Dual Boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 - Delete Windows 7

How to Delete "Windows 7" in your Dual Boot with Windows 8


information   Information
This tutorial will show you how to delete Windows 7 in your dual boot with Windows 8 when Windows 7 was installed first and Windows 8 installed second. This will leave you with only having Windows 8 installed afterwards.

warning   Warning
You will need to have the Microsoft System Reserved Partition.



Part One

Here's How:


1. Start or restart your PC, and boot into Windows 8. (see screenshot below)
Delete Win 7-001.PNG

2. Open Disk Management by typing diskmgmt.msc in search bar. (see screenshot below)
Delete Win 7-002.PNG

3. In Disk Management, delete the partition that you installed Windows 7 on so that is is now unallocated space. (see screenshots below)
Delete Win 7-003.PNG
Delete Win 7-004.PNG
Delete Win 7-005.PNG


4. If you like, you could either create a new partition to use with the unallocated space, or extend the Windows 8 C: drive into the unallocated space to add it back to the C: partition. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This will vary depending on how you have your hard drive setup though.
Delete Win 7-006.PNG
Note   Note
For (B) Setup to extend Partition C: you will need a third party partitioning app like Paragon Software,

Note   Note

Paragon Extend.PNG

5. When finished, restart your PC and only have Windows 8 installed and listed in the Windows Boot Manager screen.

Part Two

When you have your Dual boot on a PC with a uEFI setup.

Delete Win 7-007.PNG
Delete Win 7-008.PNG

Follow the steps in Part One.




All done.
Ray






 

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Last edited by a moderator:
Great tutorial Ray. :)
 

My Computer

System One

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    64-bit Windows 10
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    Custom self built
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    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
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    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
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    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thank you, Shawn.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Why on earth would anybody want to do that?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Because it's their choice and because they can. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
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    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
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    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
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    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
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    Acer AL1917W A LCD
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    Thumb drives
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    Standard 250 watt
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    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
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    Acer Windows PS/2
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    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
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    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Because not everybody think Windows 8 is crap.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Linux Mint 14
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion g4
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2330M CPU @ 2.20GHz
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1 GB Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500 GB HDD
Any reason reserved partition grew to 350mbs?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7, Windows 8, Ubuntu 12.10
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15
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    i7
Hello cycledoc,

My guess would be because of the new Windows 8 boot GUI. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Any reason reserved partition grew to 350mbs?

Hello cycledoc,

My guess would be because of the new Windows 8 boot GUI. :)

I extend the old Windows 7 System Reserved 100mb partition, to be same as the new Windows 8 System Reserved 350mb partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
I purchased a Windows 8 upgrade and presently dual boot with Windows 7. I am ready to commit to Windows 8, remove any windows 7 partitions, and expand the Windows 8 partition to recapture that disk space. This tutorial seems to be what I need, but I am concerned that the present Windows 8 partition is not Primary, and I fear leaving the system unbootable. I've used EaseUS to get where I am now as shown here:




Disk Management configuration.jpg

I'm not sure how to proceed. Thanks in advance for any help you might offer.

Regards,
John
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite L505-S5988
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T6500
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated
I purchased a Windows 8 upgrade and presently dual boot with Windows 7. I am ready to commit to Windows 8, remove any windows 7 partitions, and expand the Windows 8 partition to recapture that disk space. This tutorial seems to be what I need, but I am concerned that the present Windows 8 partition is not Primary, and I fear leaving the system unbootable. I've used EaseUS to get where I am now as shown here:




View attachment 14165

I'm not sure how to proceed. Thanks in advance for any help you might offer.

Regards,
John


Welcome to EightForums, John.

1) You have a lot of wasted space, being used by your OEM manufacturer's install of Windows 7.

2) I personally would backup the personal DATA, & do a clean install.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Can I simply delete the Windows 7 volume shown as (E:) in the attached disk management image?
Can I also delete the 1.46 GB Recovery Partition which I believe pertains to the Windows 7 installation?
Will Windows 8 then boot normally even though it is not installed in a primary partition?
Can I or should I change that partition from logical to primary?

Thanks in advance for the excellent guidance available at this forum!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite L505-S5988
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T6500
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Thanks theog!

This is what I plan to do:
1. Delete the Windows 7 volume as you describe in the tutorial.
2. Convert the Windows 8 partition from logical to primary ( I cannot do this first because I have 4 primary partitions now; however, deleting the primary Windows 7 volume should make 1 primary available again ).
3. Leave the primary 1.46 GB partition alone.
4. Expand the Windows 8 partition into the unallocated space freed up by deleting Windows 7.

Do you see anything I might be missing?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite L505-S5988
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T6500
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated
Hi john

Do you see anything I might be missing?

Yes,
I wuould also detele the 476mb & 15.37gb partition.
Than you can make D: Primary & extent into the two unallocated spaces.
Do backup first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
So far, so good! :D Before I delete the 15.37 GB partition, can you tell me what purpose it serves? Is it an OEM installed volume that would have allowed me to recover the original Windows 7 installation that came with the computer?


HDDRECOVERY PARTITION.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite L505-S5988
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T6500
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated
Hi John

Now that Windows 8 is installed, has no use.
It was your OEM manufacturer's Recovery Partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
Hi,
I was wondering if you could help me - I have a similar query to jhcarver had.
My disks look like this:

partitions.png

I think that I need to do the following:


  1. Delete the Windows 7 partition
  2. Convert the Windows 8 partition from Logical to Primary
  3. Extend the Windows 8 partition into the empty space

Will this work? Will it boot?
Thanks in advance

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Hi,
I was wondering if you could help me - I have a similar query to jhcarver had.
My disks look like this:

View attachment 15080

I think that I need to do the following:


  1. Delete the Windows 7 partition
  2. Convert the Windows 8 partition from Logical to Primary
  3. Extend the Windows 8 partition into the empty space

Will this work? Will it boot?
Thanks in advance

Tom

Yes, you can also delete E: as is of use with Windows 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    ME, XP,Vista,Win7,Win8,Win8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Other Info
    Notebooks x 3

    Desktops x 5

    Towers x 4
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