Removing Windows via BIOS. How to remove an operating system from a computer? How to install a new Windows and remove the old one

This question has been raised more than once on forums by various Internet users who communicate with a computer. I will answer this question for you right away. You cannot simply remove an operating system, be it Windows 7 or 8.

The fact is that to remove the OS, you need to format the hard drive, and installing another operating system on top of the system is not very good, as it can lead to cluttering the system and further slowing it down.

Attention. Do not forget that all documents, photographs, and other information that was located on the system disk will be deleted. Therefore, before formatting the disk, transfer all the necessary information either to another partition of the hard drive or to a flash drive. It is very important. If you have one system drive, then it's time to split it. how to divide using the program.

Uninstalling Windows XP

This operating system can be completely replaced with a new one thanks to the XP boot disk. The fact is that before you start installing XP, you can easily format the disk, after which everything will be installed anew on a clean hard drive.

To do this, insert Windows XP into the drive, wait until the Windows Installer shell loads, and press the F8 key to agree with the regulations.

By pressing the F8 key, you will be able to select the disk on which the OS will be installed, but before that you can format it.

If you were able to format the disk, then reinstalling Windows XP will not cause you much difficulty.

Removing Windows 8 and indeed any OS

In principle, any operating system can be removed using Hiren's BootCD.

It is also worth remembering that after deleting all information from the disk, you will have to install a new Operating System, if you know how to do this, then let's learn how to erase all information from the hard drive.

1. We will need to download and install the program "Hiren's BootCD"

2. We need to write the downloaded image onto a disc. .

3. If the recording was successful, there is a boot disk in your drive that can be loaded BEFORE loading any operating system. Just restart your computer and you should be able to see the following shell

4. There’s just a little bit left, or rather to launch the Mini Windows Xp shell

By launching the Mini Windows shell, you will be able to delete absolutely any information from hard drives, including various viruses. Next we need to open the My Computer icon, here we can see our hard drives and all the files stored on it.

If Windows is installed on drive C, and you no longer need the necessary data, right-click on the drive and then select “Format”.

That's all. Now you have a clean hard drive on which you can install a new operating system.

A radical but effective method to get rid of various slowdowns and incorrect functioning of Windows is to reinstall it. This instruction is for users who want to remove “buggy” Windows from their computer or laptop (the process on these devices is exactly the same) and install a new Windows 7 instead.

The procedure includes the following 3 stages:

1. Burn a boot disk or flash drive;
2. Setting the startup sequence of a computer or laptop via BIOS;
3. Completely demolish (by formatting the system disk) and then install a new Windows 7.

Stage 1: Burning a bootable disk or flash drive with Windows 7

Without this stage, you won’t be able to install a new operating system, just as you won’t be able to lift yourself by the hair and pull yourself out of the hole.

You need to create bootable removable media with Windows. If the PC has a disk drive, then you can use a blank DVD, and if not, then burn a bootable USB flash drive with the OS. Removable media must have at least 4 GB of memory. It is recommended to use the “UltraISO” application to create bootable removable media with the OS.

The step-by-step instructions are as follows:

1. Download, install and run the “UltraISO” program;
2. In the main menu of the utility, open the “Boot” tab;
3. Next, go to “Burn Hard Disk Image”;
4. In the “Disk Drive” line, type the designation of the removable drive (as it appears in the “My Computer” window);
5. In the “Image file” column, determine the location of the Windows 7 image;
6. Then click on the “Format” button;
7. After waiting for the process to complete, click on the “Record” button.

After completing the recording, you should proceed to the second stage.

Stage 2: Setting up the startup sequence of a computer or laptop via BIOS

It is necessary to set the boot disk or flash drive as the priority boot device through the BIOS.

To get into the BIOS you need to perform the following sequence of actions:

After this, immediately proceed to the final third stage.

Stage 3: Completely tear down and install a new Windows 7

Wait until the Windows download process finishes. After which a menu with language definition will appear on the monitor. Then take the following steps sequentially.

If you installed a new Windows operating system (any version), now when you try to turn on your computer, you probably first see a menu with the choice of the desired OS. This occurs if the hard drive has not been formatted. To prevent this from happening again, just remove the unnecessary version and only one version of Windows will remain on your computer.

Formatting a partition is the simplest and most obvious way

This is an easy way to remove a second operating system that you no longer need. The point of the procedure is to format the partition containing the extra operating system on the hard drive.

Before starting any actions, download information that is important to you onto removable media or one of your hard drives.

How do you know which Windows folder to leave and which to keep? For these purposes, go to the Start menu and select “Run” there. You need to enter the following command into the line - %windir%. Now click "Ok". As a result of your actions, a folder will appear. You need to remember it - this is exactly the folder that cannot be deleted. It may look like this: “C: Windows”. This working folder cannot be deleted or moved to other partitions, otherwise the operation of the entire system will be disrupted and you will have to roll back.

Reboot the system and make sure that the second OS is no longer there. If, when trying to format a disk, the system gives an error, then you can try using additional utilities for such operations, for example, the Acronis Disc Director program. It needs to be downloaded, installed and launched. It will delete everything itself, and then automatically reboot the system.

How to remove unnecessary OS from boot

This instruction is suitable if you have seven or eight installed. It happens that the second operating system, namely its files, no longer exists, but it appears in downloads. To remove Windows from boot, follow these steps:

Now the download will begin with the version of Windows that you decided to keep.

How to remove seven or eight if you upgraded to ten

If you decide to upgrade to the latest version of Windows, then at the same time you need to clear the disk space. But do this only if you are completely satisfied with the new version of the OS and do not intend to return to older versions.

Usually, a standard utility for deleting old (temporary or junk) files is sufficient for these purposes. For example, CCleaner. But if the previous version is still taking up space, then follow the steps that will remove the remnants of the old OS completely.

1. Go to the taskbar and search for “Disk Cleanup”. Select the desired shortcut.
2. In the tab, mark all temporary data and enable the clear function.
3. To delete data from the previous system, click on the “Clean up system files” option. It is located at the bottom left.
4. You will need to select the disk on which the old operating system is located.
5. When you see all the files you need to delete, there will be a “Previous Windows installations” item. This is the item you need to select.
6. Clean and reboot the computer.

After these steps, it is already very difficult to roll back to the previous version of Windows, so make sure that you decide to permanently leave Windows 10.

How to remove old Windows without programs

Let's say you have Windows XP, and you are happy with it, but Windows 7 is interfering. Maybe it’s the other way around - we’re happy with Seven, but we don’t like XP. In any case, how to remove an old, unnecessary operating system?

This method will allow you to remove the old version without using programs - manually.

After this, Windows.old will be deleted as a regular file folder.

How to edit boot.ini

If we are not talking about Windows Vista or seven, then loading the operating system begins with the boot.ini file. It is written in it:

• wait information when download option is selected;
• information about the operating system that is turned on first by default if the choice is not made by the user:
• Extra options.

Thus, one of the ways to remove the old operating system is to change the boot.ini file.

As always, we start by loading into the version of the operating system that should remain the only one on the computer.

1. Find “My Computer” on the desktop and click to open the characteristics.
2. Select “Properties” - look for the “Advanced” option.
3. Next we find “Download and Recovery”. Click on “Parameters”.
4. In the new window, select “Edit”. The boot.ini file will open using Notepad. It is very advisable at this stage to save a copy of this file just in case and put it on one of the disks. Don't forget to rename it - Boot.old. Now you can forget about the copy and return to the boot.ini file for editing.
5. Find a line in the file indicating that the menu displays two operating systems to choose from. It needs to be removed.
6. Now let's save the changes we just made. Click “Save As”, keeping the name as it was originally.

Close all tabs and restart your computer. Now there will be only one operating system.

How to remove unnecessary Windows XP?

Windows XP has its own characteristics, which must be taken into account when uninstalling.

We boot into the operating system that we plan to keep.

1. On the “My Computer” icon, look for the “Properties” option using the right mouse button.
2. Now find “Advanced”. There will be a “Options” function.
3. We mark the operating system that we plan to remove and confirm our actions.
4. Let's go to the section where the old Windows is located.
5. We delete the Windows folder, editing with program files and Documents and Settings. There will be pop-up warnings indicating that these are system files and that they are read-only. You can safely ignore them and continue deleting.

Now all that remains is to edit the boot.ini file, because when you boot your computer you may still see two operating systems to choose from.

Windows.old removal video

If you still have any questions about deleting this impressively sized folder, watch the video.

Sometimes users install a new Windows 7, but forget to remove the old one. There is nothing critical about this, but 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 the 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 time of selecting a disk, you will need to delete all partitions, partition the hard drive again and format all partitions. This way we get a clean system, without any signs of old operating systems.

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

If you notice that Windows XP is crashing, errors appear frequently, certain programs start poorly or do not open at all, then you may need to reinstall the system, for which you need to uninstall it first. In addition, Microsoft made an official statement that official support for this version of the operating system will end in 2014. Consequently, users may experience problems associated with using the system, one of which is the lack of updates, which is unlikely to have a good effect on the operation of the OS. If these or other reasons made you look for information on how to remove Windows XP and install Windows 7, then you have come to the right place.

Removing windows xp

First you need to go to the My Computer section. Here you need to select the hard drive on which the system is installed and right-click on it. From the context menu that opens, select Formatting. The next step is to select the file system of the partition to be formatted, as well as the cluster size.

In cases where deeper cleaning is required, the selection next to the Quick cleaning item is deselected. You can start the process by clicking the Start button. If you want to leave important documents or programs and only delete the system, you will need to select system folders and delete them using Del.

You can also perform this operation using a boot disk. Moreover, this can be done directly when installing another version of the OS. To do this, insert the disk and turn on the computer. To get into the BIOS press Del. Go to the BOOT section, where we set the boot priority to disk. You can save the settings using the F10 button.

After this, system files will begin to be copied from the disk. The system will prompt you to select the partition where the installation will take place. During its process, you will have the opportunity to format partitions, delete unnecessary folders, etc. To do this, you just need to press a button that the system will prompt. In addition, Windows xp can be uninstalled from the Control Panel, for which you need to go to the Uninstall or install programs section.

As you can see, everything is quite simple. However, in some cases, even if you want to install a new version of the OS, you can leave windows xp as a second operating system. This will allow you to use two systems on your computer. If you still need to delete one of them, do not forget to remove information about it in startup. You will already learn how to view and change startup in Windows 7 from this