How do I change a dual boot into a single boot PC

I have a 1TB SSD for a hard drive. It has a partition for the OS I use all the time which takes up about half the space on my physical drive. It also has a partition with a clean install of Windows 10 which takes up roughly half the remaining space on the physical drive. I also have a Drive D: which contains my data. My intention is to place all my programs on the clean install partition F:. When I am satisfied, I want to delete the current OS I am using and switch over to the clean install. My question is: How do I now make Drive F: clean install = Drive C:? Then, I would like to clear out all data from the old install Drive F: and create that to be a clean install (again, it will now be Drive F: .Thank you!

The easiest way would be to Image the entire SSD with Macrium Reflect. Then clean install windows 10. after install complete and updated then mount the image of your SSD and just move the files you want back to the new C:/ into there proper Library folders. MHO

Download easy bcd to the partition you want to keep then while still on the partition you installed easy bcd to delete the partition of the operating system you dont want using disk management

NOTE: you need to be sure your only deleting the partitions that belong to the os you dont want.

Easybcd will be used to modify the boot record to delete the unwanted os boot record from the system.

Or you can use msconfig to do the same as easybcd

Link to easybcd:
EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies

Nisko said:

My intention is to place all my programs on the clean install partition F:. When I am satisfied, I want to delete the current OS I am using and switch over to the clean install.

Explain what you mean by place all your programs on the clean install partition F:. Do you mean you are booted into Windows on C: drive and when you install a program you tell it to use F: for the location to install to? Then at some point you want to boot into what is now F: and use those programs? You can't really do that. Because while some of the program's files will get written onto drive F:, all the registry entries required for that program to run properly in Windows will be made in the registry on drive C:.

When you boot into what is now F:, it will automatically become C:, but it won't have any of the registry entries and other shortcuts required to run the programs that you installed under the first C: drive.

Sorry for the confusion. What I called Drive F is really the second partition on my SSD which now holds the clean install of Windows 10.

AddRAM said:

Drive F ?

I thought it was a partition ?

You are getting your terms mixed up. A drive is an entire disk, a partition is a section of a disk.

When you boot into the partition you are calling F, it will be C, not F.

Let`s 1st post a shot of Disk Management, and go from there.

Perhaps my explanation wasn't clear. I want to install all the programs I want on Partition F (while booted into it). This is my clean install. When they all work as I want them to, I intend to delete the current partition C: (the old installation) and just use the clean install. Hope that's clear.

NavyLCDR said:

Explain what you mean by place all your programs on the clean install partition F:. Do you mean you are booted into Windows on C: drive and when you install a program you tell it to use F: for the location to install to? Then at some point you want to boot into what is now F: and use those programs? You can't really do that. Because while some of the program's files will get written onto drive F:, all the registry entries required for that program to run properly in Windows will be made in the registry on drive C:.

When you boot into what is now F:, it will automatically become C:, but it won't have any of the registry entries and other shortcuts required to run the programs that you installed under the first C: drive.

Nisko said:

Perhaps my explanation wasn't clear. I want to install all the programs I want on Partition F (while booted into it). This is my clean install. When they all work as I want them to, I intend to delete the current partition C: (the old installation) and just use the clean install. Hope that's clear.

In that case, just boot into the OS that you want to be permanent, and when you are ready to remove the other OS, then run MSCONFIG, go to the boot tab and delete the entry for the OS you no longer want.



Then you can use your preferred partitioning program (or disk management) to either reformat or delete the old OS partition you no longer want.

Thanks, Commander!