# Deleting an unused OS



## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

When I got this computer, I had two harddrives.... C: is a 50 Gig drive ; F: is 10 gig

When I installed XP I put it on F drive because that is where the other OS was..... if that makes any sense... 

Now F drive is totally full (15% free) (so much so that I had a heck of a time just getting enough deleted off the durn thing to defrag....and it still didn't defrag completely!!!! ARGH!) I need to delete the other OS (I think it was ME) or delete XP and put it on the other C: drive which is 97% free. How do I do that??? Should I just install WINXP on the c:???? 

Can someone help me??????? In English, please?

Edited to add: My system is 951 MHz, 512 MB running Win XP prof SP3


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Ok, so do you have anything on either C or F that you want saved?
Is it actually 2 seperate hard drives or 1 hard drive that has been seperated into 2 partitions?
If its 1 hard drive partitioned into 2 parts (C and F) is there a reason you need it that way? (most people don't)
Once you answer those we'll be better able to help you.


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

mnn2501 said:


> Ok, so do you have anything on either C or F that you want saved?
> Is it actually 2 seperate hard drives or 1 hard drive that has been seperated into 2 partitions?
> If its 1 hard drive partitioned into 2 parts (C and F) is there a reason you need it that way? (most people don't)
> Once you answer those we'll be better able to help you.


C and F are virtually empty because I keep everything on a USB flash drive....

And I don't know if its two separate hard drives... it shows up on MY COMPUTER as C: and F: drives...... 
I have no idea what a partitioned drive is... or why I would need one.....


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

If the F: drive is 7gb It would be more than 15% full with just XP installed. 
Are you sure you know where XP is loaded?


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

Gary in ohio said:


> If the F: drive is 7gb It would be more than 15% full with just XP installed.
> Are you sure you know where XP is loaded?


Gary,

Sorry, I meant that 15% is all that is left (1.25G available) ---- (I corrected OP because its actually a 10G drive) and I had to delete EVERYTHING I had installed on it in the past just to get it to that point so I could defrag.... (printer, antivirus, spybot, etc)


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

I need the OS on the C drive I believe.... because even when I save things to the C: drive (like spybot, open office etc... they often unload into the F: drive and I have difficulty with not having enough room.....


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

texastami said:


> I need the OS on the C drive I believe.... because even when I save things to the C: drive (like spybot, open office etc... they often unload into the F: drive and I have difficulty with not having enough room.....


I'm suspecting that you have only one physical hard drive, partitioned into two logical drives. I would suggest that you try removing both partitions and creating a new partition that's the size of the entire physical drive. The XP install CD will do that for you, and then install XP fresh.


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

Nevada said:


> I'm suspecting that you have only one physical hard drive, partitioned into two logical drives. I would suggest that you try removing both partitions and creating a new partition that's the size of the entire physical drive. The XP install CD will do that for you, and then install XP fresh.


Ok, so how do I go about doing this??

Just put in the XP install CD and run it?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

texastami said:


> Ok, so how do I go about doing this??
> 
> Just put in the XP install CD and run it?


Yes, just begin the install. It will ask you which partition you want to install it on. You can delete and create partitions there. Delete them both, then create one new one using the entire drive.

After creating the new partition it will ask you about formatting the partition. Tell it to do a complete (not quick) format using NTFS.

Continue the install from there.


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

Oh Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

texastami said:


> Oh Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!


Don't thank me yet. Wait until you have some success. LOL


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

Nevada said:


> Don't thank me yet. Wait until you have some success. LOL


Good idea..... when I try to start the install, it tells me that the xp I currently have is newer than the CD version..... if I want to still install, restart and I need to boot from CD....

Only problem is I can't figure out how to boot from CD to start the install.....


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

texastami said:


> Good idea..... when I try to start the install, it tells me that the xp I currently have is newer than the CD version..... if I want to still install, restart and I need to boot from CD....
> 
> Only problem is I can't figure out how to boot from CD to start the install.....


If you power up the computer with the install CD inserted and it doesn't boot to the install CD, then your CD drive isn't set properly in the boot sequence. You need to go into the system setup to check that. 

Usually you enter the setup during the very beginning of the powerup sequence by tapping the Del key, but some brands use one of the F-keys.

Once in the system setup, you need to make sure that the CD drive is higher in the boot sequence than the hard drive. For example, make the CD drive the 1st device and the hard drive the 2nd device in the boot sequence.


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## texastami (Sep 13, 2002)

I can't believe it!!! I DID IT!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH NEVADA!!!! :bow::bow::bow:

I found the BIOS.... went in and changed the order ALL BY MYSELF.... got it to boot and then was able to go in and delete the partitions and got it up and running ALL BY MYSELF!!! 

YOUR HELP IS SO GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

texastami said:


> I can't believe it!!! I DID IT!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH NEVADA!!!! :bow::bow::bow:
> 
> I found the BIOS.... went in and changed the order ALL BY MYSELF.... got it to boot and then was able to go in and delete the partitions and got it up and running ALL BY MYSELF!!!
> 
> YOUR HELP IS SO GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!


Whew!


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