How to remove Windows 8 from dual boot?

[i_hate_toms]

hi everyone how are you doing.
my exams are done and i've come to my parents for a few days.
like i said in another post, i absolutely love Windows 8, and it's my main OS now.
Thought dad would love it too, and installed Windows 8 (from my DVD, did not activate, it's in "notification" mode) on his Dell desktop.
It now dual boots with Windows 7.
But after using it for a day, dad thinks it's the worst UI ever.
Probably because he is so used to the classic "windows" UI.
No point trying to convince him, if he wants 7, so be it, 7 is a damn good OS too.
Back on topic, dad's desktop has got Windows 7 on C: (80GB partition) and Windows 8 on D: (100GB partition).
When the computer starts up, it shows a nice shiny menu asking which OS to start. I can format D:, but i suspect this boot menu won't disappear even after i format D:, would it? How do I remove Windows 8 and return his computer to the way it was before i installed 8? I don't want that boot menu to show up (it would be pointless to have a boot menu on a single OS system), i just want the computer to straight away boot to Windows 7, like it used to. Is this possible without formatting everything and installing windows 7 fresh again? I have got all the OS DVDs, XP, Vista, 7, 8, ubuntu, and OpenSuse, right beside me now, but reinstalling 7 would be a disaster, i will waste hours in backing up, reinstalling the OS, reinstalling drivers, reinstalling software, setting up the internet connection, and copying back the backup. Please help. Thanks.

 

[salvage-this]

Might want to wait for another member to reply but I think that you can boot the Windows 7 cd to an admin command prompt and type the following command

bootrec.exe /FixMbr

That should set Windows 7 as the default OS. You should be able to delete the Windows 8 partition and expand 7 to the full size of the drive.

Again. I would wait for another member to check over this. I am pretty sure that this will work but I would hate to have you lose both systems.

 

[voyagerfan99]

Boot to 8 and change the OS order to Windows 7 as primary. Then boot to 7 and just delete the Windows 8 partition. It will then keep the Windows 7 boot loader.

 

[i_hate_toms]

Boot to 8 and change the OS order to Windows 7 as primary.

How do i do that? Set windows 7 as default from that "Select an OS to start" screen while the system boots? Would doing that get rid of the select OS screen for ALL subsequent restarts, and make the system boot straight to Win 7 every time? assuming that's the case, out of curiosity, if i set Windows 7 as default, but don't format the windows 8 partition, how would i revert back to the windows 8 boot loader again? Thanks for your reply

 

[i_hate_toms]

Might want to wait for another member to reply but I think that you can boot the Windows 7 cd to an admin command prompt and type the following command

bootrec.exe /FixMbr

Neat. Logically, i too think that should work, didn't try it yet though, but i'm 99.99% sure that should work. Fixmbr worked with XP, if ms didn't scrw it up it should work in 7 and 8. Thanks for your reply

 

[salvage-this]

How do i do that? Set windows 7 as default from that "Select an OS to start" screen while the system boots? Would doing that get rid of the select OS screen for ALL subsequent restarts, and make the system boot straight to Win 7 every time? assuming that's the case, out of curiosity, if i set Windows 7 as default, but don't format the windows 8 partition, how would i revert back to the windows 8 boot loader again? Thanks for your reply

Look at the last slide. Hopefully that will help

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57511894-285/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-with-windows-8/

 

[voyagerfan99]

How do i do that? Set windows 7 as default from that "Select an OS to start" screen while the system boots? Would doing that get rid of the select OS screen for ALL subsequent restarts, and make the system boot straight to Win 7 every time? assuming that's the case, out of curiosity, if i set Windows 7 as default, but don't format the windows 8 partition, how would i revert back to the windows 8 boot loader again? Thanks for your reply

When you boot into Windows 8 you right click Computer and go to Properties. then in the left pane choose Advanced System Settings. You'll automatically be in the Advanced tab. Click Settings under Startup and Recovery and from the dropdown choose Windows 7.

Then just reboot into Windows 7 and delete the 8 partition. No need to rebuild the MBR.

 

[i_hate_toms]

Look at the last slide. Hopefully that will help

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57511894-285/how-to-dual-boot-windows-7-with-windows-8/

Thanks salvage
that slide shows how to set windows 7 as default.
The problem is, voyager said if i set windows 7 to default, that blue select OS screen will disappear for good and the system will keep booting straight to windows 7. If that's the case, i would never be able to get back to this blue select OS screen, and i will never be able to boot to windows 8 any more. in this particular case, that would be okay, cause i am planning to remove windows 8 from my dad's computer anyway. But if i set Windows 7 as the default OS in one of my OWN computers, how would i boot to windows 8 again? Without the select OS screen showing up, the system would just keep booting to windows 7 all the time and never again give me the option to boot to windows 8 or set windows 8 as the default OS, unless i repair the boot loader using the windows 8 DVD. Sounds a bit too extreme.

 

[i_hate_toms]

When you boot into Windows 8 you right click Computer and go to Properties. then in the left pane choose Advanced System Settings. You'll automatically be in the Advanced tab. Click Settings under Startup and Recovery and from the dropdown choose Windows 7.

Thanks voyager
one thing i would like to know, is this available in windows 7 too?
I mean lets say i set 7 as default, and select the timeout to be zero, the system will always boot to 7. Now lets say i DON'T delete the 8 partition. A few days later, i want to return back to windows 8 as the primary OS.If 7 doesn't let me select 8 as default, I cannot re-select windows 8 as default without booting into windows 8, and the system will not boot to windows 8 as it would straight away boot to 7. See the paradox?

 

[salvage-this]

I'm not completely sure on this but I would think that the boot manager that Windows 7 uses should be able to detect both systems. I would think that you could choose either 7 or 8 from the the Windows 7 boot manager. Look into it on your Dad's PC then see what you would want to do on your PC.

 

[i_hate_toms]

I'm not completely sure on this but I would think that the boot manager that Windows 7 uses should be able to detect both systems. I would think that you could choose either 7 or 8 from the the Windows 7 boot manager. Look into it on your Dad's PC

I will check it on dad's desktop and post my findings here for others on a similar quest
Thanks Salvage

 

[voyagerfan99]

Windows 8 will appear in the Windows 7 boot menu as well, so you just press F8 before boot and choose Windows 8. You can swap the default back and fourth between Windows 7 and Windows 8 with whichever OS is the primary at the time.

 

[i_hate_toms]

Windows 8 will appear in the Windows 7 boot menu as well, so you just press F8 before boot and choose Windows 8. You can swap the default back and fourth between Windows 7 and Windows 8 with whichever OS is the primary at the time.

This is exactly what I found. Windows 8 Is there in Windows 7's boot menu as well. Don't need to fixboot, start windows 8, set windows 7 as default from windows 8, restart to Windows 7, Windows 7 is set as default, set timeout to zero from windows 7's startup options, and restart. The system boots to Windows 7 straightaway, no "select OS to start" screen.
Windows 8 can be formatted now. If not, we can boot to Windows 7, open startup options in advanced system properties (right click "computer" and click "properties") and set Windows 8 as default again. Didn't try the F8, but i'm sure it'd work too. Voyager is right. We can swap the default back and forth between windows 7 and windows 8. Good answer. Issue resolved.