How to Uninstall Windows 8 From a Dual-Booting PC

How to Uninstall Windows 8 From a Dual-Booting PC Laptops Tablets Smartphones Software Business Reviews News Best Deals Video Magazine » Advanced Search

SpoonFed Column Geek's Geek Columns Smartphone News Apple News Android News How to Uninstall Windows 8 From a Dual-Booting PCMarch 19th, 2012 by Avram Piltch, LAPTOP Online Editorial Director  

If you set up your PC to dual boot between Windows 7 and Windows 8, but have decided to end the experiment and go back to using Windows 7 full time, we have good news. It’s incredibly easy to erase Windows 8 from your hard drive and reclaim those precious gigabytes of storage space. 

Note: If you overwrote Windows 7 with Windows 8 rather than dual-booting, then you’ll need to do a full system restore from a back up. 

To erase your Windows 8 installation from the dual-boot configuration and just have Windows 7, perform these steps:

Boot into Windows 7Launch Msconfig by hitting Windows + R to get the run box, typing msconfig and clicking Ok.
Select the Boot tab.Select Windows 8 and click Delete.
 Click OK to exit msconfig.Launch Disk management by typing “Create and format” into the Start Menu and clicking on the “Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions” shortcut.
 Right click on the Windows 8 partition and Select Delete Volume.
.tmnAdsenseContainer{margin-bottom:8px}TmnAdsense.display(options = {'width':676,'ad_width':676,'max_ads':3,'row_margin':0,'adstyle':'twolineurltop','adsbyposition':'topleft','adFontFamily':'arial','titleFontColor':'0066cc','titleDecoration':'underline','titleFontSize':13,'descFontSize':11,'linkPaddingTop':1,'linkFontColor':'6e6e6e','linkFontSize':9,'adsbyFontFamily':'arial','adsbyvertical':1,'adsbyColor':'737070','adsbyhorizontal':6});After you delete Windows 8's partition, you can either turn the unallocated space it leaves behind into a separate partition for data or add it on to your current Windows 7 partition by clicking on the primary partition (usually your C drive) in disk management and selecting  Extend volume.6 Ways to Totally Avoid Metro and Use Only Desktop Mode in Windows 8How to Dual-Boot Windows 8 While Keeping Windows 7 As Your Default OSWindows 8's Competing Interfaces Will Double Your Effort, Halve Your FunComments  Tags: Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 8, how-tos, tips Our Related ContentTested: Windows 7 Beats Windows 8 Preview in Battery Life, File Copy, More6 Ways to Totally Avoid Metro and Use Only Desktop Mode in Windows 8Microsoft to Pull Plug on Windows 8 Consumer Preview in January 2013 From Other SitesNokia Confirms Its Working on a Tablet (GottaBeMobile)Why Windows 8 Is Not An iPad 3 Competitor (GottaBeMobile)Microsoft Windows 8 Consumer Preview Available for Download (Carrypad) Related Deals QuickBooks Pro with Enhanced Payroll 2012 Bundle $195.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)Toshiba Canvio Basics 750GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $79.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)HP Pavilion dv6z Quad Edition AMD A6 Quad-core Laptop $474.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)Lenovo G570 4334-9MU Intel Core i3 2.3GHz 15.6" LED-backlight Laptop $369.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)ESET Smart Security 4.0, 3 User $22.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)   Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Featured Sponsors LATEST RELATED Top 6 TweetDeck AlternativesLG Connect 4G: Full ReviewApple Sells Three Million New iPads over Launch Weekend Microsoft to Pull Plug on Windows 8 Consumer Preview in January 2013AdvertisementAdvertisement LATEST COMMENT "Isn't the iPad doing 4 times the amount of work per frame as the Tegra? The screen has ~4 times as many pixels to fill."
-- Bobshush on Tablet Chip Showdown: Nvidia Tegra 3 vs. the New iPad's A5X

Advertisement LogicBuy Featured Deals LAPTOP COMMUNITY Follow us
on TwitterReceive breaking news via RSSSubscribe to our eNewslettersBecome a fan
on FacebookVisit our YouTube channelSubscribe to
our magazineAdvertisementMarket PlaceAdvertisement Site Pages


About the SiteHow We Test and Review Magazine Magazine SubscriptionsNewsletteriPad Edition Company Pages


Company Info Contact Us Advertise with Us Using our Content Licensing & Reprints Privacy Policy TechMediaNetwork Brands


TechMediaNetwork TopTenREVIEWS LAPTOP SPACE.com LiveScience TechNewsDaily Newsarama Life's Little Mysteries OurAmazingPlanet iPadNewsDaily BusinessNewsDaily MyHealthNewsDaily SecurityNewsDaily InnovationNewsDaily IT TechNewsDaily Herman Street NorthOrion
FOLLOW US ON...   (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

From Laptopmagazine. Visit Amazon Computer and Notebook Center Here

Q&A: Restoring Hidden Icons, Okay to Uninstall Visual C++ Versions?

Last night my sister-in-law called me, just about in tears. Something had happened to her laptop and everything seemed to be gone: all her desktop and Start menu icons, and, even scarier, all her data. It was like aliens had abducted her desktop. Not aliens: hackers. Her system had been infected by a virus, and it took me a few sweeps with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to get rid of it. (Here's a great malware-removal tutorial from PCWorld's Eric Geier.)

Just one problem: Removing the virus hadn't restored all my sister-in-law's icons and data. The hard drive still showed nearly full, meaning nothing had actually been erased, but for all intents and purposes, the stuff was still MIA.

Fortunately, I found a utility that worked a seemingly major miracle: It brought everything back.

It's called UnHide. This free, self-contained utility is available via BleepingComputer courtesy of a user named Grinler. Just download and run the program, then be prepared to wait. On my system, it took 10-15 minutes to restore everything.

But restore everything it did: desktop icons, the Start Menu, and all the seemingly vanished data.

This was a first for me; I'd never encountered a virus that made almost the entire desktop disappear. Scary stuff!

If you find yourself in a similar situation, don't panic. I think it's the rare virus that actually does wipe out data. That said, this is probably a good time to remind you to make regular backups--not just to an external drive, but also to the cloud. Better safe than sorry!

Reader Don posed this excellent question: "I use Revo Uninstaller. Under Programs Present I see many different versions of [Microsoft Visual] C++. Can I delete some of them without messing up my PC?"

I'm a Revo user, too, Don, and I've seen firsthand what you're talking about. Of course, even running Windows' own program uninstaller can reveal multiple instances of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable, often with diffferent years and version numbers.

On my system, in fact, I count 13 of them.

It's logical to think that Windows probably needs only one of these versions--the most recent. And it's also logical to think that by clearing out the older ones, you'll reclaim some hard drive space and maybe lighten the Registry's load a bit.

My advice: leave those C++ installations alone. The reality is that they're small, usually no more than a couple megabytes, and different versions may be linked to different programs you've installed. It's darn near impossible to know which one is associated with which, and deleting one might render a program inoperable--a hassle you definitely don't need.

I totally get the appeal of sifting through your uninstaller in search of programs you can send packing. However, when in doubt, don't throw it out.

Instead, if you're looking to optimize your system, free up some drive space, etc., try a utility like Advanced SystemCare 5 Free. It works pretty well, and it's less likely to delete something you'll need.

If you've got a hassle that needs solving, send it my way. I can't promise a response, but I'll definitely read every e-mail I get--and do my best to address at least some of them in the PCWorld Hassle-Free PC blog. My 411: hasslefree@pcworld.com. You can also sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week.

From PC World. Visit Amazon Computer and Notebook Center here