Deleting XP partition after installing windows 7

[y0umebednow]

Ok so i wasnt sure if i would be really pleased with windows 7 so i decided to dual boot it with xp. I have to admit windows 7 is the perfection of windows vista.

So now i want to delete my XP partition and add that free space to my Windows 7 partition. How would i go about doing this? i am familiar with Gparted. Will windows 7 partition automatically become the main one? because i think XP is the main one right now.

Thank you for all the help in advance

 

[Iforgotart]

well, one way that i know how to do this is go to start, then look for computer right click it, go to manage. then it should say Disk management somewhere (under storage) find the XP partition, right click and shrink (or delete if you wish to) volume. and if the shrunken volume isnt already transfered to the 7 partition, then just right click on the 7 partition and extend volume

 

[y0umebednow]

it wont let me delete the windows xp partition because its active system partition.
In windows xp partition it says: healthy (system, active, primary partition)

Quick question: if i delete the Xp partition will i still be able to boot into windows 7? or will my MBR be all screwed up?

 

[chuckr]

well, one way that i know how to do this is go to start, then look for computer right click it, go to manage. then it should say Disk management somewhere (under storage) find the XP partition, right click and shrink (or delete if you wish to) volume. and if the shrunken volume isnt already transfered to the 7 partition, then just right click on the 7 partition and extend volume

I'd be cautious about this.

If you installed w7 after XP was the original boot on C:,
then when w7 installed, he probably created a 'System/Hidden" (XP view) C:\boot\
folder, with important stuff in there.
(w7 probably won't let you touch that.)

If you use unix stuff, he probably will, which is "Very Undesirable"...

Are both OSs on the same physical HDD, or on different partitions on the same drive ?

There are other gurus here that can assist with various techniques for this situation.

Good luck...

 

[sup3rsprt]

Quick question: if i delete the Xp partition will i still be able to boot into windows 7? or will my MBR be all screwed up?

If you boot into Windows 7 or Windows DVD you can use the bcdboot command to move the boot manager to the Windows 7 partition. Then use diskpart or Disk Management to make that partition active.

After that, you can delete the XP partition because now the "System, Active" partition will be Windows 7.

 

[y0umebednow]

When i try running bcdboot, a dos window pops up for a second and disappears.

anything else i can try?

 

[sup3rsprt]

First you need to learn how to use command prompt. Check the tutorials section.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/783-elevated-command-prompt.html

 

[y0umebednow]

Can you please tell me what to type in command prompt to use the bcdbootcommand to move the boot manager to the Windows 7 partition.

thanks for all the help

 

[sup3rsprt]

Not really. Because you haven't answered the questions asked by chuckr above.

type

bcdboot /help

 

[y0umebednow]

Sorry about that, both OS's are on ONE physical hard drive but each on its own partition.

 

[sup3rsprt]

Ok. In that case you can use the example from the help file

bcdboot X:\Windows /s Y:

where X: is the partition of Windows 7 and Y: is the partition you want to move the boot files to.

After you run this command you need to make certain that the boot files actually exist on Y:

A folder called boot and a file named bootmgr

They will be hidden so you need to do a dir /a from the command prompt to see it.

 

[y0umebednow]

Do i replace X and Y with the volume name such as C: and D:?
sorry for all the questions... im noob with commands

EDIT: i get an error message when i try that command: "Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

 

[sup3rsprt]

if X: and Y: are not your partition letters then yes you have to change them

I only use X: and Y: as an example, because I didn't know what your drive letters were

 

[y0umebednow]

yes i changed them with C: and D: but i got this error message: "Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

 

[sup3rsprt]

probably because boot files are already on D:

If Windows 7 is on C: you want to put the boot files there.

 

[y0umebednow]

i get the same error message when i try putting the boot files on C

 

[sup3rsprt]

I think you're not using the correct command. Read the help file for bcdboot

bcdboot /help

 

[y0umebednow]

i have typed it exactly as the example which is shown.

i tried: "bcdboot D:\Windows /s C:" and got the error: "Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

then i tried" "bcdboot C:\Windows /s D:" and got the same error: "Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

 

[sup3rsprt]

Following my example, if C: is the letter of Windows 7, you either do

bcdboot c:\windows /s c:

or according to the help file:

bcdboot c:\windows (but this one only works if c: is already the system partition)

 

[y0umebednow]

C: is my windows 7 partition and D: is my windows XP partition

it states that C: is Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Logical Drive)

it states that D: is Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition)

i tried bcdboot c:\windows /s c: but it resulted in the same error message