Windows 7 - Can I delete the partition?

I had windows vista home premium 64bit in a dual boot with windows 7 ultimate beta build. Then I got my upgrade cd and upgraded vista to Windows 7 home premium 64bit. So now I have a dual boot with Windows 7 (new version with all my files on it) and Windows 7 (old beta with almost nothing on it except for Windows 7 beta). In the disk manager, it says "system, BOOT, page file, active, primary partition" for the new Windows 7, and just "primary partition" for the old beta partition. I'm pretty sure this means I can delete the old partition and re-allocate the space to my main partition, but I'm posting this just to be sure because I learned a hard lesson when I deleted an ubuntu partition that was in charge of the boot.

If you want to make extra sure you can post back here your full Disk Management drive map, using the Snipping Tool on Start menu, attaching file using paper clip in reply box.

But if your description holds, then you should be able to delete the old Windows 7 partition in Disk management with no problems.

Any unexpected problems can be fixed by booting into the Windows 7 DVD (or repair disk you can make) Repair Console>Recovery Tools to run Startup Repair repeatedly until it fixes any/all issues.

If the partition you're deleting is on the lower address (left side) of the HD and you'd like to move Windows 7 into that space afterward, then post back your drive map and we can advise.

ok, well I'll hold you too that and go ahead and try... I hope this works... If you don't hear a post from me in a few minutes then that means that I can no longer boot and am REALLY mad at you.

As long as you have the Windows 7 DVD (or the repair disk I mentioned above) then you can recover by booting into Repair console>Recovery Tools> run Startup Repair repeatedly as there may be multiple issues.

I hope you read above carefully.

it worked! thanks for the extra 100gb of storage. It would appear that you have done it again gregrocker. And thats the reason that I was cautious: I don't have the cd, at least not on me. Thanks

You were not being cautious if you did the operations with no way to recover as specified.

Even in clearcut cases like this where the old OS should come out with no hitches, there can be reasons why it bollixes the MBR on the other partition. The solution is easy and automated but requires the Windows 7 DVD or repair CD I clearly warned you about to run Startup Repair.

Now, make a Windows 7 Backup Image stored externally or to a primary formatted partition on a secondary drive, so you never have to reinstall Windows 7 again. Plus after the image is saved in 20 minutes, it will offer to make you a Repair CD which you should keep close at hand.