Member Avatar for comcollecme

I bought a used laptop and the former owner partitioned the hardrive (no big deal) but added a second operating system on the other partition. I have windows 7 on the primary partiton but don't know how to uninstall an operating system and don't know if there is a risk of losing the files on the second partition. Is there a way for me to undo the partition itself? I probly won't anyway but I heard laptops don't function as well with partitions and might change my mind. Would I have to back-up my files externally if I did?

-Thnx

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A concise, safe checklist to remove a leftover Vista partition without killing the Windows 7 install.

First, confirm which partition actually holds the boot files — is correct that trouble appears when the Vista volume is the "System" partition. Open Disk Management (run diskmgmt.msc) and look at the Status column: the volume labeled "System" contains the boot manager. Back up any needed files from the Vista volume before making changes.

If the Windows 7 partition is not the System volume, the safest path is to remove or format the Vista volume and then reclaim the space (delete the volume in Disk Management and extend the Win7 volume if the layout allows). If the Vista volume IS the System volume, move the boot files to the Win7 partition before deleting Vista. From an elevated command prompt in Windows 7 run:

bcdboot C:\Windows /s C: /f ALL

(adjust letters if Windows 7 is not on C:). If the system will not boot afterwards, boot the Windows 7 DVD or System Repair Disc and run the recovery console commands:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

After Windows 7 boots independently, tidy the boot menu (as suggested) using the Boot tab in msconfig or Startup and Recovery settings to remove the Vista entry.

Final notes: always make a full backup or system image before touching partitions; if Disk Management cannot extend the main partition because of the partition order, use a reputable partition tool or leave the space as a separate data volume. This builds on and ’s points while avoiding a possible unbootable system if the boot manager lives on the Vista partition.

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Member Avatar for |-|x

The laptop should function fine with a partitioned drive so long as there is sufficient space on the primary partition for the OS to function (create virtual memory and temporary files, expand the registry hives etc)

The best way to get rid of the superfluous operating system would be to format the second partition. This WILL DESTROY any data on that second partition, but will not affect any data on the primary partition. I would suggest copying anything you need from the second partition either onto the primary partition or an external drive and then formatting that partition. If you are not intending to use the additional operating system you could gain yourself a fair amount of disk space and potentially performance by removing it.

If you are unsure about how to format the partition, please ask as I would hate for you to accidentally format the whole drive and lose important data.

Member Avatar for eltonpiko

you need to identifiy which partition has vista on it an right click on the drive in windows explorer and format it.you wont be able to format the win7 drive if your loged into window7.if after that you get any error starting up which i doubt just pop in your win7 dvd at start up an repair start up.

Member Avatar for JorgeM

You may also want to clean up the boot process. While logged onto Windows 7, in the start menu, right click Computer, properties, advanced system settings, advanced tab, then click on settings in the Startup and Recovery section. In the Startup and Recovery section, you have some options there to control which is the default OS and whether or not to show a list of other operating systems.

You can also do this via command line: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff545516(v=vs.85).aspx

Member Avatar for skilly

going to run into trouble if the vista partition is the system partiton...

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