delete vista and keep files

[joss111]

Hi i need help i had vista ultimate 32bit on one drive and i installed seven 64bit on the other drive. Everything went fine but the problem i got is that i want to remove vista but whitout a format because i got files on that drive what i need to keep but i cant back them up. So is there a way to do such thing?

 

[ken9122]

You should be able to copy or backup the files to the 7 disk. You may have to reinstall any programs that are runnig on the 32bit disk.

Ken

 

[joss111]

But there is a problem my drive where i installed seven is smaler(80gb) than the files(170gb) i need to keep

 

[ken9122]

But there is a problem by drive where i installed seven is smaler(80gb) than the files(170gb) i need to keep

Well you didn't mention that. either get or borrow an external drive and copy the files there. Then reformat the vista drive an copy back the files you want.

Ken

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello joss111, welcome to Seven Forums!







Will you please post a snip/screen-shot of the entire disk management drive map with a full description as to which drive/partition is which, so we can see what you have going on as there may be a fairly simple way to resolve the situation.

In the Windows start menu right click computer and click manage, in the left pane of the "Computer Management" window that opens click disk management and post a snip of that.

How to Upload and Post a Screenshot and File in Seven Forums

 

[joss111]

hope it helps
c:\ has vista
d:\ has seven

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Here's what you have to do.


You have to mark the Vista partition as " inactive " first.


Open an elevated command prompt and mark the Vista "Disk 0, partition 1" as inactive.

See my snip below for the way to do that.


Then as the Windows 7 partition is "Active" already you have to run at least 3 separate startup repairs with a system restart between each repair to create a new set of boot files to the Windows 7 "Disk 1, partition 1" partition; have a look at this tutorial at the link below for all the needed info on that.

Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times


Then after that has been completed successfully, post back and we'll go on from there.
Be sure to post back with any questions and to keep us informed.

click to enlarge

​

 

[joss111]

Well i tried like 5 times but nothing after repair attempts the vista disk was active again.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Are you able to disconnect the HDD that Vista is on and then run the repairs again?

Is Windows 7 still "Active"?

 

[joss111]

I found a way on youtube ( YouTube - Easy way to delete files without permissions ) i needed to create a folder called Windows.old and had to drag the folders i didn't need into it and run disk clean up on that drive and that was it

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

A word of advice ...



If you don't make Windows 7 as "System, Active" you will not be able to remove the Vista install.



I was going to suggest you use this to move the files, which is a whole lot easier.

Context Menu - Add Copy To Folder and Move To Folder

 

[gregrocker]

Win7 is booting off the Vista HD which needs to be unplugged while startup repair is run 3 separate times with reboots from the Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html?ltr=S

Either swap the Vista HD cable to Win7 HD or set Win7 as first HD to boot in BIOS setup.

Then when you plug Vista HD back in you can mark it Inactive to delete the rest of the files, including the hidden files revealed in Control Panel>Folder options>View>Unhide hidden and System files.

Let us know if you need any further help on cleaning this up.