Removing Windows 7

[karmapolice]

Last month I bought new cheap desktop, and it had Win 7 pre-installed. I don't like it, it does not do what I want it to do. I want 7 gone - and I don't really care how. Don't try to persuade me on this, I'm sure on this.

So, how can I remove 7 so I can install XP? :confused: Microsoft say it can't be done. Naturally, I assume they are lying.

Some thoughts....

1) Is there a way to wipe your hard drive outside of the OS using a CD (like GParted does with partitions?) so I can then install XP using my disc?

2) If that is not possible, can I install Linux over 7, then XP over or alongside Linux? If so, how?

3) If both of the above is not possible, can I use GParted to disable the partition with 7 on it, then install XP because the PC won't be able to find an OS to load?

4) If none of these is possible, could I hook up my hard drive to another PC as a secondary hard drive, then erase/disable 7 so I can install XP when it is back in my PC?

I've got a fair bit of experiance with PC's, but I'm out of my depth on this. I'm worried that without some advice, I may kill my PC forever.

Thanks in advance. :)

[kiosk]

You'd be hard pressed to find a piece of software that can damage actual computer hardware (and before you ask, yes - there have been some viruses that attacked BIOS chips; overwriting them with garbage data, but this is way beyond the scope of the message).

All you need to do is to find a free little "zerofill" utility that can be booted off a CD. I think forums poster Paul Komski has several of these listed in his signature; I'm too much of an old school guy for these "bootable CD" sheanigans (hell I'm still using diskettes). :)

Once you wipe your hard drive with a zerofill utility, you can partition it and install pretty much anything you'd like on it - be it XP, Linux, OS/2, you name it. :)

[karmapolice]

Thanks. I knew I shouldn't have read 7's 'help' file. That is where I got all the warnings from.

I'm now investigating various utilities. It seems to be a bit of a lost art - a fair few talk of using floppies and most of the post dates hover around '02-'04.

Is boot from CD standard in these programs? It does not say in the blurbs.

A little OT, but can I get rid of the recovery partition after I've wiped the OS? Or should I keep it for some odd reason?

Thanks.

[karmapolice]

I've made a couple of CD's - DBAN and Killdisc. Hopefully one will work. I'll give a report tomorrow on how it went. You proberly know it will work, but perhaps this will help somebody else with the same problem. I read many, many pages and this solution was never mentioned.

[jlreich]

During XP setup you can delete any and all partitions if you like. There are also various partition managers, such as the mentioned GParted, that can do it before hand, but it isn't necessary.

The issue is making sure XP drivers are available for your system before you go and get rid of 7. This is particularly important with laptops. I see you have a desktop, but wanted to mention it for others that may be looking at this thread. If there are no drivers available then installing XP is of no use.

Another issue, although not as much anymore, is if XP cannot see the SATA hard drive without loading the drivers from a floppy during setup. This is not as much of an issue as it once was because XP can more often than not see the drive, but also because most BIOS's now have the option of running the SATA drives in "native IDE mode" which will allow XP to see the drive as an IDE drive.

The easiest way to find out is to boot the XP setup disk and get to the point that you choose what partition and if it can see the drive you are good to go. If it can't look for the SATA options in the BIOS and change it to IDE as mentioned above. It should then see the drive, if not simply restart the system without making any changes and no harm is done to 7 and you still have a working system.

What make and model is your system? We can help determine if XP drivers are available before you go deleting 7.

Another thing is I highly recommend making your backup disks (if applicable for your system) if you haven't already. Just in case something doesn't work out you can easily get the system back to a working state. Or if you actually have the windows 7 install disk that is great.

I usually recommend leaving the recovery partition for awhile. Just until you feel comfortable that all is well with the new OS then you can delete it and recover the space if you like. It is usually less than 10GB, so not really an issue with the standard size of hard drives today.

[mjc]

With a current distro of Linux, driver issues will be minimal, so that would be a very good option if XP drivers are not available. Also most distros will be able to erase and format the hard drive without a problem and then just move on to installing.

[karmapolice]

Well, I've got SP3 for the OS, and the drivers from Nvidia and ACER. Have my printer one floating around somewhere. Monitor, keyboard and mouse all seem to be bog standard (have been used before). I've been very cautious with this, as I've never ripped out an OS against it's will. I think I saw the IDE option when I was looking at BIOS last night, but not sure. Is there a work-around solution if my BIOS does not have the IDE option?

I'm not so worried about killing 7 - I bought it for retro (ie 9x/XP era) gaming and 7 is full of CtD's/won't install/screwy graphics etc. Therefore it is 'not fit for purpose'. I know XP is.

This is the computer in question.
http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Grade_A1_-__Acer_Aspire_A1301AMD_Athlon_Desktop_PC__A1-98.X5M7Z.UCN/version.asp?PID=490

It's a shame, but I don't have the 7 OS disc. They really don't like giving them with new PC's. I did make the backup disc, however.

Loading the drivers from a floppy? It doesn't have one, nor do I have a external one anymore. Can I stick it onto a CD or a USB flash drive?

Thanks.

[karmapolice]

Update.

Used IDE mode to install XP Pro on the empty partition. V. basic functions. Then applied service packs - some functions on. Applied NVidia patch for intergrated graphics - worked perfect. Still need to get a few pathes, mainly for sound card support.

[jlreich]

Loading the drivers from a floppy? It doesn't have one, nor do I have a external one anymore. Can I stick it onto a CD or a USB flash drive?
For future reference, if XP needs the drivers they must be loaded from a floppy. XP setup simply doesn't look for any other device to have them and there is no known way to make it look for them elsewhere.

Sounds like you got it all pretty much sorted out. :cool:

[mjc]

For future reference, if XP needs the drivers they must be loaded from a floppy. XP setup simply doesn't look for any other device to have them and there is no known way to make it look for them elsewhere.

Sounds like you got it all pretty much sorted out. :cool:

Or at that point...if you have no floppy, you can stop the install, take out your XP disk and then go to another machine and slipstream the drivers into a new install CD...then go back and restart the install.

Not fun...and not something I'd care to repeat at 2 AM (or 2 PM, for that matter).

Slipstreaming service packs and drivers were little secrets that MS let out. It's perfectly legal to do so...about the only legitimate reason MS allows for copying the install disk. And they pretty much let the secret out because at the time of SP1 there were enough floppy-less machines to make some upgrades unbearable, in a corporate environment.

[jlreich]

Oh yes, good point. I forgot all about slipstreaming the drivers. Thankfully it isn't much of an issue anymore since you can usually run the drive in native IDE mode. In the early days of people wanting to downgrade to XP from vista many systems didn't have that option, particularly with laptops generally limited BIOS's. But the option is usually there now.

[PhilXP]

Xp doesn't Include Sata Drivers. Luckily the Intel 865G Chipset in my Gateway was in rather common Chipset. Finding sata Drivers was Easy

[mjc]

XP SP2 and SP3 both include SOME SATA drivers...and really, you should be running SP3, by now. Both of which can be slipstreamed, if all you have is SP1 or earlier.

[hackerballs]

MS is supporting XP till 2014 now so it should not be a problem at all.

[mjc]

MS is supporting XP till 2014 now so it should not be a problem at all.

Not quite...XP 'gold' and SP1 are already out of support...SP2 will run out before then. SP3 has the extended support...

[hackerballs]

yes...............tks for clearing that up.........anyone with XP should have SP1, SP2, and SP3 saved for the future

[karmapolice]

Update.

Have now got it fully working now. Tried to boot 7, but it wouldn't. What a 'shame'. So used GParted to clear the 7 partition and fold it back into XP partition. Fine. Got a couple of patches from the motherboard and soundcard makers and now have 97% functionality. Still have a couple of ??? on the hardware details, but one is for a function that I don't use, and the other one does not seem to have any affect whatsoever on any operation. I've seen PC's running for years in much worse condition.

Microsoft might have put XP into 'extended support', but I would not be suprised if a unofficial SP4 is made somewhere, just like somebody did with Me years back. It still has around 63% of the OS market share, so reports of it's demise have been exaggerated.

My advice is simple. Assume that anything Microsoft tells you is a lie.