Windows 10: Problem Installing Windows 10 on Laptop as 2nd OS

An ISO file is an image file. You burn a DVD/CD from the image that is within the iso file. What you did was just copy the ISO file itself to the DVD. In Windows 10 you right click on the ISO file and select "Burn disc image".

 

We tend to forget how limited Vista was regarding what it would do natively with filetypes like .iso files - not a lot, I guess. Roxio creator I haven't used for years either.
Here's a tutorial, I hope it is applicable for your version:

Creator 2010 - Create and Burn a DVD from an ISO Image file

or this

Burn a disc image file

 

Well, we are finally geting somewhere.
I took your first instructions; namely, to "burn disk image" to a DVD from the download in Win 10 on the desktop.
But, thanks for the info on Roxio - I'm saving that for future reference.

The disk worked fine on the laptop and ...
here we have attached a screenshot of the Mini Tool Partition Wizard" findings.

I find it interesting that C shows as "primary" in Mini also (Acronis did that too; but Disk Managment did not).

A few days ago when you first mentioned Mini Tool, I took a qucick look at it online - at the features of it. I saw a feature called "Align Partition". Not sure if this would be of use to us, but it looked like it may have possibilites.

 

Well, this is what I don't understand. You can only have 1 extended partition on a hard drive. That extended partition can only occupy a contiguous block of space on the hard drive, you can't have it split. All logical drives must be inside the extended partition. But what you have showing is a logical drive (D: Recovery), followed by a C: a primary partition, followed by a bunch of other logical drives. Somethin' just doesn't add up. In addition, Windows 10 Disk Management is showing C: as a logical drive inside the extended partition - just like we would expect it to be.

See here:
Primary Partition vs. Logical Drive: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Definition.

So, I think the next step would be to move (not resize) the C: drive partition to the right so you end up with the unallocated 40 GB space in front of it instead of behind it.

Move (not resize) the D: drive recovery partition to the right so you end up with all of the unallocated space at the front of the drive.

Then, just to make sure you have space outside the extended partition, in the unallocated space at the front of the drive, I would create a temporary Primary NTFS partition in it. You don't have to assign it a drive letter. Follow that by deleting that same partition.

Make sure to click the Apply button in MiniTool Partition wizard.

Once all that is done, see if you can install Windows 10.

 

We have a problem !!
I took a new full backup before the Moni Tool.

I then did all 4 recommeded actions in single Mini Tool session:

• Moved C to the right of the 40GB unallocated
• Moved D to the right of the 40GB unallocated
• (in addtion, on "my own", I tried to move the 40BG unallocated after the little 8MB unallocated, thinking maybe they would get combined). In any case, the tool ran it after "apply", but it had no effect.
• Created a Primary partition from the 40BG unallocated, called "temp" without a letter
• Deleted the "temp partition, making it unallocated.

I took screens shots after each step. But they are inacessable at the moment.

I closed out Mini Tool and shut down the machine. And removed the Mini Tool DVD.

I turned it back on and got the following:
"No Bootable Devices: strike F1 to retry boot
F2 for Setup Utility
F5 to run onboard diagnostics"

F1 was of no value - same response.
F5 looked like it would run forever and not be of any value, so I aborted it.
F2 seems like it would serve no purpose and I closed it out

I shut down the machine.

Now what ?

Thanks,
Bernie

 

Boot from the recovery DVD again. Run Macrium Reflect. Under the restore menu is a utility to fix windows startup problems. Run that utility, see if that fixes your boot problem. You can also post another screenshot of MiniTool Partition Wizard too and that will help us.

or another option, just install Windows 10 to the unallocated space, and then we can add Windows Vista back to the boot menu, but I would try the first suggestion first. It would probably be better to get the existing Windows booting again first.

 

RE: "Boot from the recovery DVD again. Run Macrium Reflect. Under the restore menu is a utility to fix windows startup problems. Run that utility, see if that fixes your boot problem. You can also post another screenshot of MiniTool Partition Wizard too and that will help us".

First: attached are 2 screenshots: now ("boot problem") and from earlier ("after delete of temp primary partition").

As for Macrium Reflect, I am lost.
I managed to get 3 screenshots (numbered 1, 2 & 3):
#1 - shows what it found, including Windows Vista (no idea what the other thing is)
#2 - this is after clicking "next"
#3 - this is after clicking "add" and selecting Windows Vista on the drop down menu for "Windows version". If I click OK,
I get "Windows path is invalid". I see "path" in the middle, but am not sure what it would be - OR - how I can see
the contents of the C partition in the current state of this machine.

HELP !!!

BTW: nice that you had Mozilla on that DVD - I could use it for this.

- Bernie

 

RE: "or another option, just install Windows 10 to the unallocated space, and then we can add Windows Vista back to the boot menu, but I would try the first suggestion first. It would probably be better to get the existing Windows booting again first."

Yes, I would prefer not to do that - all of my sofware/programs & periferals are installed on Vista - the machine would be useless to me with the Vista, at this point. And probaly lots of them would not even work with Win 10.

 

OK. The problem now is that you have no primary partitions on the hard drive. The system partition the computer boots from requires a primary partition so we have two options. Try them in order, if the first one works, you don't have to do the other. All of this is in MiniTool Partition Wizard. Our first goal is to make the Vista partition a primary partition, and then make it the system partition the computer boots from. If we can't do that, then we will create a separate primary partition as system partition to boot from. Using Option One we basically want to make your laptop hard drive look as close as possible to your desktop hard drive - if that helps.

Option One:
Right click on the Vista partition (which is D: drive in your screenshot), and attempt to convert to primary partition. Don't forget to click the apply button. If that works then right click on it and set it as the active partition. That might be under Properties, I can't remember off the top of my head. Click apply. If that works, then go to Macrium Reflect and run the fix Windows startup problems again.

Option Two: Right click on the unallocated space at front of the hard drive. Create a 500 MB (megabytes, not gigabytes!) primary, FAT32 partition at the very front of the drive. Set it as the active partition. Click pply in MiniTool Partition Wizard. Once you have the 500 MB FAT32 partition created and set as active, go to Macrium Reflect and run the Windows startup problems utility again.

And if you have problems, screenshots are the best troubleshooting we have.

 

Option One could not be done. Mini Tool would not allow it.
The below excerpt from it's tutuorial on "Set a Partition as Primary" explains it - I had the condtion in #2, as you can see from the sreenshot yesterday. Number 2 explains it:
"Well, before we talk about how to set partition as primary, we’d like to introduce some limitations of the task:
1.Users can’t finish this task if they already have 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition on the disk (since a MBR disk can support at most 4 primary partitions or 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition).
2.If the partitions on the right side and the left side of the logical partition which users want to set as primary are both logical partitions, they can’t finish the task, either (MBR disk can support at most one extended partition; if this task can be done, there will be two extended partitions on the disk).
Option Two worked I now have a new priamry/active partition named "New Primary" (as "P") @ 500MB. It is in front of the remaining unallocated of an exact 40GB, which is followed by: C (Recovery), the samll (8MB) una;located, D (OS+) i.e. Vista, and the remaining logical drives/partitions.
Why am I writinq all of this ? Becasue I am on the Desktop and the sreenshots are not available to me. And why is that ?
Because the laptop is unbearably slow even starting up. Internet access via IE (this old ver 9 in Vista) or even in Chrome just does not respond. I had to give up and switch machines - it flies with the same ISP connection, BTW. Incidentally, I restarted it (laptop) twice, after Macrium ran. Too bad, I have loads of screenshots.

Any sugestions to speed it up to it's prior, normal FAST ?
I don't see installing Win 10 ashe 2nd OS (the original goal) with it like this.

OH -- there is one other thing. When the laptop is turned on/restarted, it now gives 2 boot options. One is Vista (no surprise), and the other is that "Lnghorn" thing ( id not write doens the full name) - you can see it on the Macrium screenshot from yesterday. I have no clue s to what that is or where it came from. I have few comments on it:

• Could it in someway be causing the slowdown ?
• It will be a nuisance to have to select from the 2 every time
• Do I need it ?
• If not can I get rid of it ?
• If, so how ?

I guess that's all for now.

If you really need the screenshots, I could try moving them (I have Detto's Intellimover) from the laptop to the desktop - if the slowness of the laptop will allow it.

- Bernie

 

Oh, I ran into one other obstacle. The Win1058.... DVD somehow gave me all sort of problems this time. Thank God I burned 2 copies on 2 disks. I won't get into the details, since I got the 2nd one to work.

 

Bernie,

From your post #9, it is very evident that that installation of Vista on the laptop is dying. I'm afraid you are either going to have to re-install a fresh Vista or move on from it. The internet worked just fine when you booted from Kyhi's recovery drive, didn't it?

If there was recovery software included in the Vista on the laptop, you might be able to make a Vista recovery disc from it, or reinstall Vista with it from the recovery partition that is still on the laptop.

Looks like you can still buy Windows Vista from Amazon and Ebay.

You can also try uninstalling every program on Vista that you don't actively use. That includes all the anti-Malware and anti-Virus programs you might have.

 

Guess what.
I'm coming to you from the laptop.
I turned on the laptop today and all is fine. I got to your site in seconds.
"What a diffrence a day makes".

RE: Option Two:
I have attached a bunch of screenshots:

• from Mini tool: after creation of a new Primary/active partiton ("P"), and
• a few along the Macrium process
• Disk Management after it all - capture done just now.

So the big question is: do you see this as a good setup to now install Win 10 as the 2nd OS in the unallocated space after the new "P" partition" ?

The other question I have is: when I turn on the laptop I new get (never before) a choice to boot from one of:

• Vista
• "Windows (TM) Code Name Longhorn Preinstallation Environment"

I never saw "longhorn" before. Maybe it was there and it automatically booted from Vista. I have no idea. But
do you happen to:

• know anything about it
• how to get rid of it, if I don't need it
• or, maybe the best, and safest, have the machine automaticly boot from Vista. This, of course in advance of Win 10 install. That leads to another question, how would this "lonhorn" affect the inteded dual boot of Vista and Win 10 ?

BTW: preparing for the worst (before turning this machine on) I found an unopened DVD from Dell - a "reinstalltion of Vista" DVD. Also a drivers/utilities DVD. They came with the Desktop - the laptop ones are probably in another location, where I mostly use the laptop (I sync the 2 machines up data-wise to have them be mirror images, for when I am in the other location). But I was hoping that the DVD would work on this machine.

I also found that the "Recovery" partition has 2 files in a "boot" folder: "bootmgr.exe.mui" and "memtest.exe.mui". If had to, do you happen to know what I would do with them, if anything, to restore Vista ?

That's all enough for now.

Again, thanks for everything.

Bernie

 

You should be good to go to install Windows 10 to the unallocated space. It should create it's own boot menu option in the newly created system partition we created (which is why we made it 500mb - so Windows 10 could use it). After Windows 10 has installed and you have the boot menu options working for both Vista and Windows 10 - from Windows 10 you can run MSCONFIG, and on the boot tab, delete the Longhorn entry.

The internet working again is probably due to a DNS cache flush, I'm guessing.

It's been too long since I have used Vista, I would have no idea how to make recovery media for it from the recovery partition. If the Vista installed now is the factory original, you might want to look for factory software installed to make recovery media. I started the PC journey in about 1980 with a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I.

 

Great, thanks.
What a long journey !
I was nosing around and I see that the 500 MB partition is in use now - by Vista, obviously.

Yes couple of reboorts and magic, it's as good as - and I suspect, better - than before. LIke you say a cache flush could do that probably - make it even faster than before.

I will wait till tomrrow to do Win 10 - I'm so burnt out.

I think I saw somethng re creating a recovery disk. I'll check tht out and do it. Sure can't hurt.

Not sure how long I'll keep Vista. Just want to ease into Win 10. Another big concern was having to purchse new versions of some software and maybe even some new hardware - all for Win 10. Seems silly, whn the versions I have in Vista work fine for me. The only real lissue was non-support and internet access via the old IE (even the old Chrome is off support).

Also MS had to have issued some sort of Vista update (I alswys have auto update turned on) that affected my ability to download .exe files, etc. It stsarted about 1 1/2 year ago or so.

A bit of my backgraound. I spent most of my life and career as a mainframe guy - in mangment after awhile, but always kept myself "hands on" as best I could. Then PC's came along. We had basic use of them - kind of like a replacement for the old "dumb terminals". But we did do mainframe applications to use the PC's for data entry and for downloading report data to the business partners in the corp. But not technical PC stuff like this - that was the admin guys' job. Also used MS Office prods. that was the extent of it. Slso used for mainframe access from home - great at 2 AM !!

My first PC was, what I believe was, the first color laptop - a Compaq Contura with Win 3.1 - what was that mid to late 90's ?

Wow, you sure go back a long way with PC's. I remember hearing about the Radio Shack ones. And I understand you not recalling all this Vista stuff. Particuilarly with frequent new stuff and when you are "cutting edge", you almost naturally put the old behind you quickly.

Anway, nice talking to you.
I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

No screenshots needed - now.