Solved deleting partition without messing up boot

[andrewtjb]

hi i recently installed windows 7 ultimate on my old dell i did a clean install from my hdd i formated the hdd and made a small partition at the end and copyed the setup files to it and booted from that. The install went fine i now have two partitions one with the setup disk and the other with the os so i tried to delete the partition with the disk but when i go into disk management i see that that partition is set as the active one so i tried setting the other as active and deleting the smaller one but i got a warning that windows was using it so i tried deleting it anyway but was unable to boot after a restart. So i had to start again and i am now back to the same setup is there anyway to delete the partition without messing up windows.

 

[gregrocker]

Why can't you install using a bootable DVD or flash stick like everyone else, to save yourself problems like these? Clean Install Windows 7

If you'll post back a screenshot of your maximized Disk Management drive map and listings we will advise you how to set it right.

 

[andrewtjb]

thanks and i know i should have used a disc but i didnt have any blank dvd discs to use and because my computer is old it dosent support booting from usb.

 

[gregrocker]

You'll need to have a Win7 DVD or System Repair Disk in order to move the System boot files to C.

This is done by marking Win7 partition Active, then running Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times which can be done from F8 System Recovery Options but you really need the DVD/Repair CD for rescue.

 

[andrewtjb]

Thank you for your help its working now . I didn't know about the system repair disc