removing vista from dual boot

[lancstech]

i have been using w7 pro on a dual booting vista laptop.
if i remove vista from boot list using easybcd and it fails on reboot will the w7 repair disk/boot disk restore w7? the laptop has a single drive with separate partitions.

i have removed many os before but on xp/linux/w7 pc on separate drives and have had disk images for backup.

on my laptop i only have v or w7 backups and w7 insists on backing up 2 partitions eg c (v) & d(w7).

anyone found a free w7 image backup utility?

 

[BadBigBen]

The way I understand the dual boot situation between Vista and W7, is that when Vista is the first OS that was installed, and W7 thereafter, W7 replaces the BOOT files on the Vista partition with it's own, thus it does not have any Boot files on the W7 partition...

now after you have removed the Vista partition, you also effectively removed the W7 boot files. running W7 repair should recreate the appropriate files on the bootable partition, which could be the empty partition that Vista was on...

in my opinion, it would be better to start all over and do a fresh install, alternative would be to use either a migration tool to move settings and data to an external drive, then do the fresh install and reintegrate those migration files...

commercial app, that does imaging that works with 7:

O&O Disk Image 4 Pro

http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/products/oodiskimage/index.html

Free:

Gparted on a LINUX LiveCD, e.g. PartedMagic...

GParted

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Parted Magic 4.3

http://partedmagic.com/change-log/129-parted-magic-43.html

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[lancstech]

hi bbb, i hope that easybcd will shortly become w7 aware or if the w7 repair disk won't enable a w7 boot then i would reinstall.

thanks for links. macrium reflect has a free and a 30 day trial that might be worth trying.

i could simply delete dirs from the vista partition and live with the boot & backup implications.

 

[linney]

Windows 7 should be able to make an Image of a single Partition and not grab every Partition on your machine.

"6. If availabe, check any additional hard drives or partitions (ex: Vista) that you would like to include in the backup image with the Windows 7 (System and C: ) partition or hard drive, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: See the WARNING box at the top of the tutorial. If you do not want to add any additional hard drives or partitions, then just leave the others unchecked. You will not see this, if you do not have any other OS installed other than Windows
7."

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

Have a look at this site for good third party software that not only backs up Images but importantly restores them too. I have been using it for years without any problems in XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Terabyte Unlimited

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/prodgrid.html

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm

 

[lancstech]

hi linney, w7 backup on my single drive dual v/w7 boot laptop, insists(greys out) on c(v) and 7(w7) partitions.

might try removing some v dirs and then backing up again before vista removal.

am about to try macrium and paragaon backup 10 both w7 and free.

thanks for link re w7 backup file organisation. it should be helpful for post vista removal of old backup files.

 

[linney]

In your case then you probably have the Booting files on one Partition and the Windows 7 install on the other. Ben mentioned that possibility in his first post.