deleting XP from win7 dual boot

G

garsar

New Member
I have read quite a few similar but not quite the same issues as I have. Perhaps mine is simpler but I haven't figured it out yet.
Have a working dual boot (Win 7 & XP system on one drive). However, XP is a bogus license from the people who built my machine. I have a good XP disc to replace it but it won't work as it's version is older than the one used. I tried to activate the bogus one with my good one's key but didn't work out. So need a way to either re-format the partition with xp on it, so I can then reload the good version or delete the bad XP, or delete the partition and start over with my XP disc and BCD. Of course with Win7 working fine I do not want to overwrite it. I have tried Partition Magic to format the XP partition but it won't do it. Am I missing something here or should a partition program format the xp partition?
 
First, use EasyBCD to change the boot drive to the 7 partition. Then format the partition and reinstall.
 
Your XP CD should let you install XP right on top of the old version if you use the "custom" (or is it "advanced" ?) options at the start of setup where it's looking for free space.
You could move the boot files first as CG suggests, but you're going to have to repair the W7 boot after installing XP anyway (it will regress the boot), so you'd just as well do it afterwards rather than before.
 
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