Professional personal computer users believe that before installing new version The operating system always needs to perform complete disk fragmentation. This will allow you to delete absolutely all information stored on your computer’s hard drive, as well as get rid of many problems, for example, removing another OS from the boot list. If two versions of the operating system were installed on the computer, then the last installed one will be loaded (if you don’t choose it yourself, but wait a few seconds). In addition, another operating system on the computer will take up quite a lot of space on the hard drive, and the performance of the PC may also suffer. If several versions of the OS are installed on your computer, you can get rid of them using simple manipulations.

First option

After the computer turns on and boots, you need to press the Win + R key combination on the computer keyboard. A special “Run” window will appear, where you need to enter the msconfig command and confirm the action. A special Windows configuration window will open, which allows you to manage the system. You need to go to the “Download” tab and find the desired version of the operating system that you want to disable. It is worth noting that these actions will not affect the current OS, where the procedure itself is carried out. After confirming the procedure, the user will be prompted to restart the computer. This is necessary for the changes to take effect. After a reboot, the second version of the operating system will not be shown. This option does not provide complete removal OS from the user's computer. It can only be used to remove second Windows from the loading screen.

Second option

There is another option for solving the pressing problem, with the help of which the second operating system will be completely removed from the personal computer. The user will also need to open the Run menu, only now they need to enter the %windir% command. After this simple manipulation, the Windows working folder will open, the path and name of which you need to remember. Using the operating system explorer, you need to find another Windows folder, which was not specified as a result of previous actions and delete it. Next, the user must find “My Computer” and, after right-clicking on the shortcut, select “Properties” and go to the “Advanced” tab. In the “Download and Recovery” field, you need to go to the settings, after which the “Download and Recovery” window will appear. In the “Load operating system” group, click the “Edit” button. A editable version of the Boot.ini file will open. Here the line corresponding to the version of the remote OS is deleted, for example, it can look like: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows" /fastdetect. This completes the procedure for removing the second operating system.

If a user has several installed on his computer Windows versions, then he may be wondering how to remove the second operating system.

Often this question arises if one of the systems begins to malfunction, if there is too little free space on the hard drive, if the OS is outdated, and for many other reasons. There are several ways to safely remove Windows 7 from your PC. The methods described below are so simple that even an ordinary user can use them to remove the OS..

This is the easiest and most convenient way to remove Windows. You need to open the “Start” menu and enter the word “Run” in the “Search for Programs” line. In the window that opens there is a field in which you need to enter “msconfig” and click “OK”. After this, the “System Configuration” window opens.

The user should go to the "Download" tab and find the Windows system in the list that should be safely disposed of.

The corresponding status is indicated next to the operating operating system - “Current operating system”, but there are no marks near the inactive one. You need to select this OS, click “Apply” and “OK”. After closing the window, you must select “Restart the computer” in the “System Settings” window.

If everything was done correctly, then the next time the PC boots, the second Windows 7 will no longer be displayed.

Removing "Windows" from the partition

When using this method, you need to boot the system that the user plans to keep. After this, you should change the settings so that this OS is loaded in the future. You need to start by opening the desktop. Then you need to right-click on the “My Computer” shortcut, and in the menu that appears, find “Properties”, and then “Advanced” and “Options”. In this window, select Windows 7 to be removed and click OK.

After completing all operations, you need to go to the partition where the OS to be removed is installed. Usually this is drive C. Here we find the Windows, Program Files and Documents and Settings folders and remove them.

A message may appear stating that these files are system files and are read-only. This warning should be ignored.

Some users have a question about how not to make a mistake and delete exactly those folders that are needed. The following can help them: open the Start menu, select Run, enter the command %windir% in the window that appears, and click OK. As a result, the folder with the current OS opens. You need to remember the location of this one and not touch it.

After uninstalling Windows 7, you need to edit the boot.ini file to remove the unnecessary OS from the boot menu.

To do this, right-click on the “My Computer” icon, find the “Properties” item in the menu that appears, and then open the “Advanced” tab, select “Download and Setup” and click on the “Options” button.

In the dialog box, find the “Edit” item and do backup copy the opened boot.ini file. You can call it boot.old. After this, you need to open boot.ini again and delete the line that contains information responsible for displaying two Windows in the boot menu. You can then save the file and restart your PC.

Other ways to remove unnecessary OS

If the user is interested in how to remove a second operating system without resorting to the above methods, then he can use the tips below. True, they only work if the two operating systems are installed on different partitions hard drive. In this case you can:

1. Right-click on the My Computer shortcut, select Manage, and then Disk Management. After that, mark the disk on which the unnecessary system is installed and click the “Format” button. The OS will be completely removed from the computer (but all information stored on this disk will be deleted along with it).
2. Use Acronis Disc Director. Often this method is resorted to by those users who were unable to format standard means"Windows".
3. Format the disk via BIOS. But in this case, you will need an emergency floppy disk and, accordingly, a floppy drive. The floppy disk must be inserted into the drive, and then the computer must be restarted. It will start booting from the floppy disk and a small menu will appear on the screen from which you need to choose to format the disk. Then you should select the disk with which you want to perform this operation.

Thus, there are several simple ways to remove unnecessary Windows. The choice of one method or another depends on the user’s preferences and technical capabilities.

If, when installing Windows 7.8 or 10, if you did not format the system HDD, and installed a new operating system, then most likely now, after turning on the computer, you see a menu that asks you to choose which Windows to run.

If you do not select anything, then after a few seconds the latest installed OS will automatically start.

In this short episode I will show you how to remove the second loading Windows. In fact, it's very easy.

Removing the second operating system from the boot menu

All actions are the same for latest versions OS - Windows 7,8,8.1 and Windows 10.

To remove the second Windows boot, you need to do the following:

1. After your computer boots up, press the keyboard shortcut Win + R. A dialog box will appear "Run." It should be entered msconfig and press Enter(or button OK).
   
2. The system configuration window will open, in which we are interested in the tab. Go to it.
   
3. Select unnecessary items ( those where Not written"Current operating system"). And press the button "Delete". If you have reinstalled Windows several times, there may be several of these items; delete each of them. This will not affect your current operating system in any way. After you have deleted all unnecessary items, click "OK".
4. You will be prompted to restart your computer. It is better to do this right away so that the program makes the necessary changes to the Windows boot record.
   

After the reboot, you will no longer see any menu with a choice of several options. Instead, the copy that was installed last will be launched immediately (Moreover, most likely, you don’t have previous Windows, there were only entries about them in the boot menu).

It's very easy to do. Go to your system drive (usually drive “C”) and look for the Windows.old folder there. If you have reinstalled Windows several times, there may be several of these folders. It is in these folders that everything is stored previous versions operating systems. - after all, this folder, as I already said, takes up quite a lot of space on your hard drive and, most likely, you have already saved everything you needed.

VIDEO: How to remove the second boot of Windows 7,8,10?

Well, that's all for today! Please write in the comments, did you manage to remove the second Windows when loading the operating system? And in what Windows versions you did it. Like if you liked the video and subscribe to our channel if you haven't subscribed yet, as well as alerts by clicking on the bell next to the subscribe button!

It happens that several operating systems are installed on one computer. Often several operating systems are installed to expand the possibilities of using the software. For example, not every program that runs on Windows XP will run on Windows 7. The same goes for video games. Some “old” video games do not run on the Windows 7 operating system. But if the need to use several operating systems at the same time is no longer necessary, unnecessary OS can be removed.

You will need

• Computer running Windows operating system

Instructions

Right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select “Properties” from the menu that appears. Next, click on the “Advanced options” tab and in the window that appears, find the line “Download and recovery”. Next to this line, click “Options”. Now look for “Default Boot Operating System”. There is an arrow below the inscription. Click on it with the left mouse button. From the list of operating systems, select the one you will use. Just below is the line “Display a list of operating systems.” Uncheck this line. Close all windows.

Restart your computer. Now, when you turn on your PC, there will be no operating system selection window. When the OS boots, open the partition of your hard drive where the unnecessary operating systems are located and delete their files. Typically, old OS folders are named Windows.old or Windows.2. Unneeded operating system files should be deleted like regular folders and files.

You can also format a disk partition on which an unnecessary operating system is installed. Of course, this should be done if you do not simultaneously have a working operating system installed on one partition of your hard drive. If there is no running OS on the hard drive partition, then formatting will be the fastest and best option. Before formatting, do not forget to temporarily transfer the files you need to another partition of your hard drive.

If you come across Temp folders, you also need to delete them, since they store temporary operating system files. By deleting all folders with that name, you will free up space on your computer's hard drive.

Also, find a file called Pagefile among the files of the unnecessary operating system and delete it. This is the operating system memory swap file. Since this OS will no longer work, you will not need it.

Tip added October 12, 2011 Tip 2: How to remove multiple operating systems Sometimes there are cases when several operating systems are installed on one computer. In some cases, due to inexperience, you can install a second operating system without uninstalling the first. There are also situations when three operating systems are installed on one hard drive. If, by and large, one OS is enough for you, then you can get rid of the unnecessary ones.

You will need

• - Computer;
• - boot disk with Windows OS.

Instructions

The simplest and reliable way getting rid of unnecessary operating systems means, during the process of installing a new OS, formatting the partition or partitions where the operating systems were installed. But before you start the process, you need to save all the important data. It all depends on the specific situation. Very often, all operating systems are installed on one hard drive partition. Then the loss of information will be minimal. But if the operating systems are scattered across different sections, although this does not happen often, then a significant part of the information can be lost.

If you plan to install the Windows 7 operating system after uninstallation, then you need to take the following steps. Insert the boot disk with this OS into your computer drive. Restart your PC. Immediately after it reboots, press the F8 or F5 key. This will take you to a menu where you can choose how to start the system. From this menu, select your drive and press Enter. Wait until the disk in the drive starts spinning and press any key on the keyboard. Wait for the menu to appear.

Now, from the menu, select the “Disk Setup” option, then select the partition of the hard drive on which the operating systems are installed, and format it. If they are installed on several disks, you will have to format these partitions. In this way, unnecessary OS will be destroyed. After formatting, select your system partition (C by default) and install the new operating system there.

If you are using a boot disk with Windows XP, the procedure differs only in the appearance of the menu in which you can format the disk partition. If on Windows 7 this can be done using the mouse, then in the situation with Windows XP you need to select the partition and press the F key, and then select file system and a formatting method, such as Quick Format.

How to remove multiple operating systems - printable version

Installing the Windows operating system is not a complicated process, but it is tedious! And it often presents many surprises, which not every specialized master can eliminate, due to the lack of complete knowledge. One of the most common surprises is “the previous Windows OS was not uninstalled or partially uninstalled.” In most cases, this mistake is made by newcomers in this field.

Reasons for this problem

There are not many reasons why the operating system was not removed! Let's look at the most common ones, such as:

1. Installation software in an old OS environment. That is, I am not an experienced PC user, I do not restart the computer, insert a disk into the drive or a memory card into USB port, and with mouse clicks starts the Windows installation. What we absolutely do not recommend doing;
2. Installing the OS on an unformatted hard drive partition. The most popular mistake of both newbies and experienced users.

The fact is that if you do not properly prepare the computer for installing the OS, namely, do not erase all data from system partition hard drive, all the files of the old operating system remain on it. At least that's how it was before. Now, the OS files can be replaced with new ones, but amendments are made to the file with the list of operating systems. That is, a new OS is being added.

In the first mistake everything is much simpler. If it goes Windows installation 7 and higher, the old operating system is moved to the Windows old folder. Which can be deleted. In this case, the new operating system is written to the OS startup file, but the old OS is never removed from it.

Removing a second Windows OS

So, how can you remove the second, unnecessary operating system so that it does not interfere and does not take up time when starting your PC? - you ask! The initial step is to delete all files of the previous software. To do this, go to the partition of the hard drive on which the OS was installed. Finding the folder Windows old, and delete it.

There are cases when Windows does not allow files to be deleted. The solution to this problem is as follows. Click restart the computer. As soon as the monitor screen darkens, briefly press the button F8 until it appears system menu. As soon as the system menu appears, use the arrows (keys) to go down to the safe mode item. Click “enter”. In about a minute, the computer will be started in safe mode. Delete the folder with old operating system files in standard mode.

If this still fails to remove this folder, use special software. This could be an Acronis program or a mini version of the Windows Live operating system.

After the files of the old system have been deleted, you should delete its startup line from the corresponding file. In operating rooms Windows system XP and older, this file is called " boot.ini" Starting from OS Windows 7 and higher, its launch occurs a little differently.

Since the file responsible for launching the OS is a system file and is in hidden mode, it is impossible to see it without special software. Therefore, you need to enable the display of hidden directories and files in Windows.

And so, to enable the display of hidden Windows directories, click on “start”, go to the control panel, look for “folder options”, click on the “view” tab and check the “show” function hidden files, folders, disks." Confirm your choice with the "ok" button. After that, go to drive “C” and look for the file boot.ini.

Files open of this type, notepad. In the contents of the boot.ini file, look for the name of your “unnecessary OS” and delete the entire line. Save the file and close. That's it, when you start the computer, the OS selection window will no longer disturb you.

Regarding versions Windows 7 and above, you should do the following:

1. Click on "start". Find and click on “Run”. Or, hold down the keyboard shortcut Win+R;
2. In the dialog box that appears, enter “ msconfig» - without brackets;
3. In the window that appears, click on the “” tab;
4. Select the operating system you don’t need and click on the “ delete»;
5. Click on the button " apply" and "ok";
6. Reboot the PC.

After these steps, the unnecessary operating system will be deleted both from the hard drive and from the boot files. Be meticulous about your work and do not make unnecessary mistakes. This will save your time and nerves.