Windows 7 HELP. I accidentally dual booted Win 7

[cebosound]

Hello,

I used to have ubuntu dual booted with win 7. then i decided i didn't want ubuntu dual booted anymore and wanted my boot up to automatically boot win7. I deleted the ubuntu partition, but then I lost my boot up menu during startup. So I ran the Win 7 Ultimate disk in hopes to repair that. Instead I ended up with a fresh install that seems to be a seperate partition. the good news is it fixed my boot up , but now I have the option of 2 win 7s when I boot.

I want to have just 1. and i think the one I want to keep is the fresh install, so my question is....

How can I make my new install of win 7 be the only operating system on my computer. The older win7 i have is the one i have been using , but think i want to put all my data i need on a external hard drive, then delete that partition, then make the new fresh installled win 7 as my only operating system on my laptop.

I am a bit of a newbie, and I appreciate any ideas.

Thank you.

 

[Super Sarge]

Go run type MSCONFIG select the boot tab you should see both in there, Highlight the one you want to delete and select delete. That should do it.
As always though it is advisable to have current backup of the system, after all this is Windows

 

[Saltgrass]

You might open Disk Management, and use the snipping tool to take a picture then attach using the paperclip from an Advanced reply. It might be good to know which partition is active and where your boot files are before you delete a partition. Make sure and label which Win 7 install is which.

 

[cebosound]

Thank you for the replies. Here is the disk mgt snip it.

...
and here is the boot from system config...

 

[Saltgrass]

It is a little strange you have a logical partition on the drive, did you put it there or Ubuntu?

The System Reserved and C: appear to be a normal Win 7 install. If C: is where the install you want to keep is, Super Sarge's suggestion should work fine.

You can also change the Default OS partition in msconfig, so before you delete a partition, set that to the install you want and make sure it is working. After you do that, look at Disk Management again and make sure the partition you show as C: is the one you think.

If it turns out the E: partition (Logical) is the one you want to keep, that might present a problem in the future.

 

[Super Sarge]

One determine which OS you want to keep, IF you want to keep your current default as shown which is E just highlight the one with C in it and hit delete button.
If you want to keep the one that says C highlight it and make it your default. Then highlight E and delete it. Upon reboot the machine will boot to the one you choose as a default and since you deleted the other one you will no longer see the machine asking you to make a choice. After that I would go to the drive where the old OS is a delete everything in that drive. Your disc will now have 3 partitions one with System Reserve 100 MB The other one will have you Windows OS on it, the third one will have the old one it. In fact I would rename disk on the one you are going to delete as w7delete, so when you go to remove everything on this old one you know you are on the right disc/partition.
I Have a dual boot I have Vista 32 bit on my D Drive and and the Drive name is Vista_32_Bit My C drive is named W7_64_Bit. In my case thiogh they are on completely different internal hard drives. I do not partition my drives.

 

[Super Sarge]

It should not be problem if he wants to keep E\ as I think W7 will boot to that partition with no problem.

 

[Saltgrass]

It should not be problem if he wants to keep E\ as I think W7 will boot to that partition with no problem.

Yes, this is correct about the booting. But I have two other thoughts. First, the OS would be on a logical partition, which I would not want, but that might just be a personal preference. It is possible to change a logical into a primary partition with third party software, but possibly risky.

Secondly, it is easy to move the trailing edge of a partition if there is free space available, but problematic moving leading edge. If he ever wants to make the OS partition larger, it will require some risky partition manipulation.

This is like picking out a Sound System--whatever makes you happy is best..

 

[cebosound]

Okay, so i don't want to have multiple partitions anymore either. I believe ubuntu is what created that partition.

On msconfig, I made the Win7 that i am using as my default (C). the one that is on (E) is the new one. i was thinking of keeping E and deleting C. C is the one i have been using for about a year. If it is easier to delete the E partition, then maybe that is what i will do. I kind of liked the fresh install of the Win 7 one E because it is a little more official (that is a whole other topic lol).

But the important thing for me is to get to 1 win7 operating system. I want all of my Gigabit space to be used by that one system. I am afraid that after I delete one of the partitions, i won't be able to extend the op system i want to keep to use all of my hard drive space. When i right click the partition i would keep, the extend option isnt available. can someone shed some light on this part of the issue.
.
Thanks, and i know i am probably all over the place and a bit confusing to many of you, .... so i apreciate your help and patience.

 

[cebosound]

Yes, this is correct about the booting. But I have two other thoughts. First, the OS would be on a logical partition, which I would not want, but that might just be a personal preference. It is possible to change a logical into a primary partition with third party software, but possibly risky.

Secondly, it is easy to move the trailing edge of a partition if there is free space available, but problematic moving leading edge. If he ever wants to make the OS partition larger, it will require some risky partition manipulation.

This is like picking out a Sound System--whatever makes you happy is best..

I don't understand the difference between a logical partition and a primary partition; but I think you are right that I would prefer to have a primary partition. Will I be able to extent the primary partition if i delete the logical partition?

Also, I think there is a part of the install setup process with win7 where you can delete all hard drive partitions. So should I just save all of my pics, music, vids, other important files, etc to an external drive.... then just do a fresh install and delete all other partitions in that process. Or is this really unecessary?

The one thing i do like is that my current (C) partition win 7 has all of my sony vaio hardware and software updates, where as the new one i will have to go to sony support and get them all back to working correctly. ....???

 

[Super Sarge]

He could/should change the drive letter on his CD/DVD drive first to somthing like Y or Z, I have both mine as Y and Z.
If he keeps the old C he could then change drive letter on E to D and then using windows he should be able to extend C. this is way I do not partition my drives.
But this is us discussing his machine.

 

[Super Sarge]

Yes if you keep the new one you will have to go to Sony to bring everything that is outdated up to date, If the Old one Partition C:\ works for you that is the one I would keep and I would delete E:\

 

[cebosound]

so if i delete the E drive partition. then I will have only the c drive partition and that 100mg back up partition and thats it?
.
so after that, then How do I extend the C drive partition to using all hard drive? is this automatic and start up? -Thanks

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

EasyBCD should allow you to set the boot to which ever one you want to use.
Once it boots directly into the one you want, you should be able to remove the other installation.

EasyBCD - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

I would stick with the one on C:\.

You don't have a lot of total disk space here, and partitioning the drive into two partitions doesn't seem like the best option.

You might want to backup your data format the drive and start over and install Windows 7, then add a new drive to hold your data.

Hard drives are pretty cheap any more.

Mike

Ps. Whatever you do don't delete the second Windows installation until you have it booting directly into the one you want to keep.
That leads to all kinds of problems, I found that out the hard way years ago.

 

[Super Sarge]

First off when you delete the E:\ from being a boot partition you are not deleting the partition that partition will still be there.

You would then go to computer management go to start type computer you will see computer management near the top select that and select Disc Management highlight your Disc 0 (according to your screen shot the one with E on it.) highlight then right click on the E:\ either Un-allocate this space or reformat the E:\ Partition, then using the instructions below you should be able to extend C:into E: without any problems. ( I personally would format it using quick format) Remember either of these procedures will wipe all data from E:\

As always make a back image of whole disc in case of any problems.

You can add more space to existing primary partitions and logical drives by extending them into adjacent unallocated space on the same disk. To extend a basic volume, it must be raw or formatted with the NTFS file system. You can extend a logical drive within contiguous free space in the extended partition that contains it. If you extend a logical drive beyond the free space available in the extended partition, the extended partition grows to contain the logical drive.
For logical drives, boot, or system volumes, you can extend the volume only into contiguous space and only if the disk can be upgraded to a dynamic disk. For other volumes, you can extend the volume into non-contiguous space, but you will be prompted to convert the disk to dynamic.

 

[cebosound]

Thank you for your advise. I have follow your steps. Now I have the partition and it has been formatted as NTFS file system. It now says "New Volume (E):". How do i extend C partition to take up all the free space? I was a little confused on that part from your post. Thanks.

Here is a pic of where I am at now:

 

[cebosound]

Okay, I think I have it! Take a look at this updated DM image...

....................................

 

[Super Sarge]

you have it correct, like Mike said you should by at least a 500 gig second internal HD or External, I prefer internals when possible have it installed so you can store all your personal files on the second drive. You can also do full backup image of your C Drive to this Internal/external drive.
I would if I were you change the drive letter on the D drive your DVD/RW drive to something like Z so if you install another drive it will automatically become the D drive.

 

[cebosound]

Thanks Super Sarge (and everyone else) for your help and recommendations. I will keep this forum as a favorite and will pop in from time to time with more "silly" questions.

........................
As far as adding the hard drive. I use a laptop as a primary pc. I connect it to a 23" monitor and/or my 37" lcd tv (occasionally). So I am not sure if i can easily add internal harddrive to it. But I have been wanting to get an external for a while. Many of the files like videos and pics are also on Photobucket and youtube. So i kind of consider that as a back up also; it hasn't seemed like i would need 500g, but you never know. .... thanks again!

 

[Super Sarge]

If it is a llaptop a weekly Backup to your external hard drive is a very big must have.
Some laptops have the capability of having two hard drives, I have one it is an HP 9000 series and can contain two hard drives. Most laptops cannot. I only have one HD in it as I no longer use it that much. I do keep a backup image for it though.