Windows 8 will not find any drivers

[pooly1]

Or can I put it on a CD and how, which one is better USB or CD .
will I be able to use the USB for documents as well?

 

[GMan]

Or can I put it on a CD and how, which one is better USB or CD .
will I be able to use the USB for documents as well?

You can make a Windows To Go USB but the experience is going to be slow if you don't have a very fast 3.0 drive.

Here's what I recommend for the moment. Try simply to go and convert your HDD to basic using Easus. They have a good reputation and their software will not attempt to do anything that it can't.

It probably, in all likelihood, will do what it has to do for you somehow someway, when converting to basic. If it can't or won't, it will not allow it.

So, it's probably just as simple as using Easus to convert to basic right now. Backup though! (It's not going to ruin anything or lose data, but I can't tell you to proceed without a safety net.)

 

[pooly1]

What do you recommend I back up then?

 

[GMan]

What do you recommend I back up then?

Just your C: volume.

Anything else is replaceable. For instance, once you install Windows 8, the Recovery volume becomes useless anyhow. I don't know what is on HP tools volume, but whatever it is, you can download if you need.

So even, you could right now format Recovery D: and merge it to G: - then Easus is guaranteed to work for sure, to convert to basic. You would not even lose anything important, because as I said, Recovery will be useless anyway once 8 is installed.

With access to this website and/or others like it, you'll never need Recovery anyhow. There's ways to do anything without it or always can fix any problems, to begin with, without needing it.

 

[Calico]

Whilst thinking about this last night, I was wondering how you came to have five partitions and that got me thinking about disk manager. If I remember correctly, if one has four primary partitions and one tries to add a further partition, to some unallocated space, disk manager converts all existing partitions, apart from the system and boot, to an extended drive in which it creates logical partitions. So, if you used disk manager to create your partitions, chances are three of those simple volumes are logical. If so, the conversion back to basic disk should be straight forward.

 

[whest]

Couldn't pooly1 just image w7 and store the image on one of the other drives, so he could upgrade if he wanted to later down the track, assuming he wanted to upgrade (may only need the key?), and then install w8 to c drive with a quick format - no dual boot, however, this way is easier and faster. That solves the only one OS for a dynamic disk problem - he could also put w7 back on c drive easily if he doesn't want w8.

Long term he would be better off to going back to a basic drive, as you say.

Troubleshooting Disk Management: Storage Services; File and Storage Services

Working with Basic and Dynamic Disks

 

[Calico]

It is possible to install some versions of Windows onto an existing dynamic disk, I haven't tried Windows 8 but I'm guessing it should work, considering the edition. However, the OP has tried this and it failed. On giving the problem some additional thought, it may be because the volume is not marked as active. If this is the problem, it may be possible to reset the 'Active' flag using diskpart. I guess it just depends what the OP wants to do...

 

[whest]

I was reading those links and it was saying the dynamic disk when converted is automatically made active, and i guess that's why you can only have one OS installed - I just assumed that's why it wouldn't install W8 unless it was installed to the w7 drive.

I'm not sure i interpreted the following correctly:Note: You can't mark volumes as active. When you upgrade a basic disk containing the active partition to a dynamic disk, this partition becomes a simple volume that is active automatically.

 

[pooly1]

I only want to dual boot it as it only in beta and I do not want to risk it, I am not going to make windows 8 consumer preview my main program as it has too many risks associated with it to do that.
If it is going to be better and easy to do then I will just make my drives basic, soon then see if that works

 

[Calico]

When converting basic to dynamic the 'Active' flag should be kept and this should be the System volume in the case of Windows 7/8. I would imagine, if the 'Active' flag had been removed the system would no longer boot. That leads to another possibility, that is, the, I'm guessing, new, 'Windows partition' doesn't have an MBR associated with it and thus is not seen as an installable location. take a look at the images.

The first is a typical Windows 7 installation.
The second is the same installation that's been converted
The third and forth shows what happens when attempting to install Windows 8
The fifth is the same installation after adding an MBR to the new partition

Maybe this is the problem and it's one we can overcome relatively easily.

 

[Calico]

I only want to dual boot it as it only in beta and I do not want to risk it, I am not going to make windows 8 consumer preview my main program as it has too many risks associated with it to do that.
If it is going to be better and easy to do then I will just make my drives basic, soon then see if that works

You can try an add an MBR to your 'Windows partition' but you'll have to supply a little information first.

1. Open an Administrative command prompt
2. Type diskpart <Enter>
3. Type - Select disk 0
4. Type - List volume

Post the results of that here.

 

[GMan]

I read that Windows 8 can not be installed to a dynamic disk for security reasons, but not 100% sure it is true - I think although it probably is - I read it on a MSDN but it was only one person saying it and I never count that as a fact automatically, unless it's someone I know and already trust.

So grain of salt thing here.

Many users were looking for ways to fix their problem getting Windows 8 installed when having dynamic disks.

I bet the imagex.exe install method would work a treat though. I'd try that. Let me know if interested.

 

[Calico]

I read that Windows 8 can not be installed to a dynamic disk for security reasons, but not 100% sure it is true - I think although it probably is - I read it on a MSDN but it was only one person saying it and I never count that as a fact automatically, unless it's someone I know and already trust.

So grain of salt thing here.

It was always the case with Windows 7 that only the Pro and above versions could be installed on to a dynamic disk. As the version of Windows 8 we have, is effectively the Pro edition, it should be fine.

Many users were looking for ways to fix their problem getting Windows 8 installed when having dynamic disks.

I bet the imagex.exe install method would work a treat though. I'd try that. Let me know if interested.

I added the MBR, via diskpart, to the empty volume and was able to install without problem. It also dual boots with Windows 7.

 

[GMan]

I added the MBR, via diskpart, to the empty volume and was able to install without problem. It also dual boots with Windows 7.

As I read it, you intend and mean you installed normally from USB or DVD? Cool deal!

 

[Calico]

I added the MBR, via diskpart, to the empty volume and was able to install without problem. It also dual boots with Windows 7.

As I read it, you intend and mean you installed normally from USB or DVD? Cool deal!

I had a test system running Windows 7. I created some free space on the C: drive and created an new partition. I then converted the disk to dynamic. At first Windows 8 wouldn't install to the new volume, so I used diskpart to add an MBR to the volume, which basically makes it recognisable as a partition for the installer. The installation was from DVD.

 

[pooly1]

Would be so easy if I could do that, but it says the version of windows cannot do that command! so annoying!

 

[Calico]

Would be so easy if I could do that, but it says the version of windows cannot do that command! so annoying!

Are you referring to diskpart? If so, which version of Windows are you running? Also, are you running the command in an Administrative command prompt and what, exactly, are you entering as a command?

 

[Haxcid]

All commands are the same between 7 and 8. What command are you running?

open a command window
type diskpart
type select disk 0
type list vol

copy the info here. You can copy and paste from the windows by right clicking the upper left hand corner of the command windows, from the menu select edit, then Mark. Now in the command window drag your cursor over from the upper left corner INSIDE the window down and to the right so that everything is highlighted then hit enter to copy. Now you can paste it here.