Solved Trouble Removing XP from Dual Boot Setup

[wnyluke]

Hello,

I would like to remove windows XP from my current dual boot setup and have had a few failed attempts already.

My system:
- Originally 1 HDD in 3 partitions, primary having XP
- Added 2nd HDD in 3 partitions, primary having Win7

I've included an image from Win7 Disk Manager.

My first attempt to remove XP I followed this guide:
Video: Remove Windows XP from a dual-boot configuration with Windows 7 | TechRepublic

I was following the steps fine until I tried the BootRec /fixboot command which returned an "element not found" message. After quitting the process there, I could not boot into either OS.

My second attempt, I tried to follow the steps provided by gregrocker under post 5 of this thread:
http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...ing-windows-xp-sp3-dual-boot-windows-7-a.html
After I deleted the XP partition and booted off the Win7 disk, Win7 did not recognize any drives that had Win7 installed. I could not select anything to repair as a result.

I have my Win7 and XP partitions backed up with Acronis and have restored both partitions after each attempt. I'm posting this from the same box.

I'll continue to read through posts/guides on the site here. Any suggestions in the mean time would be appreciated.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello wnyluke, welcome to Seven Forums!


It's much easier than you believe, all that needs done as the Windows 7 partition is marked "Active" is the 3 separate startup repairs outlined in this tutorial at the link below; and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times


​

Then the XP partition can be removed though I would suggest a wipe secure erase first, have a look at Method Four of this one.

Secure Erase / Wipe : Definition and Methods



​

 

[wnyluke]

Thanks for the suggestions BFK.

Still having issues. Here's what I've done so far:

- inserted windows 7 dvd and ran startup repair 3 times, until it stopped reporting errors
- inserted partition magic boot disk and reformatted the XP partition (I did not want to remove it in case I needed to restore it if problems arose)
- attempted to boot up and hung on system startup right after I get the cmos backup succcessful prompt
- inserted windows 7 dvd and ran startup repair several times again, until it stopped reporting errors
- tried to boot up windows 7 from HDD and now I'm getting "A disk read error occurred. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart"
- I tried windows 7 dvd again but it is not finding any errors

I have not restored my Windows7/XP images yet in case anyone has any suggestions.

**EDIT: I just went into my BIOS and switched the boot priority of my 2 HDDs and now I'm getting an "NTLDR is missing" error.

Thanks

 

[wnyluke]

Have it working it now.

After getting the "NTLDR is missing error", I ran windows 7 repair a few more times until no errors reported and I was able to boot into windows 7. I was still getting the boot manager menu which I removed using EasyBCD. I removed 'older version' option and removed the option to display the menu.

Thanks again for tips, now that all is working, I will scrub my old XP partition and add it to one of the existing partitions.

 

[theog]

Well done.


Hi BFK
Nice to see the easy one's.
Ray.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again wnyluke, good to see you got it sorted and thanks for the update.




Hello Ray!