Okay, my hard drive is set up as follows:
[OEM Reserved-------][2GB FAT Partition][Win7 System Reserved][Win7 Actual OS]
Can I delete the first two without it rendering my Windows 7 installation unbootable?
Hello Govindp, welcome to Seven Forums!
Yes there may be a way but before we make any specific recommendations will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map with a full description as to which drive/partition is which, so we can see what you have going on as there may be a fairly simple way to resolve the situation.
In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a snip of that.
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As I have purchased a retail copy of Windows DVD I feel I do not need a recovery partition and instead would like to use that space for storage and whatnot.
Have a look at this tutorial at the link below; you can mark C: as "Active" and do the 3 separate startup repairs with the restarts to make Windows 7 the "System" partition and recover all three into C: if you choose; then use Windows disk management to create partitions to the right of the C: partition for storage.
It may be a good idea to delete that FAT after you wipe it just to be sure there are no issues.
Be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.
Partition : Recover Space Used by an Older OS
Okay, thanks for your help, that looks like it may work!
Glad I could help, be sure to post back to keep me informed.
After you have a single partition, have a look at this one and the "Related Tutorials" links at the bottom of the tutorial to create new partitions if you choose.
How to Shrink a Partition or Volume in Windows 7
I would not get rid of the System Reserved partition, as it places the Repair Console normally only available on the DVD or CD on the F8 Advanced Boot Tools Menu.
Instead I would use free Partition Wizard to delete the first partitions as you wished, then rightclick>Resize the System Reserved partition, grab it by holding mouse left-click and slide it all the way over to the left, OK.
Next rightclick Resize Win7 partition, grab its left grey border and slide it all the way to the left to take up the empty space, OK, Apply all steps.
Now boot the Win7 DVD Repair console, click through to Recovery Tools list to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboots until Win7 starts.
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