Remove the second Windows 7 computer. How to remove an unnecessary operating system

Today I decided to prepare a short article in which I will talk about how to remove one Windows system from a computer on which you installed two operating systems, for example, Windows 8 and Windows 7. I already wrote an article on how to do this correctly. This article can be considered a small addition.

It is clear that if you installed two operating systems on your computer, for example, in order to test Windows 8, then sooner or later you will want to remove one of the systems. Either leave the new eight and remove Windows 7, or vice versa, remove Windows 8.

I don't see much point in having two systems on a computer. Although, now hard drives are of such capacity that you can install about ten of them :) But, for example, on mine SSD drive at 120 GB, this is not very correct. Therefore, when you have already checked everything and made your decision, the question arises, how to remove Windows 7 or Windows 8. Now I will write how I did it.

You probably already thought that what’s complicated here is that you formatted the partition with an unnecessary system, and that’s all. But not everything is so simple, the bootloader still remains intact. You also need to remove the system from the boot menu. There is nothing difficult about this, I’ll demonstrate it now.

Completely remove Windows (if two systems are installed)

It is best to remove it from the system that you decided to leave. I don't know how important this is, but it's better to do it this way.

For example, I decided to leave Windows 8, and I will show you how to remove Windows 7.

This means that in this case, we carry out all actions from the figure eight. First we will make our system, which we decided to keep, the main one (it should load by default), and then remove the system we don’t need from the download.

Go to your desktop and press the keys Win+R. In the Run window, enter the command msconfig, and press OK.

In a new window, go to the tab, select operating system which we want to leave (in our case, this is Windows 8), and press the button Use as default (opposite OS, the corresponding status “Default OS” should appear).

Now, select the system that we want to delete (in our case, this is WIndows 7), and press the button Delete.

A window will appear, I advise you to select .

The computer will reboot, and without the ability to select an operating system, the system that we left should immediately boot. In our case, this is Windows 8.

What to do with files from the old system?

Yes, all that remains is to deal with the partition that previously contained the operating system. The easiest way is to format it and store files on it.

Just be careful when you format the partition. Check its contents, there should be folders there: Program Files, Windows, Users, etc. And this cannot be drive C, it will have a different letter.

Attention! Formatting will delete all information on the local drive. If we consider our case specifically, all information that was stored on the local drive C will be deleted (desktop, folder my documents, my photos, etc.), on the operating system we want to remove.

Second way.

You can delete a partition, and add the free space that appears after deleting it to an existing partition. I don’t know how much of a necessary procedure this is, because it’s much easier to just leave this section for storing files.

But, if you decide to remove it completely, then this can be done using a standard tool Disk Management, which I wrote about in this article ““. Do not pay attention that the article was written for Windows 7, on eight, everything is exactly the same.

In Disk Management, right-click on the partition you want to delete and select Delete volume...“.

Then, right-click on the partition to which you want to add memory from the deleted partition and select Extend volume. Follow the instructions, everything is simple.

Afterword

Here is a proven way to remove an operating system if you have two or even more of them on your computer. I think that there should not be any problems. The main thing is to be careful not to delete something wrong or format a section with valuable information.

If anything, ask your questions in the comments, I will try to help. Share information, perhaps you did this procedure differently. Best wishes!

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How to remove one Windows operating system from a computer if two systems are installed? updated: February 6, 2018 by: admin

They are not rare. However, not everyone can remove one of the two operating systems. Some people continue to work with several operating systems at once.

Users install two operating systems at once in order to test one of them

When the “eight” from Windows appeared, not everyone was in a hurry to remove the “seven”; a popular solution was to install two versions, this made it possible to check the functionality and ease of use, and, if necessary, remove an unnecessary option. Some remained on the “native” Windows 7, while others opted for the new edition.

There is no point in working with two operating systems at once. A powerful computer allows you to install at least 7 series of OS, the amount of hard drive memory can cope with such a task, but this will not be useful. But on outdated equipment this will already affect the speed of operation, and even freezes are possible. In each case, it is necessary to remove unnecessary Windows from the computer, but how to do it?

Some users, when they see such a problem, are sure that it is easy to solve; they need to format the partition of the extra OS and the task is completed. In fact, this will not solve the problem, but will only hide it, because the bootloader will continue to work. You also need to erase the OS from the boot window.

Why are there multiple operating systems on one computer?

1. In most situations, the problem occurs due to the installation of several operating systems on one computer. As already mentioned, some do this to test the operating system, but inexperienced users do it by mistake, after which for a long time they do not even notice the “duplicity” of their PC;
2. Another reason why you have to select an OS every time you boot is the incorrect installation of Windows. When a person forgets to format HDD before recording a new OS, the process will occur on top of the previous Windows.

As a result, a selection window appears at startup, but in fact, only one OS is running on the computer

The second variant of the problem is not so serious; you can remove the “false” OS line from the selection window. Also, the choice of operating system by boot is eliminated by installing the working version by default.

How to remove a second operating system from your computer

If the download starts with selecting the operating system each time, then this is not critical. You can remove the operating system from your computer through the command center. The method is suitable for different versions of Windows (including 7 and 8), and is performed in four steps:

• After turning on the PC, you need to enable the command line (Win and R keys). In the input line of the “Run” menu, enter the command “msconfig” and confirm the actions by pressing the “OK” button (or press “Enter”);
• Next is editing the menu. Windows boot 7.

Fig.1. To do this, select the “Download” tab in the window.

• Before you remove the old Windows, you need to select the extra lines (when the operating system was installed a couple of times and did not follow the recommendations, then there can be 3-4 lines at once) and delete them.

Fig.2. There is no need to worry, deletion will not harm the performance of the current OS, actions are confirmed by clicking “OK”

• At the next stage, the application will offer to restart the device. Experts advise not to put off this action until later; the system needs to promptly make some changes to the OS boot record.

This is how it turns out to remove the second Windows 7 at startup; after turning it on, a window with two options will no longer appear. By default, the series of operating systems that was installed last will start working (At this time, the previous Windows publishers will no longer exist, there were only entries in the boot window).

After you managed to remove the old Windows 7 from your computer, the logical question arises what to do with the partition where the old OS was stored. In such situations, it is advised to simply format the section, and in the future leave the necessary electronic documents there.

You need to be vigilant during formatting

First you should check everything that is stored there. In particular, there should be folders with program files, user accounts and a Windows folder. When you had to remove the second operating system, the partition will not be on the C drive.

Important! The procedure will erase all data from the local disk memory. For example, if the deletion took place from the system drive C, then all desktop files, “My Documents” folders, etc. will go away forever.

How to remove one of the two operating systems for Windows 7 (no different for version 8)

It is advised to remove the old Windows after installing the new one by working in the menu of the system that will remain on the computer. The procedure is also possible with old version(a kind of self-removal) but it will be easier. For example, when you need to remove previous versions of Windows 7, but leave the “eight” (although the process is no different between 7 and 8).

You can remove the second Windows 7 at startup along with the partition. The Disk Management function is suitable for this; it works the same on Windows 8 and 7. First, right-click on the partition to be deleted, then you need to select the “Delete volume” line.

At the final stage, right-click on the existing partition and select “Extend volume”

Thus, the volume of the partition's memory will increase at the expense of the previous one.

This is how you can remove an operating system through the command line, if there are two of them. Even inexperienced owners will be able to remove the second operating system. Still have questions? Let's ask!

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A pressing question for many, from the computer. Its presence is indicated by the operating system selection window when the computer starts. When only one system is used, it is better to remove the other to free up space.

A computer may contain 2 or more operating systems; the choice from the available ones is made before starting. Quite often, maintaining several systems, especially on one logical drive, provokes problems, so the computer can slow down, and sometimes there are problems with user profiles. In general, the stability of such an OS is much less than a single installation of Windows.

How to remove a second Windows system?

The key method, provided by the manufacturer, of how to remove a second Windows 7 or 8 is to use a special tool located in the system configuration. This will remove the choice when turning on the PC, that is, the boot record will be erased, although personal data will still remain.

1. Press Win + R and type the word msconfig, then Enter;

Among the listed systems, select the one that should remain and click on “Use as default”;

Select the unnecessary system and click on “Delete”;

1. The computer must be restarted.

After turning it back on, the option to select a different OS will disappear. If the problem is only the inconvenience of choosing a system, then you should specify a minimum waiting time, then the system itself will select the default version. You can configure this function by going to:

1. RMB on “Computer” and “Properties”;
2. Click on the “Advanced options” link;

Select standard Windows and set the selection time to about 3 seconds.

How to completely remove a second Windows operating system?

In the previous version, we only eliminated the ability to start the OS, but the question of how to remove a second Windows from a computer was not fully resolved, since all the system files remained. Now you need to clean the system to free up a lot of free space.

To format a disk, you must first make sure that the target partition is selected. Its structure is identical to the system disk; it also contains the basic Windows folders, Program Files, etc. Usually the letter C is reserved for the main system, so the second OS will have a different identifier.

1. Click on Start, then “Computer”;
2. RMB on the target partition and click on “Format”;

1. If there is no special need, then leave the parameters as standard.

How to remove a second Windows 10?

You can remove the second operating system Windows 7, 8, 10 using the “Disk Management” section. The principle remains the same, the remaining OS activity should be cleaned up and the freed memory should be returned to an active state.

1. Click on Start and “Control Panel”;
2. Click on the “Administration” tile;

1. Now you should select “Computer Management”;
2. Among the list on the left side is the item “Disk Management”;
3. RMB on the partition that contains unnecessary Windows;
4. Select "Make partition inactive";
5. Again RMB and “Delete volume”.

Now the partition is completely deleted, and the remaining space after the volume remains unallocated. Therefore, it cannot be used for now. To gain access to the space, you need to create a volume; this is done by right-clicking on the unallocated space and selecting “Create a simple volume.”

After assigning a logical drive letter, you can write the necessary information to it without any restrictions.

You should know that if you uninstall the main Windows, the mbr will also be removed. This entry is required to start the OS and will need to be overwritten. The process of transferring an mbr partition has already been described earlier, so it will not be discussed in detail. We only note that you need to have installation media with the system. Then, after starting from it, select “System Restore”, the problem will probably be automatically found and fixed, otherwise you will have to manually transfer the entry.

Sometimes it becomes necessary not only to form the resulting space in a volume, but to add it to another section. Alas, this procedure is within the standard Windows tools will definitely affect the information, that is, the disk will be formatted. But if you use third-party programs, such an opportunity is present. A good example The profile application is AOMEI Partition Assistant. The program is also capable of moving free space between already formed volumes without losing data.

This completes the removal of the second Windows, and after clearing the traces, it will remain only in memories. You can delete an unlimited number of systems in exactly the same way.

If you still have questions on the topic “How to remove a second Windows from a computer?”, you can ask them in the comments

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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 really isn't simple way Complete removal of the 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 more than new version Windows or Linux installation. 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 functionality 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 layer containing the second operating system in top panel. 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. So this step may take a few minutes, depending on your technical characteristics 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 - very useful tool, which will definitely come in handy if you want to remove Consumer Preview from Windows 8 before upgrading to final assembly 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 done 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.

IN in this example Linux Mint 17.2 is described, 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 clean install"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 for running the service, if you don't have installed application or bootable media.

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.

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 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 an old or non-working one 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.