Vista RC1 dual boot uninstall no format required needed

Kortanis · 01-22-2007, 12:45 PM

I need to remove Vista RC1 from my D: drive, while my C: drive is WinXP. Is there any way to remove Vista without a format, I have nearly 60% of its 300gb capacity is full of data that for various reasons cannot be backed up. There is NO possibility of backup.

It doesn't matter if it's only a make-shift workaround but the vista installation must be removed to clear the space while maintaining the stability of the system. If anyone could list a step by step of what I can do that would be a huge help.

Kortanis · 01-29-2007, 01:08 PM

Bump. Any suggestions of any sort? Can you outright delete the vista installation? How would the bootloader act even if you just never tried selecting the boot to ? Is the vista bootloader even active since XP is the primary installation, or does vista overwrite the xp bootloader in any type of installation?

Kortanis · 01-31-2007, 10:44 AM

Shameless self-bump

gozu · 02-02-2007, 09:19 AM

I have the exact same problem and JackRipper from the anandtech forums pointed me to this thread. I hope it helps!

http://techhooked.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=602

Kortanis · 02-03-2007, 10:01 AM

Thanks, that worked wonders! Although I cannot get rid of the Users folder or the ProgramData folder as they and some of the child folders are forced read-only and everything I tried would not work. Those folder in XP are VERY unstable... Anyone know how to finally get rid of them in XP Safemode?

Also, my XP recycle bin was corrupted on first login to my normal state XP, yikes. I emptied it and I think its fine now.

gozu · 02-03-2007, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kortanis

Thanks, that worked wonders! Although I cannot get rid of the Users folder or the ProgramData folder as they and some of the child folders are forced read-only and everything I tried would not work. Those folder in XP are VERY unstable... Anyone know how to finally get rid of them in XP Safemode?

I had (and still have) the same problem . Fortunately, they only take 200mb and do not seem hamper the installation of windows vista on the same partition (I had to remove vista beta to install the final build because the install process just couldn't rename/remove the old windows folder and would simply fail).

At this point, I figure I'll just count my blessings and move on :)

Kortanis · 02-04-2007, 11:13 PM

Mine arent taking up any room (<2mb) as I was able to go through and delete nearly every file out of the folders, I just can't get rid of the folders themselves. So perhaps you might be able to free up that 200mb.

01-22-2007, 12:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kortanis Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5 OS: WinXP	Vista RC1 dual boot uninstall no format required needed I need to remove Vista RC1 from my D: drive, while my C: drive is WinXP. Is there any way to remove Vista without a format, I have nearly 60% of its 300gb capacity is full of data that for various reasons cannot be backed up. There is NO possibility of backup. It doesn't matter if it's only a make-shift workaround but the vista installation must be removed to clear the space while maintaining the stability of the system. If anyone could list a step by step of what I can do that would be a huge help.

01-29-2007, 01:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
Kortanis Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5 OS: WinXP	Bump. Any suggestions of any sort? Can you outright delete the vista installation? How would the bootloader act even if you just never tried selecting the boot to ? Is the vista bootloader even active since XP is the primary installation, or does vista overwrite the xp bootloader in any type of installation?

01-31-2007, 10:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
Kortanis Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5 OS: WinXP	Shameless self-bump

02-02-2007, 09:19 AM	#4 (permalink)
gozu Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 2 OS: XP	I have the exact same problem and JackRipper from the anandtech forums pointed me to this thread. I hope it helps! http://techhooked.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=602

02-03-2007, 10:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
Kortanis Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5 OS: WinXP	Thanks, that worked wonders! Although I cannot get rid of the Users folder or the ProgramData folder as they and some of the child folders are forced read-only and everything I tried would not work. Those folder in XP are VERY unstable... Anyone know how to finally get rid of them in XP Safemode? Also, my XP recycle bin was corrupted on first login to my normal state XP, yikes. I emptied it and I think its fine now.

02-04-2007, 11:13 PM	#7 (permalink)
Kortanis Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 5 OS: WinXP	Mine arent taking up any room (<2mb) as I was able to go through and delete nearly every file out of the folders, I just can't get rid of the folders themselves. So perhaps you might be able to free up that 200mb.