upgrade and hidden partition [ Edited ]

[michael56555]

Can I do an upgrade from Vista to Win 7 and then delete the hidden partition/files and recover that space? I don't see a need to ever do a recover back to that early version of Vista.

Lenovo R61,Vista bus. 32 bits, T8300 processor 3 gigs of ram...

~Mike

[matram]

If you do a Clean Install instead of an Upgrade you can in the advanced mode of the Win7 installer reformat the disk and manage partitions (same as for Vista).

As a tip you can generate the Rescue and Recovery CD and DVD's containing the VISTA image on your current machine before you delete any partition. This will allow you to restore Vista as well as boot into Rescue and Recovery using the CD instead of the service partition. Of course not your programs and data!

If you want to upgrade Vista as opposed to doing a clean install I assume you will have to delete the service partition and extend the primary partition before you do the upgrade.  You should be able to this with Acronis DiskDirector or a similar tool. I have only done this on XP installations so i do not know if Vista activation will react to a change of the disk layout?

Personally I prefer a clean install as it gives me an opportunity to get rid of all stuff that has accumulated over the years.

Mats

[michael56555 · Accepted solution]

I decided to recover the partition space before upgrading to Win 7.  Just so everyone knows it can be done without losing your data or reinstalling...  I used Diskpart (now a part of Vista) to unhide and delete the partition.  I then used Gparted to expand the C drive partition.  Diskpart will expand a partition if there is space after the partition to be expanded, but will not expand it to unallocated space in front.  Gparted will do that.  It took a little more than an hour to do. 

After finishing, and trying to reboot.  It wouldn't.  I knew this going in.  You have to have a windows install disk.  (I used  an old Dell Vista upgrade disk).  When it loads, select language and hit next.  There is an option to repair Windows.  Hit repair windows.  It will do its thing in a couple of seconds and you can then reboot and the machine should work fine.  It did for me. 

~M

R61, Vista, T8300 processor, 3 gigs RAM, 100 gig 7200 rpm HD