need to delete OS off recovery drive!

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  1. gms
    Posts : 28
    Windows 7
       New #1

    need to delete OS off recovery drive!


    Please help; I'm at my wits' end here...

    I did the same thing this fellow did on this thread (accidentally installed a version of Windows 7 onto the recovery drive): Accidently Installed Win7 to Recovery \:D

    And I thought I had found the answer with post # 18; however, when I go to the System Configuration pop-up window and highlight the "Boot" tab and then highlight the recovery drive and corresponding extra OS that it now contains, it dims out the "Delete" key and won't let me get rid of it per the instructions in the above thread...

    I don't know what else to do... please help!!!

    Thanks in advance!
    Greg
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  3. Bare Foot Kid
    Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       New #2

    Hello gms, welcome to Seven Forums!



    The odds are that the boot files (needed to boot/start Windows) are on that partition and if you delete it Windows won't start, to start with in the windows start menu, right click computer and select manage, in the left pane click disk management, then post a complete snip/screen-shot of disk management so we can see what you have, have a look at the tutorial at the link below.


    How to Post a Screenshot in Seven Forums
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  4. gms
    Posts : 28
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    First time I've uploaded a screenshot in this manner... bear with me.

    need to delete OS off recovery drive!-screenshot-1.jpg
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  6. gms
    Posts : 28
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    The problem was my recovery drive was actually labeled (C: ) and I've NEVER owned a computer that the "C" drive wasn't my biggest harddrive...
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  7. theog
    Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       New #5

    What OS is install to D:
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  8. Bare Foot Kid
    Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       New #6

    Hello again.



    As I suspected the boot files are on your C: and you only want to have D: when you're finished, is that correct? The "System, Active" is where the boot files are.
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  10. gms
    Posts : 28
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    A brief background:

    When we purchased this laptop (a Dell Inspiron), it came with Windows 7, the 64-bit version. My wife is taking a work-from-home job which only supports the 32-bit version of Windows 7, so I had to go out and buy the lesser version after just buying her a brand-new computer

    I accidentally installed the 32-bit version on the C: drive (recovery) because -- as I stated above -- I've never seen anything BUT the large hard drive be labeled C...

    Now I don't have enough space left to do a system restore and I keep getting pop-up windows stating I don't have enough memory left...

    I really just want to restore my recovery drive to the way it was, if possible. If I have to, I guess we can just delete it off altogether if that's the only option available to me at this point...

    I have now installed the needed 32-bit version to my D drive, which hopefully shows up as it was done correctly to you guys in my screenshot above.

    Let me know if you have any more questions...

    Thanks,
    Greg
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  11. theog
    Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       New #8

    Do you have both OS working OK?
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  12. gms
    Posts : 28
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    Yes, I believe both are installed correctly: I receive the black & white text screen asking which instance of Windows 7 I want to use when rebooting (I believe I saw this referred to as the "multi-boot screen" somewhere?

    As it is... I think my OS install on the D drive is good; I just need to delete off the OS install on my recovery drive to free up all the space, but haven't found a way to do so yet -- hence the plea for help.
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  13. Bare Foot Kid
    Posts : 22,814
    W 7 64-bit Ultimate
       New #10

    Hello Greg.



    You seem to have a couple options as you have a 32-bit install disk to use, you could wipe everything on the PC and do a clean install, after you make backups of the stuff you don't want to lose, that may be the easiest way to go; have a look at this tutorial at the link below.

    SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation




    The other option is a bit more complicated, to move / re-create the boot files to the Windows partition that you want to keep, start by having a look at this tutorial at the link below; as you have questions feel free to ask them as needed.

    Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD



    Be sure to keep us informed what you choose to do.
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