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Question

Partions..win 7 Vs Vista(yuk)

by Feb 6, 2014 3:41PM PST

Hewow Happy


Well my problem is simple..but not that simple that i have to ask for expert advice.

Maybe i put this post in wrong catagory,maybe..idk. I`m just hoping someone can answer it

I have 2 partions on my HHD.

I have a C: and W: (W for win7 ofc lol ).

thing is,most of my progs are on C:

I can still access then..yey Happy

But what i would like to know is:

Can i delete Vista AND still have access to all my files(games...what? you think girls dun play games? hahaha )

So can n i get rid of Vista? yes or no?

Discussion is locked

8 Posts
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Answer
Re: Vista
by Forum moderator Feb 6, 2014 4:13PM PST

You tell about c: with program files (that's a Program Files folder?) and w: with Windows 7 (that's a Windows folder?).

And then you mention Vista. That doesn't make much sense given what you told. And what exactly do you mean with "delete Vista" and "get rid of Vista"?

Kees

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reply to confusion lol
by Mooksie Feb 6, 2014 4:47PM PST

i have a partion on my HHD.
VISTA is on C:
Win7 is on W: (W for win 7)
(yes, c:/program files/*user*/blah blah blah is on vista)

I use win7(W: drive,partion...remember?) all the time,but want to free up space on my HDD. I dont want to lose my files from C:

so can i delete/unistall vista on C: BUT still have access to all my progs on C: ?

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Re: Vista
by Kees_B Forum moderator Feb 6, 2014 4:52PM PST

I thought so, but it's good to be certain.

Yes, you can delete the Windows account on the c: if you use the Windows account on the w:. But, to be on the safe side, I'd start with simply renaming it and rebooting. If everything is fine then it seems safe to throw it away. Keep a copy on your external hard disk or a big enough USB-stick for a few months, to be very sure.

Kees

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o.O
by Mooksie Feb 6, 2014 5:14PM PST

so just rename c: ?

oh...

well thats easy to do hehehe. bye bye vista poo poo

i have a Samsung 840 EVO 120GB(win 7) and a Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB,but more room is nice,cos i realy dont need 2 OS`s

Thankies for the help *hugs* xDD

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Re: just rename c: ?
by Kees_B Forum moderator Feb 6, 2014 11:03PM PST

No, just rename the folder c:\windows to something else, for example c:\winvista

Kees

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agree
by James Denison Feb 9, 2014 5:41AM PST

Unless you did something odd to get programs on Vista drive to run under W7 without installing them again.

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Answer
Just a thought.
by Forum moderator Feb 6, 2014 5:15PM PST

I'm no expert but knowing now that you have Vista on C and Win 7 on W, then we can assume that Vista was installed first and Win 7 was installed after.

That would be the correct way to do it, the older OS first then the younger OS next. That means that the BCD, (Boot Configuration Data), file will be stored on the C drive, (or C partition).

If you delete Vista, that BCD file also goes, and you will not be able to boot into Win 7.

Also, it seems that Vista is the OS where all your games and other software is installed. Even if you delete Vista but retain the Program Files folder from the Vista partition, you would not be able to access those games/software from within Win 7 anyway, assuming you found a way to boot into W7. They were not installed on Win 7 and so Win 7 will not recognise the software.

Mark

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Answer
Short answer: No
by Feb 6, 2014 10:34PM PST

Short answer: No, this won't work. You can't just selectively delete Vista off a partition/drive. That might well make your system unbootable, making problems with running programs installed under Vista moot until you can actually get Win 7 booting again.

It's not what you're going to want to hear, but the least hassle way of doing this, especially for the inexperienced, is to simply back up whatever files you don't want to lose from both drives, format both drives, then install only Windows 7 on whichever drive you choose followed by reinstalling the applications. You can do it without formatting both drives, but if you don't know what you're doing you'll likely spend several hours trying to sort out the mess you create and the entire process will take far longer than if you had simply formatted then reinstalled and reconfigured everything to be like it was before.

Back to Windows 7 forum

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