How can you demolish the system? How to remove old Windows without programs

Some users love Windows 7 and don’t even want to talk about any other operating system. And someone, apparently obsessed with the spirit of conservatism or due to the remarkable abilities of their PC, abandons the “seven” and returns to the old XP. This is despite the fact that it is no longer supported by Microsoft. However, lovers of everything new also agree with these comrades. Without delay or any doubt, they remove Windows 7 and install new ones Windows distributions 8.1 and Windows 10.

All these zeal, in principle, are understandable and justified. And then, according to taste and color, when choosing operating system, no comrades. The question is different. How to remove Windows 7 so that there are no elements left of it on the hard drive, and so that it does not interfere with the installation of another system?

The solution to this problem depends on the specific situation and user intentions. Let's look at the most common removal methods from Windows computer 7.

Disk formatting

At this approach Windows 7 is completely neutralized during the installation of another system by completely formatting the disk (that is, its contents are completely erased). The installation disks for both XP and Windows 7/8 have everything necessary tools to implement this function. Let's learn how to use them.

Note. If you do not want to switch to a new system, but simply want to reinstall Windows 7, correctly remove the old distribution and install a new one, you can also use the instructions below.

1. Insert into DVD drive installation disk operating system you want to install (XP, 7, 8 or 10).

Attention! Before following the next step in the instructions, find out which key on your computer activates the menu for configuring the boot of disks and devices, or the BIOS (add-on shell) into which this menu is integrated.

2. Click "Start". In the drop-down menu (shutdown), click the left arrow icon and select Restart.

3. During the reboot process, hold down “F2”, or “F8”, “F9”, “F12” (depending on the computer manufacturer! see note).

When the “Please select boot...” window appears:

• use the cursor arrows to select CDROM from the list;
• press "Enter".

If disk boot order is performed in the BIOS, do the following:

in the “BIOS SETUP UTILITY” menu, go to the “Boot” tab;

open the “Boot Device Priority” subsection;

V additional window“Options” use the up and down keys to select “CDROM”.

After completing this setting, when you restart the PC, the first thing you should do is not system partition, and to the installation disk. What in in this case and is required.

Windows XP:

• upon completion of the preparation procedure, when the XP installation menu appears, press “Enter” (thus, you select the first item - “Proceed with installation”);
• press "F8" to accept the agreement;
• select the system partition (the partition on which this moment Windows 7 was installed) and press “Enter”;
• select the “Format partition... NTFS” function from the list or the same function marked “Quick”. And press "Enter" again.

Upon completion of formatting, Windows 7 will be completely removed and the installation of Windows XP will begin.

Windows 7/8:

• wait for the installer components to load into the PC memory;
• select the system interface language;
• in the new window, click “Install” (the message “Starting installation” will appear);
• enter the license key, click “Next”;
• accept the agreement;
• in the “Windows Installation” window, click on the system partition (on which Windows 7 is located);
• at the bottom of the same window, click “Format”;
• When formatting is complete, click “Next” and continue with the installation.

These steps will allow you to correctly remove the old OS (in this case, “Seven”) and install a new one.

Removing a second system

This method of removing Windows 7 is suitable if several systems are installed (for example, XP and 7). Either the “seven” was uninstalled or installed incorrectly and when the PC starts, it displays a menu asking you to load one of the existing systems, although one of them is not working. (For example, a copy of Windows 7 is listed.)

How to remove an unnecessary distribution from the disk (or a non-working copy of Windows 7), do the following:

1. Press the “Win+R” keys simultaneously. (The Run window will appear on the display.)

2. In the “Open” line, type - msconfig.

3. Click "OK".

4. In the “System Configuration” settings panel, go to the “Download” tab.

5. Select the OS you want to remove from your computer by clicking the mouse.

6. Click the “Delete” button, and then “Apply” and “OK”.

All. The system has been neutralized. Now when you start your PC, the system selection menu will no longer appear.

How to delete the Windows.old folder?

The Windows.old folder is automatically created by the system when updating or reinstalling the OS without formatting the system partition. Takes up about 2-15 GB disk space. It stores backups important system components that are used when rolling back (restoring) Windows 7 to previous settings.

To remove it from your computer, follow these steps:

1. Press the “Win+E” keys.

2. Click right click mouse on the system partition (drive C).

3. Select in context menu"Properties".

4. On the General tab, in the properties window, click Disk Cleanup.

5. In the cleaning settings window, click “Clean up system files.”

6. When the procedure is complete, return to the list of items and check the box next to the “Previous Windows installations” object.

7. Click OK.

8. In an additional window, confirm your intention to delete the Windows.old folder: click “Delete files”.

If all operations of this instruction are performed correctly, then Windows.old will safely disappear from the hard drive, and on drive C free space there will be more.

Sometimes users install new Windows 7, but forget to delete the old one. There is nothing critical about this, however old Windows takes up a lot of space. This article contains information on how to remove old windows 7.

There are several ways to remove old Windows:

1. Removing old Windows using Disk Cleanup

You need to run Disk Cleanup. You can find it through "Start". Click “All Programs”, then “Accessories”, then “Utilities” and find the required component in the list.

It is the “Previous Windows installations” item that we need. Select the checkbox if it is not there and click OK. When asked about permanent deletion, answer “Delete files.” After some time, the old Windows 7 files will be deleted.

2. Removing old Windows without programs

If for some reason the program cannot be found or there are problems with it, you can remove it from Windows manually. To do this, find the folder Windows.old and set the rights necessary for deletion.

Go to the folder properties (RMB - Properties) and go to the "Security" tab

Click on "Advanced". On the "Owner" tab, select current user and check the box for “Replace owner of subcontainers and objects” and click “Apply”.

Now on the “Permissions” tab, select the account that you made the owner of the folder and change it (the “Change” button)

A window appears with Permission element, where we put a check mark where highlighted in the screenshot below. Then click OK and with a safety warning.

After the manipulations have been done, it will be possible to delete the Windows.old folder without difficulty and the question of how to remove old Windows 7 is resolved.

3. Removing old Windows by formatting the disk

This method is more drastic, but as they say, “fail-safe.” The bottom line is that you need to boot from the installation disk or flash drive and start installing clean Windows. At the moment of selecting a disk, you will need to delete all partitions, partition HDD again and format all partitions. Thus we get clean system, without any sign of older operating systems.

Attention! This method will delete all data that is on the computer, so it is recommended if you don’t mind it.

To remove the operating system, first of all, we need to install the BIOS boot from installation media. It is worth emphasizing that the installation disks of the Windows operating system have a built-in formatting program, during installation.

What changing the boot priority might look like in the BIOS is shown in the screenshots below.

First Boot Device– this is the first boot device to be checked, Second Boot Device– this is the second loading device, i.e. if the first one is not found, then it will be loaded in priority. And so on by analogy.

Varieties of BIOS great amount and it is not possible to give examples for every existing BIOS. The main thing you should know about BIOS is button to enter into it. This could be F2, F8, F12 or Del. See prompts when loading or rebooting. It can be seen in manual To motherboard.

In other words, your motherboard has a built-in BIOS; each individual BIOS has its own entry keys, but often they match. When you turn on the computer, you just need to be in time before Windows start press the button(maybe even more than once) entering the BIOS, if you don’t have time, you’ll have to reboot again.

In more modern BIOSes, you can switch the boot priority by pressing a certain key, most often this is the F8, F11 key (but it’s better to look at the motherboard manual or search the Internet). Also, when you turn on and reboot, there are prompts (for example, BBS POPUP).

After changing the settings in the BIOS, do not forget save Otherwise you will have to do everything again. A request to save settings appears before exiting the BIOS

When is system removal necessary?

Firstly, if the operating system has stopped working adequately, cause this could be: deletion important system files, sloppy program work, targeted harm operating system viruses. Secondly, this is the user’s desire to change the operating system due to inconvenience or the desire to sell the computer completely empty.

How to remove windows using windows 7, 8, 10 disk

By the removal process we mean replacing it with another operating system, but if you need to leave the computer clean, you just need to exit after formatting and not continue installing the OS.

The removal process for 7, 8, 10 will differ only in the formatting method, it will be a disk or flash drive with a new operating system or a special, pre-prepared drive with a formatting program.

note, before you start removing the operating system, remember which partition it is installed on, and also save all important files from your desktop and documents. All data from the formatted disk will be completely removed.

After correct settings boot priority, this message most often appears after checking the hardware and instead of loading Windows.

Click any key and the installation process will begin. The process of downloading the necessary files will then begin.

The Windows 7 installation interface will load (other versions are similar). Choose language, time format and currency, keyboard layout or input method and click next.

Don't be afraid to click install.

Reading license agreement and check the “I accept the terms of the license agreement” checkbox. Click next.

Select an item full installation Windows 7.

Or custom installation in Windows 8

Click on the button " Disk setup».

Select the required disk and click " Format" or " Delete" When deleted, the partition turns into unmarked area, i.e. the label is removed from the volume. After this we need to press the button create(for task new label) And format. In most cases, just click the format button to delete data from the disk.

Removing the system using the Windows XP installation disk

If you do not have a disk with the new operating system or you old computer, which does not support such versions of operating systems and you have a disk with Windows XP. In that case, the following actions are necessary.

All previous actions similar on any operating systems. The differences begin in the installation interface itself.

Wait a little and after loading, this greeting will appear.

Read the license agreement and if you agree, click F8.

The installer will already find installed system and offer to restore it or install new. We need a second option. Click ESC.

A list of sections will appear. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select the desired section and press the D key.

We read and double-check ourselves. If everything is correct, everything is fine, press Enter ( Enter)

Let’s double-check ourselves again and press L for removing.

Now, if you need to leave your computer clean without operating system, press F3, if you need to install an operating system, then create a partition and then proceed to install the operating system.

Other ways to remove an operating system from a computer

In order to remove Windows using this method, you will need a previously prepared storage device (DVD, CD, Flash) on which there will be a formatting program. The programs are varied, but the principle of operation is similar everywhere.

Example of work Live CD AOMEI PE BUILDER

Some Live CD look like a regular operating system, although in fact they are loaded from a disk or flash drive. AOMEI PE Builder example.

We select the formatting program built into Live Cd, in this case it is AOMEI program Partition Assistant. Different Live CD has different means formatting.

Select the hard drive if there are several of them, select the drive with Windows, right-click on the drive and select format partition(Format Partition).

A confirmation window will appear, specify the label for the disk, specify the file system (it’s better to leave it the same if you don’t understand this), leave the cluster size at default.

After graduation formatting can be exited, the system will be deleted.

There is another way uninstall windows. To do this we need to log in command line . In the case of a Live CD, go to Start and select “ Command line».

Now it is enough to use one single command - format x:

Instead of X write any drive letter and press Enter. After this, the operating system will kindly warn us about deleting all data from this volume. We agree by pressing the button Y And Enter. In the picture below you can see what deleting a disk from the command line looks like.

If you purchased a laptop with “Seven” installed, and for some reason you are not satisfied with it, you want to install XP, I will now tell you how to remove Windows 7 from a laptop.

What does that require?

If you have no previous experience in this matter, it is better to seek help from a professional. As for how to remove Windows 7 yourself, you will need your laptop with “Seven” installed; A flash drive with a USB connector, the volume of which must be no less than four gigabytes; installation laser disc with the operating system that you are going to install on the computer (in our case it is XP) and, of course, access to the Internet. The only thing I would like to warn you against is formatting the hard drive. You will need a working computer in order to prepare the files for installation. new system, so don't do it.

Before you tear down Windows

First make sure you have necessary drivers for your hard drive. This is necessary in order to avoid possible problems recognition by the hard drive system. Usually, necessary software located on the disk included in the kit or on the official website. Write the downloaded firewood to the flash drive. Next, download the image of the required disk with the operating system and burn it to a disc. This is done with the help of Nero or Daimon. When burning is complete, insert our USB flash drive with drivers and reboot the device.

Starting the drive and installing drivers

If you are still interested in how to remove Windows 7, let’s continue. When the laptop starts up again, press and hold the F8 button. The Change Boot Device menu should appear. Select the DVD-ROM and start booting from it. Based on the menu prompts, install hard driver disk. This is done when the system reports that the device is missing. You just need to specify the path to the flash drive. After your hard drive has been identified, look for the partition in which your "Seven" is installed. You must format it with the NTFS file system.

Completing the installation

Consider that you have received the answer to your question about how to uninstall Windows 7. While your “Piggy” is being installed, the device will repeatedly perform the reboot process. Don't let this scare or confuse you. You shouldn't pay attention to this special attention and try to prevent the computer from doing this. When everything is complete, your laptop will automatically load the new operating system from the standard hard drive. And although the system will already be installed, that’s not all.

Recognition of all equipment

In order for all the devices on the computer to become operational, they must be detected by the system. To do this, visit the website of the manufacturer of your device and download drivers for each undefined object. Do not forget that now you are interested in the section intended for XP. That's all. Now you know how to destroy Windows 7. But I still recommend making friends with the “Seven”, since this system is more modern and functional.

Instructions

If you decide to update your operating system and need to remove the existing version, do this during the installation of the new OS. Insert a disc with Windows archives into the DVD drive and turn on the computer.

Press F8 to open the device selection window. Highlight the desired DVD drive and press Enter key. To start the operating system installation process, press any key after the message Press any key to boot from CD appears.

Start installing the operating system in the usual way until the process reaches the selection local disk. If you are installing Windows XP, then specify the hard drive or partition on which an existing copy of the operating system is installed.

In the next window, select formatting to the desired file system. Press the F key to confirm formatting the partition.

In the event that you are dealing with operating Windows systems 7 or Vista, click the Disk Setup button when the list appears existing sections.

Select the hard drive or its partition on which you installed Current version operating system. Click the Format button. In standard mode, the program will format the volume into the same format in which it was previously located.

If you need to change the type file system volume, then click the “Delete” button and confirm deleting this partition. Now click the “Create” button. Enter the size of the future partition (it is equal to the size remote volume) and select its file system type.

If you need to remove an operating system without installing a new one, use the Partition Manager utility. Install the program and restart your computer. Launch Partition Manager.

Right click on to the required section and select "Format". Specify the cluster size and file system type of the future clean volume. Click the "Apply intended changes" button. The computer will continue executing the process in DOS mode.

Sources:

• how do I get Windows?

Microsoft Company releases new operating systems at regular intervals. Unfortunately, not all users liked the latest Windows 7 OS. The reasons for abandoning the new operating system in favor of the familiar Windows XP can be very diverse. The only important thing is how to install Windows XP on a computer with Windows XP installed.

You will need

• Installation Windows disk XP;
• Acronis.

Instructions

Unlike previous versions operating systems, Windows 7 very carefully protects all of its operating systems from being deleted. Those. Even when working in Ms-DOS mode, some elements are not always possible. If at Windows installation XP over the previous similar one did not have any problems, then the “seven” refuses to give way to a new OS, even if it is exactly the same.