Windows 7 Remove Vista in dual boot leaving Windows 7

Step

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Nov 5, 2009
I have a dual boot of Vista and Windows 7. Vista was install first, I partitioned my hard drive and then installed 7 (clean) on the new partition. I have installed my programs everything runs great on the 7 partition. When booted to 7 Disk Management shows the partition of 7 as C: (Boot,Page File Crash Dump, Logical Drive) and the Vista partition as D: (System, Active Primary Partition). Now I would like to remove the Vista partition and merge that to the 7 partition. I have searched around and have read many options of doing this but I can not find a definitive way of completing this.
I have attached what Disk Managment shows.
 
I have a dual boot of Vista and Windows 7. Vista was install first, I partitioned my hard drive and then installed 7 (clean) on the new partition. I have installed my programs everything runs great on the 7 partition. When booted to 7 Disk Management shows the partition of 7 as C: (Boot,Page File Crash Dump, Logical Drive) and the Vista partition as D: (System, Active Primary Partition). Now I would like to remove the Vista partition and merge that to the 7 partition. I have searched around and have read many options of doing this but I can not find a definitive way of completing this.
I have attached what Disk Managment shows.

Step,

In Disk Management you can right click on the Vista partition and select "Delete Volume." Next, you would right click on your Windows 7 partition and select "Extend." You will now be able to extend Windows 7 into the former Windows Vista partition.

Also, should you require additional assistance Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Support Forum located here Windows 7 Category. It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to check the threads there for additional support.

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
 
Hi,
I answered a similar problem, with not vista, but windows 7 dual booting with, 7.
Just change Crabdens drive (7100) to the hard drive that is on vista.
Then, read through. You'll get it.
Extend it later on if you want.
 
I tried to do as you mentioned, I get the following message "Windows can not delete the active system partition on this disk". Any other thiughts?
 
I tried to do as you mentioned, I get the following message "Windows can not delete the active system partition on this disk". Any other thiughts?

Download Parition Wizard Home Edition and try it from their.
 
I would suggest using Disk Management to mark the other partition as active. diskmgmt.msc in search box

I do not know what to do about the boot manager however. I did notice the below quote:
Don't mark a partition as active if it doesn't contain the loader for an operating system. Doing so will cause your computer to stop working.
 
Last edited:
Update

I went ahead and did a complete re-install after saving things needed. Thanks for everyones advice.
 
Hello there,

For the actual Windows 7 and Vista/XP -Yes you can "multiboot" to Windows XP and Windows 7. *(After installing Windows 7, default Windows 7 is selected and that will be the primary choice for booting to Windows 7).
See the following detailed instructions on the Microsoft website:
Install more than one operating system (multiboot)
Essentially, these are the important steps to pay attention to:
"On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click Custom.
On the Where do you want to install Windows? page, select the partition or disk where you want to install the new Windows operating system.
Be sure to install Windows on a different partition from the one where the earlier version of Windows is installed.
Click Next to begin the installation. You might see a compatibility report."
Additional information about Multiboot from the Microsoft website:
Can I have more than one operating system on my computer (multiboot)?
Can I have more than one operating system on my computer (multiboot)?
Let me know if this helps!
John M.
Microsoft Windows Client Support
 
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