Deleting previous O/S

madblacksnake · May 8, 2014

Hi Guys,

My problem is this... Bought a second hand Dell Latitude for my daughter last year, running XP Home. 3 weeks later I got the 'Activate Windows' msge.... Clicked to activate... Already activated was the reply.

Yep... Bogus copy (un-cracked) installed.

Reinstalled from my old xp disc (30 day trial) as key code already used. Worked fine for a while.

Eventually got a genuine Win 7 disc which I'm now running. Problem is, there are at least three previous versions of windows still on the HDD squeezing the available disc space down to 837mb.....

How can I delete these old unused o/s without affecting current win 7.

There is nothing I need of the old o/s, just want them gone to free up disc space.

Thanks in Advance,

Chris.

USAFRet · May 8, 2014

Ideally, you should reinstall Win 7, and in the process, completely remove all existing partitions. Ending up with one large unallocated space.
Let Windows 7 install to that space.

Anything else will be more work, and may not work well.

With any new to you used PC, you should wipe the drive and reinstall an OS. No telling what the previous owner had on there.

aldan · May 8, 2014

your best bet is to backup anything you need from your windows 7 partition and do a clean install.during install you can delete all partitions and a "custom install" of win7 will wipe the disk clean.when you did your origional install i assume from your post you did an upgrade install?

esco_sid · May 8, 2014

When you install windows always format the drive i would reinstall windows 7 again it would be best option

aldan · May 8, 2014

usaf,you nailed this one.you got my vote.

madblacksnake · May 8, 2014

Thanks for your speedy response chaps. Yep, it's my own fault I know.

Would you suggest a partial re-install or back up Win 7 files and go for full-on "Fire & Forget" purge?

aldan · May 8, 2014

definitely back up anything you dont want to lose and do a clean install.will be second install option when you insert the dvd.it will say custom install.

USAFRet · May 8, 2014

madblacksnake :

This.
Copy to elsewhere whatever personal files you need, and nuke the drive.
Reinstall the OS and start with a known clean install.

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Deleting previous O/S

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esco_sid

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aldan

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