Hard Drive Partitioning Paradox

I've been trying to install my [legit] virtual copy of Windows 7 for a while now...like a lot of people I'm running into hard drive problems.
The Short:
The system partition I installed XP on is too small to hold 7.
I got a secondary hard drive to house 7 on; only the drive is "Dynamic" and therefore 7 will not install on it.

I can't boot from disk [no disk]. Of course I can't make the system drive bigger, but neither can I make it smaller without deleting XP...which since I can't boot from a disk I can't delete XP.

I have a feeling the simplest solution is to fork over money for a physical disk...but I'd rather not [college student woes; the virtual copy was from a student promotion.] So if anyone has a good way to make this work with what I've got; that would be lovely...

First, unplug the drive that has XP on it. The other hard drive just re-format it. Once you do that it will no longer be dynamic drive but a primary drive.

You say you can't boot from disc. Does that mean you don't have a Windows 7 install disc? PLEASE be more specific!

Yes; I have a virtual copy of the installation program. I got it via the win741.com promotion; so it's not like, a crack or anything.
Therefore I need my current OS [XP] to access the installer, and can't just wipe everything and install fresh; which probably would have been what I would have done if I had the installer on a physical disk.

I'll try your suggestion maybe later on today. If you think it's still applicable in this situation [seems like it might be...but I've never really fussed with hard drives and partitioning, so not my forte.]

Is it Windows 7 Professional? Which version are you using and is it x32 or x64?

How large is your hard drive? You said that your XP partition is too small for Windows 7. What else do you have on it? I have Win 2K Pro and Windows 7 installed on a 40GB hard drive. And something else. What is a "virtual" copy of Windows 7? I've heard of virtual machines and virtual players (I have two of those), but I've never heard of a virtual copy of Windows 7. One last thing, please post some specs of your computer, and you will get a little more advice.

I was wondering the same thing. Problem is, they never stick around to "translate" their questions into English. Haha

The virtual copy is probably the $30 downloaded version offered to students by Digital River.

hi, maybe a free hard drive partition software could help you , try this:Partition Assistant.