'Element not found' when trying to delete old Windows XP partition

Let us know how it goes.

When you plug XP back in, make sure Win7 HD remains the HD set first to boot in BIOS setup, then boot XP when needed using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

gregrocker said:

Let us know how it goes.

When you plug XP back in, make sure Win7 HD remains the HD set first to boot in BIOS setup, then boot XP when needed using the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key.

Yeah! I have finally removed the XP partition and Windows 7 still boots

Here are the steps I took:

1. Disconnected the XP drive and other HDD.
2. Checked the BIOS, and the SSD with W7 on was NOT set as the 1st boot device so I changed the settings so it was.
3. Booted up my PC and it booted straight into Windows 7!
4. Checked Disk Management and W7 was set to System, Boot, Active.
5. Booted into the W7 DVD.
6. Ran Startup Repair 3 times - no problems were found.
7. Reconnected other HDDs - W7 still showing as System, Boot, Active.
8. Booted into the Partition Wizard CD.
9. Deleted the XP partition.
10. Booted into W7 and ran BCDEdit /delete {ntldr} /f

Now my PC boots straight into Windows 7 and XP is gone for good!

Thanks very much for your help everyone - I never realised it would be this complicated!

Cheers
Steven

Good news. You can mark the thread Solved at top.

You got there in the end Steven. Well done.

You were in good hands and I'm real pleased you got a result.

Thanks for updating us too.

CiaraJansonFan said:

AddRAM said:

But you said you deleted the XP partition.

Yes, I deleted it using the Partition Wizard bootable CD, but running Startup Repair RESTORES the partition table and hence the XP partition

If you'd actually deleted XP in Partition Wizard as you'd originally thought, it could not be restored except using the PW Partition Recovery Wizard. For those who wondered, what apparently happened is that the steps which showed on your PW map were not actually Applied.

Glad it worked out in the end.