Win 7 install question - which partition?

I was looking at these instructions http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp


"Here's what you do. Insert the Windows 7 Upgrade DVD in your PC's optical disc, reboot the computer, boot off the DVD, and then follow the steps to install Windows 7. If you are installing onto a computer that already has another version of Windows, be sure to back everything up first. Do not attempt to install Windows 7 to the same partition as a previous Windows version. Do not provide your product key during Setup."


It indicates to NOT install win in the same partition as the previous windows version. If you install it in a different partition,will it still be a clean install? And if it is in a different partition, doesnt that mean the old OS will still be on the computer?

 

If you install it over an existing Windows installation, it'll create a Windows.old folder with all your old documents in it. This technically makes it a non-clean install, though all you would have to do is delete that folder, and you would be back at a clean install.

 

and yes this would keep the old OS on your PC... its called dual booting. this will let you copy over all your files and keep all your programs runable untill win 7 is fully setup... this is what i am going to do.

then you can either delete the partition or keep it there if you still wanna keep that OS

 

I upgraded (clean install) Vista to Win7 and now am stuck with dual boot because Vista is still on the recovery partition. I'd like to copy my Win7 disk on the recovery partition to be able to re-install Win7 from that partition (if ever needed) but I cannot get to the recovery partition since it is hidden. How can I un-hide it to copy Win7 and then hide it back? Or is there another way to install Win7 on the recovery partition? Boot from the Win7 disk maybe?

 

If you are thinking about replacing the "Vista" recovery partition and making it "W7" recovery partition - then you cannot!

 

Yes, that's pretty much what I'd like to do. It would not be a "true" recovery partition the way the OEM did it but it would be a partition where I would have a copy of W7 ready for re-install. I found the instructions to do what I want here:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/4093-windows-7-create-a-recovery-partition

However, I need to un-hide the partition before doing what they are suggesting at that link. I thought maybe there would be other ways to put W7 on the recovery partition but based on your comment Padmé, maybe there isn't.

I just need to find a way to un-hide (temporarily) my recovery partition then. Any idea?

 

Can you see it with Admin tools->computer management--> storage

This shows all partition.

 

Yes I can see it but there is no drive letter attached to it to allow me to use the process described above.

 

All I see when looking there is my old Vista partition as I did an in place upgrade and not a clean install.

 

Yes, for me too it is my old Vista recovery partition; that's the one I want to convert to W7 with the process proposed at the link mentioned previously.

 

If you feel that you no longer need the Vista recovery partition, you can try using GParted Live CD to wipe that partition out and use it for W7. I can't comment on the creation process of W7 recovery partition since I haven't tried it.

Hard drives are cheap, why don't you just get another one and start fresh, in case you ever need to fall back to the original setup?

 

I see your point but I was hoping that re-writing W7 on the Vista Recovery would be easy. Which is what they pretended at the link I provided above. It is only a matter of getting a drive letter... In the mean time, I have zero-ized the delay of the dual boot to have the computer boot from W7 from the beginning so it is not a big problem but I have not given up yet.

 

In Disk Management right-click on the partition. It should give you options to either delete the partition (you can make a new one in its place after) or assign a drive letter. If Disk Management isn't allowing you to do it, Gparted is a fine solution as Padme mentioned.

Just for the sake of mentioning it, a system image might be a better option if HDD space isn't an issue. Then you can image it with all the drivers, programs and updates you like. It will take up much more space, but make for quicker re-installations if ever needed.

 

In Disk Management, the only menu item I get when I right-click on the recovery partition is "help". That would have been too easy... I like the image idea but as mentioned previously, I was thinking that putting a copy of Win7 on that 14 GB partition would have been easy.

 

You must also remember that when you don't clean install and have the windows old directory it leaves those files at the front of the partition. So the new install is on the slower part of the drive and the page file created is there as well. This along with carying over the old bloatware you end up with a slow installation.

Eventually you can delete the old files and get the install to the front. Even remove the page file and re-enable to move it as well. but this all takes up extra time and effort.

If you can a fresh install is always the best.................

 

A fresh install on C: drive is exactly what I've done because the "easy upgrade" (the name is from Samsung) did not work. That left me however with the existing recovery partition with Vista on it. (you may not have seen the entire story of my issue)

BTW, since my last post, I got the following neat and free software:
http://partitionwizard.com/index.html
and was able to assign a drive letter to my old Vista recovery partition. I should now be able to follow this process:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/4093-windows-7-create-a-recovery-partition
But it did not work because the "bootsect" command gave me an "Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects: access refused." How can get around that?

 

I know of the partition issue, was just getting to another post here od the clean install VS upgrade, I know Off Topic. If you have an external why not just use backup to save the windows partition and then re partition the drive as one partition and restore that partiton. I am not sure and it may be smaller but you can always expand. I am not sure if you converted the original restore partition if you can then expand the C:\ drive as it may be an extended partiton rather than the primary one.

This may be the issue you are having with the other program as well. Maybe if you can shrink that partiton to like 8GB then make it the page file and extend the rest of the c:\drive? Saving the c:\ partition may not work as it isn't a primary boot partiton and may not have what is needed to boot the system.

Personally I'd use the backup wizard to transfer the files to an upgraded system if you have alot of data then wipe the drive and install afresh with just one partition.

 

Or just increase the size of the recovery partition to copy an "image" of the C: drive. But I have to admit that having a fresh copy of Win7 on the recovery partitition as it is now would suit me fine. All I have to figure out is how to run the Bootsect command successfully and I will be done...