REMOVING XP from Windows XP/7 Dual Boot ... revisited

[tikinet]

I know, I know ... this has been asked before, but I just can't seem to get this done. *sigh*

Have XP, then installed Win7 as Dual Boot. Now trying to get rid of XP. All is backed up in case of disaster.

I've tried 3 different procedures in these forums with no luck. Last thing I tried was using EasyBCD to remove the boot option. Now the computer just boots straight into Win7, but I noticed that the XP partition is still active. Made the Win7 partition active, but when I reboot, I just get a blinking cursor on the upper left of the screen and nothing happens. I've tried the Windows 7 installer/ Repair my computer/ and running Startup Repair 3 times and still no luck. just get the blinking cursor on the corner of the screen. I then have to boot from CD with Partition Wizard and reactivate the XP partition and I boot again into Win7.

The only thing I am hesitant to do is delete the XP partition. If I do and then I can't boot, I can't make XP active again to boot and would have to restore everything and would be where I started again.

Just need to get rid of XP safely. Any guidance is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there

The problem is you need to get rid of the old MBR.

1) Insert Windows XP disc and boot
2) use recovery console option when given install options
3) type FIXMBR

At this stage you won't be able to boot W7 -- not to worry as it's still there but the boot will only "see" the XP partition.

Now

4) reboot from the Windows XP disc or use a GPARTED disk

GParted -- Download

5) delete existing XP partition

6) Now install W7 install disc and chose repair system --this should re-build the boot process - and XP will now be 100% GONE.


(Before doing --please ensure you've got backups in case something gets hosed up - taking image backups is a good idea.).

Cheers
jimbo

 

[tikinet]

Jimbo, thanks for the instructions.

I inserted the original XP Pro CD and booted, selected the recovery console and it came back with: "recovery console could not find any hard drives, please press F3 to reboot" I pressed F3, removed the CD and my laptop booted back into Windows 7.

Well, here's what I'm going to do. I currently have a 160GB drive (dual boot) and I had planed to replace it with a 320GB drive. When I do, I will do a clean install of Windows 7 and all will be good.

Once I do this and I am operational again, I plan to reinstall the 160GB drive in the laptop and work on this problem again and again until I get it done right ... and will post my findings here.

Thank again jimbo and I'll update this thread in a few days.

Galo

 

[tikinet]

OK. I’m back!

I haven’t tried to remove the dual boot yet, because I’ve spent 2 days trying to move the Windows 7 OS from the old 160GB Dual Boot (XP/7) hard drive to a new 320GB hard drive – not dual boot and with one partition.

I’ve followed several tips and procedures from not only this forum but others and nothing in any one forum post has worked for me, but a combination of ideas and procedures from several different posts helped.

Here’s what I did and it worked. I am sure there are other ways to accomplish this task, but I’m just trying to contribute my experience and maybe someone else may find it helpful.

Move Windows 7 to another Hard Drive – THE EASY PART
Backup Win7 partition using Acronis 2010 to a network drive.
Install the new hard drive and boot using the Acronis Bootable CD.
Restore the image to the new drive.
If you cannot boot, do the following. (Boot Sector Recovery) - THE HARD PART
Boot with GParted bootable CD.
Open a Command Window and run TestDisk.
Don’t create log file and Select Intel Partition table.
Select Advanced / File system Utilities.
Highlight your Windows 7 Partition.
Select Boot / Boot Sector Recovery.
Select Rebuild Boot Sector [May take some time].
(Should say “Extrapolated boot sector and current boot sector are different”).
Select Write Boot Sector.
Exit Gparted and reboot into the Windows 7 DVD or Win7 Recovery cd/dvd.
Select Repair Your Computer.
If it detects a problem, select Repair & Reboot.
It may boot fine now. If it doesn’t (as in my case), do the following:
Again - Boot into the Windows 7 DVD or Win7 Recovery cd/dvd and select Repair Your Computer.
Select Command Prompt and enter: (case sensitive)
bootrec.exe /FixMbr /FixBoot /RebuildBcd
[Note: I’ve tried this command before with no luck, it only worked AFTER running TestDisk]
Remove CD/DVD and Reboot into Windows 7 on your new hard drive – Success!

I did not need to try these other commands but I’ve listed them here because it would have been the next things I would have tried. I am not sure what they do so google them before trying them.

bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

bootsect.exe /nt60 sys

I was originally going to post the procedure on how to remove Windows XP and move the Windows 7 partition to the beginning of the drive, but I’m just going to delete it and put it in an external case. I don’t have an extra laptop to do any testing and I’m 3 days behind on work.

Well, hope this information helps someone.


L8R

 

[gregrocker]

Glad you got it fixed.

All of those commands are automated in Windows 7 DVD >Repair console >Startup Repair.

It has to run every test and then tries to fix MBR (bootrec) then lastly it will rewrite the MBR (bootsect), usually on the third separate try.

Sorry I missed this one 6 days ago. Love these. Good work!

 

[xmp900]

Thank you tikinet!
Your instructions worked for me. I formatted hard drive with Xp on it and had no idea about the booting problems. Nothing worked and i could not access windows 7. I also tried to recover the windows xp data but it did not work either. After following your instructions i was able to boot up and everything is working fine now. Thanks again.

 

[tikinet]

Glad it helped xmp900