dual boot reformat questions

[devan5]

So i have a dual boot system win7/xp set up now and want to reformat the c drive which has win 7

do i reformat this drive like any other drive and will i lose my dual boot settings?

thanks

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello devan5, welcome to Seven forums!



We would need to know which OS is "system, active" before any advice; please post a snip/screenshot of the complete disk management so we can have a look.


A Preferred Method of Uploading/Posting Screen Shots

 

[devan5]

system

Hello devan5, welcome to Seven forums!



We would need to know which OS is "system, active" before any advice; please post a snip/screenshot of the complete disk management so we can have a look.


A Preferred Method of Uploading/Posting Screen Shots

is this what you're looking for?

thanks

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

So you have XP on E: and W 7 on C:?

 

[devan5]

So you have XP on E: and W 7 on C:?

yeah thats correct, for some reason set itself xp set itself as e

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

So you have XP on E: and W 7 on C:?

yeah, for some reason xp set itself xp set itself as e

The one booted is always C: (usually) do you have an XP install CD?



Are XP and Windows 7 on different / separate Hard Disk Drives?

 

[devan5]

So you have XP on E: and W 7 on C:?

yeah, for some reason xp set itself xp set itself as e

The one booted is always C: (usually) do you have an XP install CD?



Are XP and Windows 7 on different / separate Hard Disk Drives?

yes both os on seperate hard drives and i do have an xp install disk

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Well do this, unplug the HDD with Windows 7 on it and see if XP will start up with it unplugged.

 

[devan5]

Well do this, unplug the HDD with Windows 7 on it and see if XP will start up with it unplugged.

ok i shall try that

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Don't forget to post back the with outcome.

 

[devan5]

Don't forget to post back the with outcome.

ok so i did that and it did not boot into xp but rather it came up something about making a dos disk and had options about AHCI and stuff.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Don't forget to post back the with outcome.

ok so i did that and it did not boot into xp but rather it came up something about making a dos disk and had options about AHCI and stuff.

That's why I suggested that, if you remove W7 XP won't boot; let me look for that link on running a 'repair' on XP; I'll be back.

 

[theog]

What type of HD are using IDE or Sata?

Can you post your specs.
http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/22550-filling-out-system-specs.html

 

[gregrocker]

Do you want to reinstall Win7? Or just format and use it's HD for something else?


To recover the System MBR into XP, you need to unplug the Win7 HD, boot into XP CD to run a Repair Install: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxprepair1.htm

After XP starts up, plug back in Win7 HD which can now be booted separately via the BIOS one-time Boot Menu key, or you can format it in XP Disk Management or using this method: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Thanks Greg, I saved that link I couldn't find the one I thought I had.

 

[devan5]

Do you want to reinstall Win7? Or just format and use it's HD for something else?


To recover the System MBR into XP, you need to unplug the Win7 HD, boot into XP CD to run a Repair Install: Repair Windows XP - How to Perform a Repair Installation of Windows XP - Part 1 of 2

After XP starts up, plug back in Win7 HD which can now be booted separately via the BIOS one-time Boot Menu key, or you can format it in XP Disk Management or using this method: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

If possible i need to reformat the drive with just win 7 on it and re install win 7 back on it.

thanks

 

[theog]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

If possible i need to reformat the drive with just win 7 on it and re install win 7 back on it.

thanks

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html?ltr=C

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks Greg, I saved that link I couldn't find the one I thought I had.

This is the more popular one but it tends to confuse people with all of it's side warnings: How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install. Kept me up all night first time I did one.

Compare them and tell me which one you find easiest to understand. They both have their weaknesses. Nothing close to a SevenForums tutorial is available that I can find.

 

[gregrocker]

If possible i need to reformat the drive with just win 7 on it and re install win 7 back on it.

thanks

In that case, you can try doing a formatted clean reinstall of Win7 while XP is still plugged in as it should auto-configure the Windows Dual Boot again.

You should only need to Repair Install XP if you want it to boot independently via the BIOS boot order or one-time Boot Menu key accessed by tapping the key given on the first boot screen or in your mobo Manual.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Thanks Greg, I saved that link I couldn't find the one I thought I had.

This is the more popular one but it tends to confuse people with all of it's side warnings: How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install. Kept me up all night first time I did one.

Compare them and tell me which one you find easiest to understand. They both have their weaknesses. Nothing close to a SevenForums tutorial is available that I can find.

Yes, that's the one I had before and it does 'look scarier' at first glance than the other one.