Not able to create partition

Hi,

I just downloaded and installed Disk Director. I've tried to create a 20GB partition on my C drive 3 times now but it hasn't worked. The C drive already has 3 partitions (229.8GB NTFS--main partition, 54.88MB FAT16--Dell diagnostics, and 3.003GB FAT32--recovery). Here's what I did:

1) Started the wizard by clicking Create Partition
2) Selected "Free space of existing partitions"
3) Selected "Disk 1" (C drive)
4) Selected "Partition: NTFS C:, Flags: Pri,Act., Capacity: 229.8GB, Free Space: 139.1GB, Type: NTFS"
5) Entered "20 GB" for partition size
6) Selected "Primary" as the partition type (I want to dual boot 2 versions of XP)
7) Selected "NTFS" as the file system
8) Selected "Yes, I want to assign a logical drive letter to the partition", Z:
9) Entered label for partition
10) Reviewed the drive structure, confirmed that the 20GB partition was there, then pressed "Finish"
11) Pressed the "Commit" icon
12) The Pending Operations window showed DD was going to: a) Resize the C: drive from 229.8GB to 209.8GB, b) Move the 3.003GB FAT32 partition, and c) Create the new 20GB partition; clicked "Proceed"
13) Allowed DD to reboot

On the 1st try, the computer froze on the initial partition creation screen after reboot (it was the first progress bar and was stuck on 100%). I left it there for an hour then powered down when it didn't look like anything was happening. Upon booting up again, the partition creation screen appeared again and this time it said something to the effect of the process being completed.

On the 2nd try, the BSOD appeared on shutdown so I had to manually boot up again.

On the 3rd try, the computer restarted fine and the partition creation process seemed to complete without a problem (a total of 2 restarts).

But the new partition wasn't showing up in DD and the existing partition was still showing 229.8GB. I'm going to try again after I post this message... Your help is appreciated!

 

Just to note, depending on how your computer boots, inserting another partition may cause the need for an XP repair to be able to boot the computer.

I also recommend that you have a current backup (True Image backup of drive or whatever backup software you use) before you make partition changes. The process is supposed to be "data-safe", but things can go wrong.

I would recommend that your boot to the DD cd to perform the procedure. That way Windows does not have to reboot and you have more control. I would use "Manual Mode" and do each step, one at a time, applying the changes after each one.

Did you list the partitions in the order they are physically on the hard disk?
[C: 229.8GB NTFS--main partition][54.88MB FAT16--Dell diagnostics][3.003GB FAT32--recovery]

I'm not sure how Dell boots now. It may be booting through one of the Dell partitions.

You would first need to shrink the C: partition. Then you'll have unallocated space after it for the new partition. You said the DD had to Move the 3.003GB FAT32 partition. Why is that?

If you still have problems, posting a screenshot of DD showing the current layout of the drive may help.

 

This was a download purchase so I don't have the CD. Does DD have a boot disk feature where you can create one for this purpose?
Edit: Ah, just found this... Tools > Bootable Media Builder. Edit again: Well, this kinda sucks... I booted using the CD, went through the whole process, then pressed Commit. I got a message saying I couldn't do this because it was a demo version. What gives? Isn't this part of the suite?

When I select View > Graphical View it shows this order: [54.88MB FAT16--Dell diagnostics] [C: 229.8GB NTFS--main partition] [3.003GB FAT32--recovery]. Also, I didn't notice this before but there's an unallocated 7.844MB at the end. Was this added by DD somewhere in this process? Note: It doesn't show up in the wizard during the Hard Disk Drive Structure review.

I'm not sure. I don't believe I selected it anywhere in the process. Here's what it says in the Pending Operations window:

Operation 2 of 3
Moving partition
Hard disk:1
Drive letter:-
Type:0xDB (Concurrent DOS, CTOS)
File system:FAT32
Volume label:
Size:3.003 GB

BTW, I tried creating a partition on another drive and it worked perfectly. It didn't reboot and I suspect that's because it wasn't the boot drive. Just wanted to confirm that it would actually work. But I'd still like to get this created on the C drive.
Edit: Sorry to add onto this thread, but is there a way to delete this test partition?

Thanks for your help.

 

Did you log into your Acronis Account and download the normal version? The Trial Version won't let you apply any changes from the CD. If you purchased the program, you'll need to download the normal version and enter your serial number to activate the program. If you had the trial version installed, then you should uninstall it before installing the normal version.

The 7MB+ unallocated space is normal.

If you do the steps one at a time, then I don't think the 3GB FAT32 partition should be touched. Unless you want to shrink C: and move the 3GB to the end of C: and then create the new partition AFTER the 3GB partition.

I would just resize the C: partition smaller. Then create the new partition in the unallocated space after it. Leave the 3GB partition where it is. Hopefully the computer will still boot properly.

DD only has to reboot when working on the Windows partition. For any other partitions, it "locks" the drive and makes the changes in Windows.

You should be able to just right-click on the partition in DD and select Delete. Then apply the changes.

 

Yup, I uninstalled the trial version and then installed the paid version where I entered the serial number.

Hmm, I don't get it. :/ Looking at the steps I used in the original post, does it look like I somehow added the 3GB partition to the process? I'm thinking DD is doing this automatically?

This is strange--I'm unable to get any contextual menu when I right-click on a drive/partition. I'm gonna try reinstalling (because of trial version issue above, as well).

 

Make sure to run DD in "Manual" mode. It gives you a lot more control and using the "Automatic" mode.

 

OIC, that solves the contextual menu issue.

I tried uninstalling/reinstalling DD to create a CD with the non-demo version of Media Builder but it didn't work. I've contacted DD tech support...

 

Have you tried removing all the Acronis folders from c:\program files\acronis and c:\program files\common files\acronis and then doing a new install? If you have True Image or another Acronis product installed, make sure not to delete those unless you want to install them again too.

A search through the Regsitry and deleting the main "Acronis" branches may also help.