Is there a way to 'uninstall' windows?

EarlZ

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Since my SSD died I've been using my mechanical drive as my boot drive and Im getting my replacement tomorrow and wondering if there is a way to just uninstall windows from my mech drive with out reformatting since I dont have enough free space to move my files.
 

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Hello Earl,

Could you post back with a screenshot of your Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) window showing your full HDD layout? This will allow us to give you a more accurate answer.

For now, I would say disconnect the HDD when you are ready to install Windows 7 on the new SSD.

Afterwards, connect the HDD back, delete or format only the partition that Windows 7 is on. If you delete it, then you could extend another partition on the HDD into the "unallocated space" to merge them.

Let's see what the screenshot shows before doing anything though. :)
 

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I have it in a single partition :(
 

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My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate X64 RTMQ6600 @ 3.4Ghz8GB DDR2-800GTX285 1GB
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 RTM
CPU
Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard
Abit IP35-E
Memory
8GB DDR2-800
Graphics Card(s)
GTX285 1GB
Sound Card
Creative X-Fi Extreme Music
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung T220
Hard Drives
Samsung F1 Spinpoint 1TB
PSU
Silverstone Zues 750ZF
Case
Lian Li PC-P80
Cooling
Thermalright Ultra 120-Extreme
In that case, you could just disconnect the HDD, and install Windows 7 to the new SSD.

When finished, connect the HDD back, and copy over any files you want to the SSD. All programs and drivers will have to be reinstalled in the Windows 7 on the SSD though.

When finished copying what you want, you could then format the HDD to use as a data drive if you like.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

64-bit Windows 11 Pro for WorkstationsIntel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600...ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self built custom
OS
64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
CPU
Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
Memory
64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
TerraMaster F8 SSD Plus NAS
PSU
Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
Case
Thermaltake Core P3
Cooling
Corsair Hydro H115i
Keyboard
Logitech wireless K800
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 4
Internet Speed
2 Gb/s Download and 100 Mb/s Upload
Antivirus
Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
Browser
Google Chrome
Other Info
Logitech Z625 speaker system,
Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
Galaxy S23 Plus phone
the 240Gb wont be able to hold all of the data I need to move, but thanks for helping :)
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate X64 RTMQ6600 @ 3.4Ghz8GB DDR2-800GTX285 1GB
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 RTM
CPU
Q6600 @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard
Abit IP35-E
Memory
8GB DDR2-800
Graphics Card(s)
GTX285 1GB
Sound Card
Creative X-Fi Extreme Music
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung T220
Hard Drives
Samsung F1 Spinpoint 1TB
PSU
Silverstone Zues 750ZF
Case
Lian Li PC-P80
Cooling
Thermalright Ultra 120-Extreme
You can also shrink Win7 partition on the HDD to move the data to an adjacent data partition created for that purpose, freeing up enough space to empty the OS partition so it can be deleted.

Following How to extend partition easily with partition magic – Partition Wizard video help,
you can keep adding the space from the shrinking C as you copy User folder data over to the data partition until it is emptied of data and you can delete it.
 
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