partition and then merge it with the ending free space. it will take a long time to finish though as it will have to physically move everything from the other 2 partitions to the front of the drive first. start it before going to bed and let it run overnight!!

i've done this before and it works but it does take a long time. as with anything like this, it is possible for it to mess up and data loss can happen. therefore, it is HIGHLY advisable to back up any important data from every part of the system first. when rearranging partitons like this, anything can happen and TOTAL data loss is possible, though unlikely if you leave it alone to finish.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Do not move/merge partitions. This is recipe for disaster.
Extend, copy, delete - those are ok. Move and merge - avoid at all costs.
If you absolutely need to use move/merge, then create backup of the partition first.

 

[Math Geek]

yup must back-up data as it can go horribly wrong for sure . sadly though it has to be done since the free space will be at the front and back of the drive. to use it together everything has to be shifted to the front of the drive first so all the free space is at the end.

but the software i linked can handle the job for sure. i've been using it for years and never actually needed the backed-up data (knock on wood!!). it is a long process for sure as it has to do a lot of work, but it can handle the job.

the other option is to remove every partition and start over so everything is where it needs to be. works just as good

 

[kajen]

The first partition is the original recovery partition and I'd rather not delete it (even if I'm not sure if it works after upgrading to Win10?).
Anyway. Thanks for all the help!
I think my best bet is to redo the Win7 drive and make it include that unallocated space and use the partion for storage as well.
One reason I wanted a seperate partion for photos/storage is that I want to make sure Windows doesn't lock the files if I'm ever not able to log in to my Windows account. But maybe I can accomplish that by right clicking and giving "everybody" rights to use the files on the Win7 drive... (?).

 

[Math Geek]

so long as you do not put the files into any of the user library folders then it should not be an issue.

do not use the documents/pics/music/video/etc user folders. instead make totally separate folders to store data into and you won't run into those permission problems.

that's effectively what you do by making the totally separate partition to store stuff in.

i highly recommend a completely different physical drive for data storage. this way WHEN something happens to your windows drive, your data is still safe elsewhere. it's never a matter of if but WHEN it finally happens. a high capacity hdd is rather cheap these days and well worth the cost for ensuring your data stays safe. think i paid $75 for a 3 tb spinning drive to store some data on. i can screw up my windows partitions and start over any time i want and i know my data is safe and sound elsewhere.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The first partition is the original recovery partition and I'd rather not delete it (even if I'm not sure if it works after upgrading to Win10?).

You can safely delete recovery partition.
If you absolutely need it saved, you can copy it onto another drive.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I remove the recovery partitions as a matter of course. They never really fix anything anyhow, plus, if you're going to use the recovery partition that gets created during the installation of the OS, you might as well just do a clean install of the latest version anyway. Pointless to even have them unless you plan to have no ability to create installation media later if you encounter any problems.