Partitioning new laptop HDD

vince3 · 24 Dec 2010 at 16:25

My new laptop has a 500gb HDD. I want to partition it to keep the OS separate from my data. I started Windows 7 Disk management and it shows drive C as Basic with 454GB capacity; that's OK because of hidden recovery. I chose Shrink Volume which I understand is how to free space to create a new drive. But it shows the maximum shrink space as 226GB. It says I cannot shrink beyond unmovable files - but why should these be located half way along the drive? I wanted to go to 80GB drive C and then create the remaining approx. 370GB as drive D. Can anyone help with why I can only shrink by 225?
Also there is an option to mark the partition as 'Active' and I wonder what this means?

Thank you for any help with these questions.

SiriusB · 24 Dec 2010 at 16:37

You should use something like GParted or Partition Magic. They handle repartitioning with existing data better than Windows.

Pho · 24 Dec 2010 at 16:42

GParted works well, however you might have to repair your install if you use it. If you have a Windows 7 DVD it's simple:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-gparted-to-resize-your-windows-vista-partition/

vince3 · 24 Dec 2010 at 17:44

I don't have a DVD. All s/w was pre-installed. But there is a recovery partition and I've made the DVDs. But I'll admit I don't really fancy having to rebuild all the s/w on a brand new PC. I did a quick Google and one suggestion was to turn off System Restore. I may try that.