How to remove windows 7 configuration from xp. How to remove an operating system if there are two of them, editing the windows boot menu
Modern computers allow users to dual boot with multiple operating systems. Windows itself offers the same option, meaning you can install Windows 8 along with version 7 and keep both operating systems running. Dual booting your system has a number of advantages: you can test drive a preview of a major OS update (like Windows 8) or try a completely different shell (like Ubuntu) to see the scope of expected changes and features before making your final choice. The only problem, however, is that there isn't really an easy way to completely remove an installed operating system. In any case, when formatting your partition, you will often encounter problems in the bootloader menu.
Why are two OSes needed and is it always good?
In a typical dual-boot PC setup, the second partition on the hard drive contains a newer version of Windows or an installation of Linux. While this can be useful when your applications or devices require different operating systems, the two shells take up significant disk space. You can remove the second OS without affecting the functionality of the original operating system, but uninstalling the original shell may cause the computer to stop working.
So, how to remove the second Windows from a PC to avoid data loss? The first thing you should do is back up any files associated with the second OS that you want to keep. After removing the operating system, all saved data on this partition will be lost. The uninstallation process itself depends on which shell is installed on your device as the original one. Below are two possible actions.
How to remove a second Windows 7 from a Windows 8 computer
Boot into the main Windows 8 operating system. Click Search in the Windows 8 Templates panel and type "computer management" into the search bar. Select the above menu item from the displayed results.
Click Yes to have Windows 8 open the Computer Management window. Click Disk Management in the left pane. You may need to click the arrow next to the Storage tab to display this option.
Find the level containing the second operating system in the top pane. Typically such an indicator will have a drive letter such as "D" or "F." Right-click on it and select Delete. The volume labeled "C" usually contains your main operating system, so do not attempt to erase this volume.
Click "Yes" to confirm. Windows will delete the volume containing the second operating system. You will lose all files and data stored on this volume. How to remove the second Windows 7 from your computer to free up more memory?
Resizing a Partition
Empty the appropriate disk partition if you want to recover disk space used by another operating system. Find the drive containing it in the bottom pane. Each section on the media is represented by a rectangle. The one that previously contained another managed system will be designated as free space and will be highlighted in a different color.
Right-click on it and select Delete Partition. Click "Yes" to confirm.
Then right-click on the primary partition (the one that contains drive C) and select "Grow Volume." Click "Next" twice and then "Done" without changing any settings to add free space to it.
Alternative way
There are different options for how to remove a second Windows operating system. If you are looking for an easier way to do this, you can use NanWick Windows Uninstaller. It not only removes the selected operating system from your computer but also clears the boot record of the unmaintained OS.
The application has a fairly simple and intuitive interface. Note that the app can only remove Windows from a dual-boot system, so you can't remove Windows if that's the only operating system your device runs on.
How it works?
How to remove a second operating system on a PC using this service? After launching the application, click the "Scan" button to allow it to detect drives containing the OS.
Once identified, the tool displays a list of drives on which operating systems are installed. From this list, you can select the one from which you want to remove Windows. Once selected, click OK.
You will be returned to the main uninstaller interface. Now you only need to click the “Delete” button to start this process.
The procedure covers two stages. In the first, the tool actually collects the relevant information needed to remove system files. Therefore, this step may take several minutes, depending on your specifications and the number of OS files. The application accesses the files, records permissions, removes unnecessary data, and then terminates the process.
Once everything is done, Windows Uninstaller will open a Success dialog box and prompt you to reboot the system to complete the changes.
NanWick Windows Uninstall is a very useful tool that will definitely come in handy if you want to remove Consumer Preview from Windows 8 before upgrading to the final build, or uninstall Windows 8 if you want to use Windows 7. It works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Testing was carried out on Windows 7, 64-bit.
Removing a second Windows 7 from a Linux computer
As noted above, methods for removing a second operating system also depend on which OS is used as the original one. The instructions below will help you uninstall Windows from a Linux Mint or Ubuntu based installation.
This example describes Linux Mint 17.2, but this method should work the same with any other Debian or Ubuntu based distribution.
How to remove a second Windows 7 from a computer running these OSes? First of all, you must delete the partitions allocated for it. This is a safe procedure, but any major separation operation has a small risk that something could go wrong.
Therefore, it is best to back up all your personal files, not only from Windows but also from Linux. This way, if problems arise, you can always do a clean installation of Linux.
Using GParted to Uninstall Windows
GParted, or Gnome Partition Editor, is the most famous GUI partitioning tool for Linux. It comes pre-installed with Linux Mint, Ubuntu and most other distributions. You can download the GParted ISO, a special version just to run the service if you don't have the app or bootable media installed.
How to remove a second Windows 7 from a computer using this service? After downloading, you need to launch GParted from the “Administration” section. You'll see a layout of a typical Windows-Linux dual boot installation. So, you need to determine which memory elements are NTFS Windows partitions. Then you have to right click on them and delete each of these items. After that, right-click the linux-swap partition and select “swapoff”. When swap is disabled, you need to click on the freed partition and select “Resize/Move”.
In the window that appears, drag the image of the extended section to the left. Once it takes up all the free space, click Resize/Move. The last step is to move and resize the Linux partition.
If you want to provide some space for the swap partition, you must leave enough "free space" just like you would for personal data. Except for this volume, you must drag the main Linux until it takes up all the free space.
How to cancel or continue the process?
If you change your mind and decide not to uninstall Windows, you don't need to worry. Until you click the Apply All Operations button, nothing will change on the disk or partitions. You can close GParted, reboot, and Windows will still remain as a second OS.
When you are 100% sure that you want to remove Windows, click the “Apply all operations” button. The length of this process will depend on how much data you have stored on your Linux partition and how fast your hard drive is. During the operation, you should not close the system or turn off the computer. This will destroy your Linux installation. When all processes are completed, you can reboot the system.
How to remove Windows from GRUB
The next time you boot, GRUB will still show the remote OS entry as a "phantom limb". How to remove the second Windows 7 from the download?
It's actually very easy. You just need to open a terminal ctrl + alt + T on your distribution and enter the command: sudo grub-update. This action will scan the disk for all operating systems and subsequently create corresponding GRUB entries. After the next reboot, Windows will disappear completely from your device.
If your distribution has a bootloader other than GRUB, you'll need to find more information on how to update its entries. Also remember that the above settings only apply to removing an additional OS. If you are looking for a way to remove one Windows operating system from a PC, you need to follow completely different steps.
Good afternoon friends. I think every user has noticed that after he installed a new operating system, this OS begins to work like a well-oiled clock. Everything loads quickly and correctly. It's a pleasure to work with such a system.
But time passes, and the system begins to slow down. There is a long loading time when turned on, and the system also takes a very long time to turn off. The same thing happens with programs installed on this system. They take a long time to load and do not work correctly.
Of course, the best way is to clean the system. I have written more than once about cleaning the system in my articles. I even wrote two free books about this: - “ How to speed up your computer? And " How to properly clean Windows?».
But let’s say the user has already decided to remove this system and install a new one. Although, we delete systems not only because of failures. Quite often this happens when a new OS is released. When the user simply wanted to install a new system. In both of these cases, the old system will have to be removed.
Also, the system is often removed when there is another parallel one, and the second one becomes simply unnecessary for us. So how to do it right? Today we will look at three ways to completely remove Windows 7 from your computer, although this applies not only to Windows 7, but also to other operating systems.
How to remove Windows 7 from your computer - replace it with a new system
We will do this by using the installation disk, which we will load from the BIOS. To do this, during system boot, select the BIOS settings. So, the boot disk is in your drive. As soon as you click to turn on the computer, immediately press F2. Moreover, you need to do this before loading the Microsoft logo.
You will enter the BIOS settings, from where you can select the boot order of the disks on your PC. We enter the Boot section.
To do this, click on CDROM and set the priority.
Then press F10 to save the settings. Now we can remove our system by installing another operating system on it, the one you decided to install. At the same time, you can remove a system from the BIOS using other third-party software, for example, Acronis Disk Director, but we will still consider removal by installing a new one on the old system.
This is the most common and convenient method. I will not talk about all the nuances of installing the system, especially since I already have an article on the topic of installing the system. I’ll just explain that if you already have a system installed and you decide to install another one on it, then during the installation of the system, before choosing the partition where you will install the new system, the old one must be formatted.
To do this, being in the window for selecting a disk for installing the system, you need to click on the line at the bottom of the “Disk Settings” window.
Then, we will have a warning about deleting all information from this section. Which is exactly what we need.
Our disk has been formatted. Then, all you have to do is continue installing the new operating system.
To speed up your Windows installation, I recommend:- Computer accelerator.
How to remove a second Windows from a computer First method
Many users have two systems. We will consider the case when both of them are on the Hard Disk, but in different partitions (often people put the second system on a virtual disk in the same partition).
So, to do this, right-click on the “Computer” shortcut and select properties. A window will open with our disk partitions. Select "Advanced options" in the left column.
The “System Properties” window appears. In the “Advanced” menu, select “Options” above the “Boot and Recovery” line.
Then the most important thing begins. In the window that opens, you need to select the system that you want to leave, from which the download will occur. If you make a mistake, the system simply won't boot.
Click OK. Also, this method is suitable if you just want to remove the second Windows from the boot menu.
We need this action to eliminate surprises. For example, if the default boot is the system that you want to remove, and you do not change the system, the computer will simply not start working.
Now, close all open windows, click on the “Computer” shortcut with the left mouse button. In the window that opens, select the disk on which there is a parallel system that we want to delete. In my case, this is drive D. To do this, right-click on the drive and select “Format”.
In the window that opens, select “Start”. We get a warning about the consequences of formatting. Click OK and the disk with our second system is completely formatted.
How to remove parallel Windows from your computer Second method
This method is much simpler. To do this, just enter “System Configuration” into the command line or msconfig and open the program. Select the “Download” menu. In the window that opens, we will have information about our operating systems. Since I currently have only one system, the program shows one system.
Then, select the system that needs to be removed and delete it by clicking on the “Delete” button.
After completing the procedures, it is advisable to clean the registry. The task is completed, the second system is deleted!
You now know how to completely remove Windows 7 from your computer and you shouldn’t have any problems with this. Also, I’m interested in your opinion on this issue in the comments! Good luck!
Friends, after removing Windows from your computer, I suggest you install it not on a regular HDD, but on an SSD, as I did. Disks on a page range from 120 to 960 GB, i.e., actually 1 TB. You can purchase it from the link... on AliExpress. Judging by the description, the disk is suitable for both Computers and (laptops).
From the screenshot you can see the disk volumes. If you need to install the system, it is enough to purchase a disk with a capacity of 120 GB. If it’s a full-fledged hard drive, then, at your discretion, from 480 to 960 GB. Why do I recommend installing Windows on a solid-state hard drive? Your system will boot in seconds! If you purchase a 1TB disk, all your programs will work!
If, when installing Windows 7,8 or 10, if you did not format the system hard drive, but installed a new operating system, then most likely now, after turning on the computer, you see a menu asking you to choose which Windows to run.
If you do not select anything, then after a few seconds the latest installed OS will automatically start.
In this short episode I will show you how to remove the second boot from Windows. In fact, it's very easy.
Removing the second operating system from the boot menu
All steps are the same for the latest OS versions - Windows 7,8,8.1 and Windows 10.
To remove the second Windows boot, you need to do the following:
- After your computer boots up, press the keyboard shortcut Win + R. A dialog box will appear "Run." It should be entered msconfig and press Enter(or button OK).
- The system configuration window will open, in which we are interested in the tab. Go to it.
- Select unnecessary items ( those where Not written"Current operating system"). And press the button "Delete". If you have reinstalled Windows several times, there may be several of these items; delete each of them. This will not affect your current operating system in any way. After you have deleted all unnecessary items, click "OK".
- You will be prompted to restart your computer. It is better to do this right away so that the program makes the necessary changes to the Windows boot record.
After the reboot, you will no longer see any menu with a choice of several options. Instead, the copy that was installed last will be launched immediately (Moreover, most likely, you don’t have previous Windows, there were only entries about them in the boot menu).
It's very easy to do. Go to your system drive (usually drive “C”) and look for the Windows.old folder there. If you have reinstalled Windows several times, there may be several of these folders. It is in these folders that all previous versions of operating systems are stored. - after all, this folder, as I already said, takes up quite a lot of space on your hard drive and, most likely, you have already saved everything you needed.
VIDEO: How to remove the second boot of Windows 7,8,10?
Well, that's all for today! Please write in the comments, did you manage to remove the second Windows when loading the operating system? And what version of Windows did you do this in? Like if you liked the video and subscribe to our channel if you haven't subscribed yet, as well as alerts by clicking on the bell next to the subscribe button!
In the boot menu when the computer starts, the second operating system is displayed if several working operating systems are installed, for example, Windows 7 and XP, or if Windows 7/8 was reinstalled without formatting the system partition. How to remove the extra (unnecessary) OS and remove or configure the selection option, read this article.
How to remove the second OS from boot?
1. Open the “Start” system menu (Win key).
2. In the line “Search for programs...” type - execute.
3. Click on the “Run” icon that appears at the top of the menu bar.
4. In the new window, in the “Open” field, enter - msconfig. And then click on the “OK” button or press the “Enter” key.
5. In the “System Configuration” settings, open the “Download” tab.
6. Select the Windows you want to get rid of from the list.
Note. When choosing, pay attention to the labels. Next to the working OS (current) the status “Current operating system” is indicated. And next to an inactive one, as a rule, there is no additional information (explanation).
7. Click the “Delete” button, and then “Apply” and “OK”.
8. After closing the “System Configuration” window, in the additional “System Settings” window, select “Reboot”.
If all operations in the instructions were completed correctly, when the PC is restarted, neither the boot menu nor the other OS will be visible.
Using the Command Line
If you are an experienced computer user and know how to work with the command line (CMD.exe), you can use the integrated software tool BCDEdit.
The /deletevalue parameter to this directive removes the selected item from the load. More details about BCDEdit parameters and its capabilities can be found on the official Microsoft website - technet.microsoft.com/ru-ru/library/cc709667(v=ws.10).aspx.
How to delete a second Windows folder?
If for some reason there are two Windows folders on the system partition (one working and the other not) and the boot menu is not displayed at startup, to remove the operating system, follow these steps:
1. Determine which Windows folder belongs to the working OS (currently active):
- press Win+R;
- in the “Open” field enter - %windir%;
- Click “OK” (the contents of the Windows folder will open, which does not need to be deleted);
- remember this folder (additionally, look at its properties - creation date, size, number of files).
2. Go up to the directory above: click on the top line of the “Disk C” window (system partition).
3. Find the old or broken Windows folder. Once again, additionally compare its properties with the working one (so as not to confuse it!): Right-click → Properties. And then drag it to the trash or delete it through the context menu (right button → Delete).
How to customize the boot menu?
1. Press the Win+Break key combination.
2. Go to the “Advanced options...” section.
3. In the “System Properties” window, on the “Advanced” tab, in the “Boot and Recovery” block, click the “Options” button.
4. In the settings panel, you can change the OS that boots by default and the time the boot menu is displayed when the PC starts.
