Can't format partition with Vista on it from dual boot

[Byronic Man]

Hey guys. The only Problem I am having now is being able to format the partition with Vista still on it. For some reason I just can't get rid of it. Wondering if you guys had any advice on how to get rid of it.

 

[drywallguy]

Kill your Vista

Hi Byronic, OS's are pretty protective of each other. Try a third party partition tool. Easeus has a free version of their Partition Manager. It works great and doesn't care what is on that partition. I've used it several times myself.
Hope this helps. Have fun!

 

[Byronic Man]

Still wont let me format it. Doesn't even give me the option. I'll give you some more specs on it. I have a 750gb hd with 2 partitions on it C: drive and F: drive. The C: is my current os Windows 7 while the F: is my old Windows Vista. When I bring up easus partition manager the status's of the drive's are C: as Boot and F: as system. Even though I don't use F at all. Im thinking it has something to do with the MBR. Not sure though.

 

[gregrocker]

Please post back a screenshot of your full Disk management drive map so we can advise you of the exact steps to remove Vista and the dual boot.

Use Snipping Tool in Start menu, attach file using paper clip in reply box.

 

[Byronic Man]

Alright so now I have huge problems. I made the windows 7 partition the active partition and restarted. Once I did that It constantly kept coming up with BOOTMGR missing. Problem is I had Windows 7 in a ISO on that partition and not on a disc. So I decided to install vista again on the partition that already had vista on it so I could at least run something.

So as of now I'm running vista with 7 on a different partition that doesn't boot. When I try to boot 7 It says Windows cannot verify digital signature. Really my main problem is after I did all this and booted vista one of my hd's with all my music on it is not letting me access it. When I double click it, it just says would you like to format. This is really freaking me out because I had over 360Gbs of music on there. I'm not sure if it has to do with me only being able to access it in Windows 7 or what. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I am freaking out.

 

[gregrocker]

What do you mean "Problem is I had Windows 7 in a ISO on that partition and not on a disc" - did you have a working Win7 installation which you marked active but failed to recover the MBR into by running Startup Repair from the Win7 DVD three times?

Please post back a screenshot of your full Vista Disk management drive map so we can advise you of the exact steps to remove Vista and the dual boot.

Use Snipping Tool in Start menu, attach file using paper clip in reply box.

We have helped remove over 150 dual boots successfully since Win7 release but need to see the config to advise the exact steps. You will need free bootable Partition Wizard burned to CD to carry out the steps.

 

[Saltgrass]

Well, now you know why it would not let you delete the partition. The boot files (bootmgr) were probably on the Vista partition.

Don't worry, it can be fixed, but please attach a disk management picture as asked.

 

[Byronic Man]

Alright guys, So I managed to get my C: running again by installing another copy of 7 onto the F: drive. I'm guessing it needed the boot file on the other hd. Now my main problem is that my Music is missing on one of my hd's. Not sure wtf happened but it's all gone now and when I double click onto the hd it just gives me the option to format. Here's a screenshot of my disk management. The E: drive is the one that is supposed to have my music on it. It is supposed to be a 500GB hd but it's only showing as 128 RAW. I had over 380Gb's of music on it.

Also, I Would like to format F: for space but I'm afraid once I do that C: wont work again.

 

[gregrocker]

The problem is that your D:Video drive has derailed the System MBR. This can happen when a data drive becomes marked active as the installer looks for first available active partition to place the MBR.

Use free Partition Wizard bootable CD to mark D: and E: inactive. Then delete F:

Make sure Win7 is set first HD to boot into BIOS setup, after DVD drive.

Now boot Win7 DVD, select Repair my Computer on second screen, click through to Recovery Tools list to run Startup Repair up to 3 separate times with reboot to write the system MBR into Win7 partition.

If the incorrectly marked System active Video partition continues to interfere to block the recovery of System MBR to Win7 partition, unplug it until after MBR is written to C: by running Startup Repair 3 times.

 

[SIW2]

I don't recommend having hundreds of gb of anything on any partition - just in case of tricky situations like this.

I assume you can access the E drive from within Vista?

One (long ) way of doing it is to use a free image app. - Macrium free is best for this job. Install Macrium on Vista, image the E drive - store it on C.

Boot into 7 - if the E drive is Raw,try scanning it with the Free PW partition recovery module. There's a good chance that will offer an ntfs partition for recovery there. With luck - you will recover it and not need to restore the Macrium Image.

Greg will talk you thru the steps.

 

[prekoshus]

same issue

i'm having the same issue except the vista partition i want to remove is marked (boot, page file, active, crash dump, primary). i should note i have 4 logical partitions on the same hdd which i would like to leave unharmed.

 

[gregrocker]

Please start a new thread and post a screenshot of your full Disk management drive map, using Snipping tool in Win7 Start Menu.

Tell us which OS is on which partition, to where you want to recover the Vista deleted partition space, and anything else newsworthy.