Help Modifiying Partitions: Active/System Status and Deletion

[Adam Skelton]

I had my whole story written here; but when I went to post, Neowin 404d. I'm far too aggravated to retype it all...

 

Screenshot

 

Basically, I deleted a partition and expanded Mulsivaas partition. I want to delete Windows 7 partition as well, but cannot because it is set as both Active and System. When I set Mulsivaas as Active, expecting it to drop the Windows 7 Active status, I got an MBR boot error (I couldn't find the MBR files I needed to move). I used the Windows 8 disc and did the auto boot fix. It set both Windows 7 and Mulsivaas as Active, but made Windows 7 "System" and Mulsivaas "Boot." Mulsivaas is definitely the primary boot drive, because I get the Windows 8 OS selector when I boot.

 

I used the cmd on the disc to override delete Windows 7 partition, but got the same MBR error when booting. I used the auto boot fix which simply brought back the Windows 7 partition.

 

So what do I do to delete this pesky Windows 7 partition?

 

P.S. If it helps: I can never reboot my computer. Every time I try to reboot manually or restart after an installation, my system hangs during the spinning dots of Win8 startup. At this point I have to manually shut down and turn back on. I always have to do this every time.

[Karl L.]

Have you considered using GParted Live to delete the partition? GParted is much more powerful than the Windows partition manager, and it will not have a conflict with the partition flags because you are using it from a live disc.

 

Windows not allowing you to properly reboot your computer sounds like another issue entirely. Try rebooting from Windows into the GParted Live disc, and vise-versa. If that does not work you likely have a hardware problem; if it does I would suspect something with your Windows installation - maybe the chipset drivers. In the former case the verbose output GParted Live will give you when booting could help narrow down the issue. In the latter case I recommend that you check your Windows event logs for errors and maybe warnings for the same purpose.

[Adam Skelton]

Thanks for the quick response, xorangekiller. I'll check out GParted right now.

I believe it will do the same thing diskpart did when I was running it through the cmd on the Windows 8 disc, though, because I was running that from a live disc as well, and the autofix brought the partition back.

[Adam Skelton]

I was hoping to get some more help on this issue, but things seem to be a little slow here :rolleyes:

[Karl L.]

Are you still having a problem deleting the partition? Did you delete it with GParted and the repair feature on the Windows 8 installation disc brought it back again? I am willing to offer more suggestions, but you need to provide a little more information. I think my earlier post is a reasonable starting point. Based on the dearth of other replies so far, I think that more details might spur more suggestions.

[Adam Skelton]

xorangekiller, on 27 Jun 2013 - 15:09, said:

Have you considered using GParted Live to delete the partition? GParted is much more powerful than the Windows partition manager, and it will not have a conflict with the partition flags because you are using it from a live disc.

 

Windows not allowing you to properly reboot your computer sounds like another issue entirely. Try rebooting from Windows into the GParted Live disc, and vise-versa. If that does not work you likely have a hardware problem; if it does I would suspect something with your Windows installation - maybe the chipset drivers. In the former case the verbose output GParted Live will give you when booting could help narrow down the issue. In the latter case I recommend that you check your Windows event logs for errors and maybe warnings for the same purpose.

After I finally got GParted working live (had MBR issues of its own), I waited the 4 hours for it to delete the Windows 7 partition, move Mulsivaas left, then extend into the empty space. After that, I still had MBR issues.

 

I ran the Windows 8 disc again, but the auto fix detected an unfixable issue. Worried, I looked up the cmd command to construct a new MBR. After that, I still could not boot.

 

One last time I tried the autofix on the Win8 disc. Apparently the MBR command combined with the autofix was the magic spot. I've got Mulsivaas up and running and using the entire 2TB RAID for its partition. Thanks for the suggestions,

xorangekiller! Now I can play with 8.1 on my desktop after having a wonderful experience on my Surface.