Dual boot - remove 1st partition

[archmisha]

Hi,
I hope this is the right place to post.

I have 2 partitions with windows 7 on both of them in dual boot.

I would like to destroy the first partition, and merge the empty space in to the second partition. At the end i need the second windows to work as single boot.

What is the best way (or the right way) to do it.
I am afraid if i simply delete the first partition the computer wont boot at all, because of the mbr etc...

Please advice, thanks.

 

[OpSysWiz]

I've a solution but need to know if you have two disk drives or just one?

 

[Dave76]

Your correct, your MBR is likely in the first partition. Was it installed first?
If it has the 'System' listed in Disk Manager then it has the boot manager files.

Have a look at this Seven Forums tutorial How to Delete a Listed Operating System at Boot in Windows 7.

After following the tutorial check Disk management, look for 'System' and 'Active' in the Win7 partition you want to keep.

Post a picture of Disk Management.
Start button, click Snipping Tool, save somewhere.

How to Post a Screenshot in Seven Forums

 

[archmisha]

Thank you for the help, i will follow the steps.
I have a single disk, but I have an external disk too if it helps.

First partition was indeed installed first.

 

[archmisha]

I am following the steps now, but i dont understand how i remove the partition.
By changing my boot menu.....

 

[archmisha]

attached my disk management screen shot

 

[wallyinnc]

archmisha, which one you intend to keep, C or Z?

I will let Dave elaborate, but I believe he will now instruct you how to delete the partition without affecting your boot (or preparing it so it is not affected). We need to know the above to proceed, since you might have to edit your boot options or not.

 

[archmisha]

I need to remove C and leave Z.
(removing z could be easier )

 

[OpSysWiz]

Is there enough free space on the external drive to handle the entire Z: drive (non-compressed)? Can you boot from your external drive? Go to Acronis True Image site and read about its capabilities. Also, read up on Partition Magic. Then get back to us.

 

[SIW2]

Hi archmisha,

Open an elevated command prompt and type:

bcdboot z:\windows /s z:

then press enter.

close command prompt.

In Disk Management Rt click Z and select Mark as Active.

Restart.

 

[gregrocker]

Hi archmisha,

Open an elevated command prompt and type:

bcdboot z:\windows /s z:

then press enter.

close command prompt.

In Disk Management Rt click Z and select Mark as Active.

Restart.

If this moves the Active System partition to Z as desired, then you can delete the C; partition and use a 3rd party partition manager like Partition Wizard to recover the space from deleted C: into your Z partition.

The easiest way to do this, after making sure Z: is now set as active, is to boot into Partition Wizard, right click on C: and delete, then right click on Z: choose Resize/Move then just slide the left border of Z over the deleted C space to encompass it all.

There is the slight possibility you will have to run Startup Repair from the Installer disk's Repair console.

Suggest before doing anything you type Backup in the Win7 start box, then Create an Image of your HDD to save to your external so you can easily reimage the HDD if you need to start over, since moving operations can fail.

 

[OpSysWiz]

Hi archmisha,

Open an elevated command prompt and type:

bcdboot z:\windows /s z:

then press enter.

close command prompt.

In Disk Management Rt click Z and select Mark as Active.

Restart.

That won't get the space back from the C: partition.

Wating for a reply from archmisha ...

 

[SIW2]

Of course it won't.

It makes it possible for him to do so.

After that, just delete C.

Any better ideas?

BTW Partition Magic is not comaptible with the NT6 partitioning rules.

 

[OpSysWiz]

Hi archmisha,

Open an elevated command prompt and type:

bcdboot z:\windows /s z:

then press enter.

close command prompt.

In Disk Management Rt click Z and select Mark as Active.

Restart.

If this moves the Active System partition to Z as desired, then you can delete the C; partition and use a 3rd party partition manager like Partition Wizard to recover the space from deleted C: into your Z partition.

The easiest way to do this, after making sure Z: is now set as active, is to boot into Partition Wizard, right click on C: and delete, then right click on Z: choose Resize/Move then just slide the left border of Z over the deleted C space to encompass it all.

There is the slight possibility you will have to run Startup Repair from the Installer disk's Repair console.

Suggest before doing anything you type Backup in the Win7 start box, then Create an Image of your HDD to save to your external so you can easily reimage the HDD if you need to start over, since moving operations can fail.

Yup, I use to use Partition Magic, but it's about 50-50 taking a chance. I'm thinking if OP has enough room on the external drive to use Acronis True Image Copy to copy the Z: to the external, boot from the external, full format the C:/Z: and Image copy from the external to the newly formatted C:

 

[SIW2]

He could do that - use an image tool make an image - get a bootable partition tool - boot it - delete the partitions - restore the image - then run startup repair repeatedly.

I would rather use one simple command - then just delete C in Disk Management.

If he later wants to have the installation in the lower address spaces - then just use the copy function on a free partition manager - Paragon is probably best IMO - it updates bcd for you. Or - if you like the idea of image /restore - Macrium free is unbeatable for efficiency.

Alternatively - Greg already suggested Partition Wizard - doesn't update bcd afaik.

 

[Dave76]

I need to remove C and leave Z.
(removing z could be easier )

Partition C has the MBR files, so they need to be installed or repaired to Z partition.

Are both Win7 in C & Z partitions identical?

No Win7 Beta, RC or pre-release RTM?

If possible, it would be easier to format/delete the Z partition, you still need to adjust the MBR before you do anything to the HD.

Let us know if you have done anything yet, if yes what have you tried.
If your Disk Management has changed in any way give us another snip.

The first step is make sure your computer will bootup to the desired partition, with the correct designations 'Active, Boot and System'.

Then the other partition can easily be removed, deleted or formatted.

 

[archmisha]

Yes there is enough space on drive Z.
First partition got windows 7 ultimate rtm , upgraded from rc1
Second partition is a clean install of windows 7 ultimate rtm.

 

[gregrocker]

He could do that - use an image tool make an image - get a bootable partition tool - boot it - delete the partitions - restore the image - then run startup repair repeatedly.

I would rather use one simple command - then just delete C in Disk Management.

If he later wants to have the installation in the lower address spaces - then just use the copy function on a free partition manager - Paragon is probably best IMO - it updates bcd for you. Or - if you like the idea of image /restore - Macrium free is unbeatable for efficiency.

Alternatively - Greg already suggested Partition Wizard - doesn't update bcd afaik.

If he marks Win7 partition active and moves it into that deleted XP space, then won' t Win7 startup repair rewrite the bootloader?

 

[archmisha]

Hi archmisha,

Open an elevated command prompt and type:

bcdboot z:\windows /s z:

then press enter.

close command prompt.

In Disk Management Rt click Z and select Mark as Active.

Restart.

Now i get message: "NTLDR is missing" when i reboot....
What do I do?

 

[Dave76]

NTLDR is the boot loader for XP. Did you previously have XP installed?

Take another snip of Disk Management and post so we can see what the partition designations are, we're looking for 'Active, Boot,System'.

Does your computer boot to Win7 in the Z partition?