Windows 7: Do i have to delete existing win 7 before installing new one

Hy guys,
im just wondering, i cant seem to find a thread that will tell me so, but i currently have win 7 64bit which is my main system, but also its partioned with xp, what i need to do is reinstal windows 7 again but dont want to loose my xp. do i have to delete windows 7 first before instaling, its time my pc had a good clear up.

thanks for your time

Hello savy118, welcome to Seven Forums!



No you do not have to 'remove' the current Windows 7 install first, but you should at least use the installer to format the partition during the new installation, look at step #7 in this tutorial at the link below.

How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7


If you really want the best space to reinstall Windows 7 to, use Option Three in this tutorial to do a partition-specific wipe (secure erase) to the partition first, then do the clean install to the same partition with a format.

Partition Wizard : Use the Bootable CD


Be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

I had Windows 7 x32 and Windows 7 x64 dual boot on my computer. Due to installing the wrong version of Windows 7 x64, I had to reinstall it again from scratch. I reinstalled x64 over the x64 partition and the boot loader menu was still intact after the reinstall. The only difference was it changed the description name from what I set it as to the default when a new OS is installed.

FYI - If you install two Windows 7's OS's, x64 and x32 - both will show up with the same name in the Boot Manager. You can easily change this in Command Line prompt as an Administrator. Just type; If you want to change another installation type, just type and find the identifier of the other OS name you want to change and {current} to {IdentiferNumber}. E.G.