Removing Windows XP from dual boot

Question

I installed Windows 7 on my D: drive but still have my old Windows XP on the C: drive.

Is there any way of removing Windows XP from that drive? I really need that space freeing up.

In short, how can I make Windows 7 my primary version of Windows now?

Answer 1

I haven't tested this (never had the need to!), but I'm pretty sure this should work:

(Do these steps from Windows 7.)

1. Copy the following files/folders from C:\ to D:\:

   • ntldr
   • NTDETECT.COM
   • bootmgr
   • Boot

   Notes:

   1. You can't copy Boot unless you unload BCD from the registry first. Run this in the command prompt before you copy those files:

      Reg Unload HKLM\BCD00000000
      

   2. You will need to go to Folder Options and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" before copying the files, so that you can see them first.

2. Get the program named bootsect (I don't remember exactly, but I think I got it from the Windows AIK... but you can find it on plenty of other places on the web; just search) and run:

   bootsect /nt60 D:
   

3. Now that everything is ready, make D: the active partition: open Disk Management (Start->Run->diskmgmt.msc) and right-click D: and set it as Active.

4. Reboot. If it boots fine (which it should), then all is well. If not, then boot from the Windows 7 DVD and Repair.

5. Open Disk Management again, right-click C: from the list (NOT from the diagram!! It has bugs in XP that cause it to delete the wrong partition, and I wouldn't trust the diagram in Windows 7 either!) and click Delete*.

Warning:

*I strongly recommend that that you immediately create another partition with the drive letter C: in the newly freed space. Otherwise, your drive letters will likely switch around at some point in time, and Windows will suddenly act very strangely when booting.

You're done!

Answer 2

If you'd like to completely wipe out XP and C: drive, just do this:

1. Boot up with your Windows 7 DVD
2. When it comes to the first dialog, hit Shift + F10 to open up a command prompt
3. Go ahead and format c: now

Congratulations, you've just removed every trace of XP. Unfortunately at this point, your computer is no longer bootable because you've just clobbered your system partition. The good news is that you're already in the Windows 7 setup screen now, so just tell it to repair your system and it will recreate everything it needs to boot.

If you'd like to do it manually from the command prompt instead, you can do it like this:

BOOTREC /FIXMBR
BOOTREC /FIXBOOT
BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD

Theoretically, that should fix your boot records. However, when I tried this once, it said it couldn't find any Windows installations to configure. Don't fret -- just reboot with the Windows 7 DVD once again and try a system repair.

Answer 3

You can install Windows 7 on any NTFS Drive, preferably primary partition. You simply leave the XP drive during installation. Later if you want to configure dual boot, the utilities like EasyBCD(third party) or default Windows 7 utility BCDEdit. Sandeep has mentioned, use USB boot if possible.

Answer 4

If C: and D: are both different hard disks, this is simple. Just take out C:, put D: in its place, boot from the Windows 7 installation dvd, and repair the boot. You can now install the old C: in place of D: and reformat it.

For more info as regarding fixing the boot, see How to Manually Repair Windows 7 Boot Loader Problems.

If C: and D: are both partitions on the same hard disk, this is a bit more complicated. What I would do in this case is use a partitioning tool such as Paragon Partition Manager Free Edition to delete the XP partition, move the Windows 7 partition to the top of the disk (as much as possible), enlarge it to include the empty space now at the end of the disk, then use the Windows 7 installation dvd to make this partition bootable.

You could also find a more manual approach in this blog article.

I would suggest before starting out to use the Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition (or another utility) to take a backup image of the whole disk, just in case.

Answer 5

My preferred method is reinstall new Windows 7 on top of C drive. Format D drive. Very simple. You will however run into dual boot screen issue - at boot, it will ask you if you want to boot from old version of windows, even though it's not there.

Found a solution for that.

To remove dual boot message, open administrator command prompt, enter:

C:\Windows\system32>**bcdedit /delete {ntldr} /f**

Just took it to the simplest form. I reformat about 2-3 times a year.