Can I delete the system reserved partition from 100MB

For the record, YOU did not mess up. You followed directions as far as Windows would allow. Well done. See you can do it and not destroy everything.

THE PROBLEM:  The "System Reserved" partition MUST be a "Primary" partition, NOT a "Logical" partition. And it MUST be a min of 100MB. I think it will be when it is a "Primary" partition and not a "Logical" partition.

EXPLANATION:  Windows allows only 4 "Primary" partitions for each hard drive. Because you have 3 "Primary" partitions already, Windows decided to make the forth partition "Logical". The way it works, an "Extended" partition takes the place of the fourth partition and allows for many "Logical" volumes (or partitions) inside the "Extended" partition.

SOLUTION:  If you are not able to force Windows to make the unallocated space into a 100MB "Primary" partition, you will need to delete the 540GB "New Volume" partition and try again. If necessary, delete the newly created "Logical" (and "Extended") partition and then create the 100MB "System Reserved" partition as a "Primary" partition and proceed from there.

After you have sucessfully created your new boot partition, you can delete the old 99MB "System Reserved" partition. You will then be allowed to extend your Windows partition to the right as you wish, and create a new partition in the remaining unallocated space.

Cheers!

Robert

isseuu--

"SOLUTION:  If you are not able to force Windows to make the unallocated space into a 100MB "Primary" partition, you will need to delete the 540GB "New Volume" partition and try again. If necessary, delete the newly created "Logical" (and "Extended") partition and then create the 100MB "System Reserved" partition as a "Primary" partition and proceed from there."

Thanks for the advice.  I think I will leave things as they are as long as they work.  I am not too confident of my ability to "force" those partitions.  It would be easy to Delete D:.  It contains nothing and there is a Delete option.  But then you say "try again".  At what part in your earlier instructions do I start trying?  Would Z: automatically become a Primary partition?  How would I size it to 100MB?  It now only has the option to Shrink Volume. 

" create the 100MB "System Reserved" partition as a "Primary" partition "  Are you talking about the present (and original) System Reserved partition which now is only 99MB?  It already is a Primary partition.

And what does the Extend Volume option mean (not that I have that for any partition now)?  Does it mean "make larger" or something else?

"I think I will leave things as they are as long as they work." Yes, that might be best. Perhaps you can find a friend or relative who can do it for you. Or maybe you know someone who can use the "Remote Desktop Assistance" to do it for you.

As for your other questions:  go back to this MS link I posted earlier:  Understanding Disk Partitions   You will see a picture of an example of "More Than Four Partitions":  three "Primary" partitions, then the "Extended" partition with two "Logical" partitions inside the "Extended" partition. When you tried to create the simple volume in the 101MB unallocated space at the front of your hard drive, you said you: "Gave it drive letter Z and it was automatically named a Logical Drive". Did you just accept that Windows "automatically named it a Logical Drive", or did you tell Windows that YOU wanted it to be a "Primary" volume (or partition)? If you just accepted Windows choice as a Logical partition, then Windows first created the "Extended" partition and then put the "Logical" drive inside the "Extended" partition. So you now have a 99MB "logical" drive inside an "Extended" partition.

Had you changed that from "Logical" to "Primary" at that point in time, you would now be done. You would be resizing (shrinking and extending) your partitions to suit you.

So if you change your mind and decide to "try again", you would need to delete what you created in the 101MB space at the front of your hard drive so that again it is unallocated space like it was before you created a simple volume there. Then to make it easier for you and to stop Windows from trying to make the "Simple Volume" a "Logical Drive", delete D:

Then repeat the steps you did before:  "You are creating a simple volume (Primary Volume) of 100MB in size, you are going to assign drive letters, you are going to copy files from one to the other, you are going to mark the newly created 100MB partition as "Active" and give it no drive letter, and boot. If the computer does not boot to Windows, you are going to boot to the DVD and Windows will most likely repair its self. If not, you can select "Startup Repair" from the menu and do it yourself."

Cheers!

Robert