porky Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 I have a Dell laptop that has a triple boot set up. It has XP, Vista, And Windows 7 Ultimate. We have been running it in Vista and all the software has been loaded to the Vista boot section. I want to change to use the 7 Ultimate and get rid of the other 2 boot sections. Can I swap over all the programs and software to the 7 Ultimate, and can I reclaim the hard disc space to use from the other two boot sections? Do all the programs and software have to be reloaded to this OS? Is this going to be a time intensive job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 The short answer is no.Programs for XP are not generally compatible with W7 and will not work. Vista programs, although very similar to W7, are distinctly different in most cases.Most important, though, is that it is not a simple matter to alter the locations of already installed programs.The best thing to do would be to save all of the files you wish to keep, preferably on a separate disk or drive the reformat and re-install W7 plus install all programs afresh.This may seem long winded but, in my view, is the best way to do it and maintain one's sanity. There are so many things that can go wrong swapping stuff around - and most likely they will.Also, by re-installing, you will start again with a clean setup and no hidden bits, bobs and tail ends of old programs to interfere with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Windows 7 Ultimate and Professional versions have an XP Mode that allows you to run software not compatible with Win 7. Google for full details.Win 7 Home Premium does not have this feature.Download the Microsoft Compatibility Centre to check which software will work in Win 7 OK From HereI agree with pops - you need to take a back up of all your data, then do a reformat and clean instal of Win 7 and all your other software.You can use Windows Disc management to change your partition structure and recover any unallocated space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porky Posted May 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Thanks to both of you... I had already done a back-up in the event that would be the case. I will have to look in to the issues you both brought to mind and I will not be stupid and give it a try... I don't need the headache. Thanks for the help.Another question... can the XP and Vista sections be done away with without affecting the W7? or am I just wishful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorush.nazari Posted June 7, 2010 Report Share Posted June 7, 2010 You can certainly delete the partitions with fdisk, then reformat them and add them to a single large partition and use it in windows 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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