Two Windows 7 questions

[Xee]

I bought a computer off of Craigslist and when I looked at the hard drives I saw this:

Since there's practically no space left on the C drive I want to get rid of the F partition the previous owner created (it's empty) and allocate it to the C drive. I've never used partitions before so I did some research and it seems all I need to do is delete the F partition and then extend the C drive. Is it as simple as that?

Also, the directory of the D drive looks like this:

Is it safe to assume this is the remnants of the previous version of Windows before Windows 7 was uninstalled? If so, can I just delete everything? Thanks.

 

[DarkTower]

I bought a computer off of Craigslist and when I looked at the hard drives I saw this:

Since there's practically no space left on the C drive I want to get rid of the F partition the previous owner created (it's empty) and allocate it to the C drive. I've never used partitions before so I did some research and it seems all I need to do is delete the F partition and then extend the C drive. Is it as simple as that?

Also, the directory of the D drive looks like this:

Is it safe to assume this is the remnants of the previous version of Windows before Windows 7 was uninstalled? If so, can I just delete everything? Thanks.

"delete the F partition and then extend the C drive." This is correct. I do not know about the D question though...

 

[Xee]

"delete the F partition and then extend the C drive." This is correct.

Thanks. I've heard Windows 7 creates a partition upon installation for system files and the such and wasn't sure if that was the reason this existed.

 

[bigdogchris]

That looks like a wonky config. What are the contents of the C:\ drive?

The D:\ drive could be an old installation but notice how it's marked system and Active, but your C: drive is not? System means it has the OS bootloader files and active means it's the partition that the BIOS looks at to boot.

 

[Piotrsama]

That 40GB HD is probably VERY slow, I'd try to move the OS to other drive.

 

[mdmcaf]

That looks like a wonky config. What are the contents of the C:\ drive?

The D:\ drive could be an old installation but notice how it's marked system and Active, but your C: drive is not? System means it has the OS bootloader files and active means it's the partition that the BIOS looks at to boot.

While D:\ is labeled 'active' C:\ is also marked 'Boot'...could it be some otherworldly configuration where it's getting OS information from both the C:\ and D:\ drives? I've never seen that happen, though, and don't know if it's even theoretically possible to split OS data between two drives.

You can also see on the second screen shot, on the left-hand pane of the Windows Explorer window that C:\ is marked as the OS drive because of the icon it displays (the blue like thing with the Windows flag). I think it would be reasonable to assume that C:\ is the actual boot drive with the OS on it and that D:\ is simply left over from an old installation of Windows. It's kinda weird that whoever put the OS on the computer would move it to a smaller drive...unless it was an SSD or something.

 

[Xee]

That looks like a wonky config. What are the contents of the C:\ drive?

The D:\ drive could be an old installation but notice how it's marked system and Active, but your C: drive is not? System means it has the OS bootloader files and active means it's the partition that the BIOS looks at to boot.

I dug a little deeper and saw that the 40GB drive is actually an IDE drive and the 250GB drive is a PATA drive (same difference). The Craigslist ad said it was a "refurbished" computer and the Windows license is an OEM license so I'm assuming the OS was originally installed on the C drive before they bought the 500GB SATA? Wonky is correct. Here's the root directory of the C drive:

 

[bigdogchris]

Are you getting a dual boot menu on start for 32 and 64 bit? If not, check to see if your Windows 7 is 64 bit or 32 bit. One hard drive is one and the other drive is the other. You're probably booting into 32bit by default.

 

[Xee]

Are you getting a dual boot menu on start for 32 and 64 bit? If not, check to see if your Windows 7 is 64 bit or 32 bit. One hard drive is one and the other drive is the other. You're probably booting into 32bit by default.

I haven't really seen the startup process as I usually don't turn the monitor on right away. Here's an HTML of what might be relevant information:

http://inat.org/files/Computer/SystemInfo.html

 

[ekuest]

Are you getting a dual boot menu on start for 32 and 64 bit? If not, check to see if your Windows 7 is 64 bit or 32 bit. One hard drive is one and the other drive is the other. You're probably booting into 32bit by default.

yeah this. right click on "my computer" and select "properties" if you didnt know. it should say in there what version of windows and whether its 32 or 64 bit. the install on your C: drive is 64 bit, and the one on your D: drive is 32 bit.

EDIT: nvm you posted that info JUST before i posted. yeah you have 64 bit which means youre booting from the C: drive. you should be clear to delete and format the D: drive. however, youre only gonna reclaim 3GB by extending your C: into F: which is still very full. i would recommend formatting the D: drive and cloning the C: drive to it and using it as your boot drive. i dont know what people recommend for cloning an OS drive here. ive used 2 programs and one worked one didnt i think. dont remember which was which.

 

[serpretetsky]

OP, your D: drive looks just like my D drive except i dont keep the page file on my D:, otherwise my D is "system, active, primary". I can disconnect my D; drive anytime and it still boots fine.

Try changing your pagefile to your C:, restart, shutdown the machine, unplug your D: and verify that your computer still boots fine.

After that you can do whatever you want with the D:, format, etc.

edit: i got a little nervous after posting that cause it did seem weird. Sure enough, unplugged my D: drive again, rebooted, and nothing: So forget everything i said, you do have some sort of boot data most likely on the D:. Installing GRUB must have screwed with my setup

edit2: here's what you need to know to get your boot stuff off of your D: http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/11294-moving-boot-manager-different-drive.html
if you enable "view hidden files" and disabled "hide protected OS files" you should see a "boot" folder and a "bootmgr" file on the E:.

 

[Xee]

edit2: here's what you need to know to get your boot stuff off of your D: http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/11294-moving-boot-manager-different-drive.html
if you enable "view hidden files" and disabled "hide protected OS files" you should see a "boot" folder and a "bootmgr" file on the E:.

Alright, I copied the folder/file, ran the command, and then went into the BIOS to change the boot drive. However, when I got there the only drive available to select was the D: drive (the current boot drive), the DVD drive, and what looked like one of my USB drives. Any reason why the other two HDs aren't showing up? Does this have something to do with why only the D drive shows up as "Active" in the screenshot above?

 

[ekuest]

wait didnt you just get this computer? why dont you just do a clean install of windows? way easier and it will clean out whatever crap is on there and get everything organized again. probably quicker too. if he didnt give you the key then just use keyfinder to find it and then download and burn yourself an install disk of the version of win 7 pro 64 bit.

 

[Xee]

wait didnt you just get this computer? why dont you just do a clean install of windows? way easier and it will clean out whatever crap is on there and get everything organized again. probably quicker too. if he didnt give you the key then just use keyfinder to find it and then download and burn yourself an install disk of the version of win 7 pro 64 bit.

Yeah, but it's an OEM key and I don't think Microsoft will allow me to activate it again. Then again, I'm not really sure how all their rules work.

 

[serpretetsky]

Yeah, but it's an OEM key and I don't think Microsoft will allow me to activate it again. Then again, I'm not really sure how all their rules work.

make sure you have the cd key. you can reactive the OEM key all you want as long as its the same computer. Also, you may have to call into micrisoft to reactivate (it will give you directions) and tell them you have this license installed on only one computer.

 

[BinarySynapse]

I saw "OEM_SLP" in the system info. SLP means "system locked preinstallation" which is only supposed to be done by what MS calls "royalty" manufacturers. The manufacturer embeds a license into the system BIOS which activates Windows without having to go online or call MS. Seeing that you have Windows 7 Ultimate on what appears to be an old system, you may not have a legit copy of Windows on there.

If the computer was made by HP, Dell, or similar , and it has a Win7 Ultimate sticker somewhere on the case, then you're good. If not, and you care about such things, then you'll have to get a legit copy to put on there.

 

[Jayson]

I've been using easeus partition manager and I think it may help you relocate/delete/create partition without loosing anyfile.

 

[Xee]

I saw "OEM_SLP" in the system info. SLP means "system locked preinstallation" which is only supposed to be done by what MS calls "royalty" manufacturers. The manufacturer embeds a license into the system BIOS which activates Windows without having to go online or call MS. Seeing that you have Windows 7 Ultimate on what appears to be an old system, you may not have a legit copy of Windows on there.

If the computer was made by HP, Dell, or similar , and it has a Win7 Ultimate sticker somewhere on the case, then you're good. If not, and you care about such things, then you'll have to get a legit copy to put on there.

Wish I would known about SLP's. Before I bought it I ran every type of Microsoft authentication test I knew of and they all came back saying it was genuine. If I had known it was not genuine I would have told them to knock off some money off the asking price to make up for it. Ah well, you live, you learn. Guess I'm stuck with it until I can save up enough money to buy a legit version. Thanks for all the help.

 

[DragonFyr]

Legit Version is the way to go,

Fully format both drives with the disk after backing up your personal data.