Thinkpads Forum

I have shrunk the default primary (C: drive) partition on my T60, creating empty space for some new partitions. I did this on my T40 with no problems, but on the T60, when I hit F11 at bootup, I am getting odd results.

If the empty space is partitioned as a primary partition, then using F11 at startup yields the text-based message "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" in the upper left of the screen.

If the empty space is partitioned as an extended partition, then using F11 at startup yields just a flashing cursor at the upper left of the screen.

In both cases, hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del restarts the system.

Am I doing something wrong? The original partition was shrunk using EASEUS Partition Manager 3.0 Home Edition. The creation of additional partitions was done using the XP Pro native Disk Management utility.

Thanks.

I’ve partitioned many drives but use Partition Magic, what difference that makes I don’t know. In partitioning any active drive I first BACK IT UP! S..T happens. When partitioning C it’s called an active partition using PM and the rest can be logical or whatever. My Cs are all less than 30G to keep the size of BU images down size wise and I try to make an image of C once a week onto a different drive. Validating a new image is NO guarantee it will work, though I’ve had good overall luck using True Image.

visch1 wrote:I’ve partitioned many drives but use Partition Magic, what difference that makes I don’t know. In partitioning any active drive I first BACK IT UP! S..T happens. When partitioning C it’s called an active partition using PM and the rest can be logical or whatever. My Cs are all less than 30G to keep the size of BU images down size wise and I try to make an image of C once a week onto a different drive. Validating a new image is NO guarantee it will work, though I’ve had good overall luck using True Image.

Could use clarification as to which part of this reply relates to the question posted.

Did you set the newly created partition as the active one?
If so, change it so the 'old' partition is the active one again.
You can have up to 4 primary partitions on a HD without problems.

Could use clarification as to which part of this reply relates to the question posted.[/quote]

It describes a process that I use as I don’t think yours is working. Backing up is SOP. Having C the active partition is SOP. Making a 3000 mile fix is just a guess explaining pass experience.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Did you set the newly created partition as the active one?
If so, change it so the 'old' partition is the active one again.

The "old" C: drive partition remains the active one.

Note this problem only occurs when I hit F11 to enter the R&R partition. Otherwise it all works as expected.

I’M guessing now as usual, but when you “shrunk” C to its present size I’m wondering what happened to the “invisible” partition where the recovery resides. It could have been deleted if “the empty space” was deleted or formatted to prepare for more partitions. If that happened I’d guess you’d have the results your experiencing.

visch1 wrote:I’M guessing now as usual, but when you “shrunk” C to its present size I’m wondering what happened to the “invisible” partition where the recovery resides. It could have been deleted if “the empty space” was deleted or formatted to prepare for more partitions. If that happened I’d guess you’d have the results your experiencing.

Perhaps the original post was not clear.

The system R&R partition works as expected when the empty space is empty.
The problem is only when the empty space is partitioned (either as primary or extended -- each yielding a different kind of error).
If I delete the partition in the empty space, the R&R partition works normally again.

The original C: partition remains the active partition throughout.
The problem is only when choosing F11 at boot.
When not choosing F11, everything boots fine and works fine.

Are you running Vista?

richk wrote:Are you running Vista?

I am running XP Pro.

I hope to use one of the new partitions to Win 7 beta.

westpost wrote:I have shrunk the default primary (C: drive) partition on my T60, creating empty space for some new partitions. I did this on my T40 with no problems, but on the T60, when I hit F11 at bootup, I am getting odd results.

If the empty space is partitioned as a primary partition, then using F11 at startup yields the text-based message "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" in the upper left of the screen.

If the empty space is partitioned as an extended partition, then using F11 at startup yields just a flashing cursor at the upper left of the screen.

In both cases, hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del restarts the system.

Am I doing something wrong? The original partition was shrunk using EASEUS Partition Manager 3.0 Home Edition. The creation of additional partitions was done using the XP Pro native Disk Management utility.

Thanks.

Same problem for me with a new T500. I wanted to divide the disc into two partitions to separate data from os.

I tried Partition Magic (it officially only supports discs up to 300GB) and later gParted. Your finding that the F11 partition works if you delete the newly created partition inspired me to find a solution that works for me!

I shrunk the C of Preload partition, moved the service partition to the left and created a extended partition on the empty space on the right site of the disk (and added a logical). On the first boot of the service partition a short repair dialogue showed up and on the new logical partition a 'SWSHARE' folder was created with two asci files (rr.txt and sfr.txt). The folder and files could be deleted without further problems.

Thank you for your effort and I hope I was able to help you as well.