I want a bootable partition of my 80GB notebook drive so i can put XP on it, but Vista's shrink volume feature doesn't work. It says that there is no shrinkable space, even though i have 39GB free space. I defragmented the drive about 4 times, and tried all kinds of things to get it to work (like disable hibernation, system restore, etc.) but still nothing. I tried 3 different defragmentation programs and they all show the last 30% of the drive clean. I know that Partition magic doesn't work on vista (because vista is retarded), so I need some way to make a small (maybe 5GB) partition without screwing up any of my data. Can anyone help?
Vista shrink volume -- piece of crap
- Thread starter pc_boy
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So you followed this?
Resize Partitions in Windows Vista, Shrink or Extend a Partition : Welcome To Tech-Dump
Resize Partitions in Windows Vista, Shrink or Extend a Partition : Welcome To Tech-Dump
Working Around Windows Vista's "Shrink Volume" Inadequacy Problems :: the How-To Geek
I even tried that, and it didn't help. The dialog box over there is the same on I get. Zero for the "size of available shrink space".
Is there anything i can do?
I even tried that, and it didn't help. The dialog box over there is the same on I get. Zero for the "size of available shrink space".
Is there anything i can do?
The partitions themselves are not bootable. That is what bootloaders are for. 
Like GRUB, boot.ini for XP and the BCD for Vista.
GParted will allow you to create empty space before or after your Vista install that you can use to create a active partition that you can use to install XP on it. From there you will have to use the VIsta Recovery DVD to get the Vista bootlaoder back and add a XP entry to it so that you can dual boot.
For more information on this visit
NeoSmart Technologies
The applicaiton EasyBCD will help you accomplish this task easily.
Like GRUB, boot.ini for XP and the BCD for Vista. GParted will allow you to create empty space before or after your Vista install that you can use to create a active partition that you can use to install XP on it. From there you will have to use the VIsta Recovery DVD to get the Vista bootlaoder back and add a XP entry to it so that you can dual boot.
For more information on this visit
NeoSmart Technologies
The applicaiton EasyBCD will help you accomplish this task easily.
Burning ISO Images to a CD or DVD - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
Burn the ISO to a CD. There are instruction on how to if you dont know. From there jsut boot with the CD in the tray. It will auto boot to the CD and load up the application. From there it is pretty simple on how to accomplish what you want to do.
Burn the ISO to a CD. There are instruction on how to if you dont know. From there jsut boot with the CD in the tray. It will auto boot to the CD and load up the application. From there it is pretty simple on how to accomplish what you want to do.
I started it up and it showed one big 74GB part, and I couldn't shrink it or partition it because it said that there is no space available (even though it's 1/2 empty).
I don't know if this helps but a while back I had the HP Recovery 9GB partition (it came like that), so I did a right-click > Format > quick format on it in Vista and used the Disk Management tool to extend and make the hard drive whole. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but it could.
I don't know if this helps but a while back I had the HP Recovery 9GB partition (it came like that), so I did a right-click > Format > quick format on it in Vista and used the Disk Management tool to extend and make the hard drive whole. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but it could.
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