XP/7 Dual Boot Disaster - Unplugged?

Hi everybody,

Here's what happened...

My system was running Win XP Pro 32bit in C:. I desired to upgrade to Win 7 Pro 64bit. Everything checked out fine using Windows Advisor and I backed up my files using the Windows Easy Transfer tool. I booted the system from the Win 7 Pro 64bit disk and proceeded with the install. For some reason, Win7 got hung up wanting Drivers!? I loaded every driver I could get my hands on - still no success. So, I attempted to boot normally back into Win XP Pro 32bit and alas, the Boot Manager was missing! I figured, I'm one step away from owning a brick!

Here's what I did... (sorry)

I booted from my XP Pro 32bit disk and installed it onto my D: drive. I figured I would be able to load the DVD drivers to keep them active for a clean install of Win 7 Pro 64bit after a newly formatted C: drive. So far, so good... Then, I reformatted my C: drive and performed a clean install of Win 7 Pro 64bit. Sweet...almost. Upon reboot, I now have a dual boot system! But, I don't want that!

Here's what I got...

Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H Rev. 2.1
AMD Phenom II x 4 945 95Watt
PSU Seasonic X650 Gold
C: WD VelociRaptor 300Gig
D: WD Caviar Blue 640Gig
F: WD Caviar Blue 640Gig
8 Gigs DDR3 RAM
Lite-On IHAS-324-98 R x 2

Drive Status:
Disk 0 - C: Simple Basic NTFS - Healthy (Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
Disk 1 - D: Simple Dynamic NTFS - Healthy (System)
Disk 2 - F: Simple Dynamic NTFS - Healthy

Here's what I'm trying to do...

I want to have Win 7 Pro 64bit stay on C:
I want to eliminate Win XP Pro 32bit on D: so I can format and use that drive for data and backups only.
I want to leave my F: alone.


Obviously, I'm not real sure about what I'm doing, so I desperately need some help to walk me through this. I just don't know.

If necessary, I can reformat and reinstall Win 7. There's not much on it right now, but I'd really rather not. I'd have done that already, but the system won't let me. I'll still have to be able to access and reformat my D: Drive.

Now I'm thinking, (which is dangerous) that I could disconnect the D: Drive, and boot from the Win 7 disk to maybe reformat C: and reinstall Win 7. But then, I wouldn't be able to reconnect the D: Drive (with a System on it) and boot up from C: in order to reformat the D: Drive! Something tells me this is not a good thing. "No guts, no glory" is not a confident move for me... Besides, if I can keep my Win 7 intact, that will save me lots of time reloading and reconfigurating to get back to where I currently reside. Other than that, everything is running just the way it's supposed to... GREAT!

I've been reading previous posts and solutions here to the point where I'm totally confused! Can you tell?

I need some serious help with this guys, if you don't mind. Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions you might venture to offer. If you think I need to just shoot myself, don't be shy... Have the courage to tell me so! I'll probably take your advice at this point! :)

Sager

If you want to save your current Win7 install, please post back a screenshot of your full maximized Disk Management drive map with listings, using Snipping Tool in Start Menu.

Because you left all the HD's connected there could be multiple complications besides the unwanted Dual Boot. We can help you remove the Dual Boot and make any other necessary changes.

Frankly to get the cleanest install you should unplug all other HD's and wipe the target HD first, as formatting erases nothing and can leave infected or corrupt code on the HD. SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

But if you want to test performance on the current install after extricating the Dual Boot and any other issues, post back the screenshot and we will give you the steps.

I found the 'Snipping Tool' and copied a full screen of Disk Management. Now, exactly HOW do I send this to you?

Post it up using the paper clip in reply box.

Tell us what you prefer to do.

I think this is it. I prefer to keep my Windows 7 on my C: drive. Thanks.

Thank you for the rapid replies guys!

sreedhav,

Great technical point and one which I inadvertantly omitted during my initial post. Originally, WinXP was on the C: drive. Then I moved (reinstalled) it to D: and reformatted C: for the installation of Win7. I did notice that D: with XP was an 'Active drive' at the time and C: was not. Being a dummy I guess, and for some reason I don't even know, I made C: 'Active' also. It appears that D: now is no longer 'Active' but C: is. Evidently, this means something other than I a dummy?

Gregrocker,

Thanks for the formula --- waiting for reply to see if the 'Active Drive' business above plays a part in the equasion, before executing your instructions. Thanks!

Sager

C needs to be marked Active to do the repairs which wll recover the System boot files into Win7 partition. Just follow the steps given unless you have changed your mind.

Okay gregrocker... I haven't changed my mind...gulp. :) Thanks.