How do I delete hard drive partitions?

[dclemmons]

I have an Asus notebook that came loaded with Vista 64 but was entitled to free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium 64.

I did a recovery with the W7 disk and now have three partitions as seen in disk management.

C: Windows 7 files
System Reserve: 100 Mb; 70 Mb free
Unallocated 11.72 Gb. I deleted the volume on this partition.

My goal is to remove the two partitions and have a single hard drive. Someone installed a keylogger on my computer and even after formating the C drive and reinstalling W7, it is still there.

How can I remove the extra two partitions?

Thanks in advance.

[Burrell]

Re-post this in the software forum for better help.

If you think you still have a keylogger then make a thread in the Malware removal forum.

[TimW]

Moved to software.

[sach2]

I think you may be in trouble here.

The system reserved partition is a Win7 thing that really needs to stay.
The volume you deleted would have been your System Recovery partition for Vista. Unfortunately, you have to have Vista files to use the Win7 upgrade. So you would have trouble reinstalling Win7 now.

How and why did you delete the 12gb partition?

[dclemmons]

I cannot tell you why. That would imply that I know what I'm doing...

Seriously, since the k/l was still on my computer, I figured the only way it survived a C reformat was to hide itself on the recovery partition. To delete it, I opened disk management, right clicked on the rec. partition, and clicked delete.

I read that a clean Win7 upgrade installation is possible. Apparently, you don't activate during installation but afterwards. A call to Microsoft may even be necessary but it supposedly works. Failing that, I will buy a W7 full disk. I don't want to but if that is what it takes to get the keylogger off my puter, it is worth it.

If I replace my hard drive with a new one, I assume that would take care of the problem? If I do replace it, I will get a SSD. Is it possible for a k/l to hide in memory?

[sach2]

I don't know anything about keyloggers so the Malware forum may be your best bet there.

You said you did a recovery using the Win7 disc--what exactly does this entail? Did you reformat the C: partition during the process? [I believe you can do a fresh install of Win7 once the disc sees the original installation. If you didn't do a fresh install then I'll look for instructions to refresh my memory on the steps.]

[tgell]

You can do a clean install on a computer with an upgrade disk.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/...ade-media.aspx

[dclemmons]

Originally Posted by sach2

I don't know anything about keyloggers so the Malware forum may be your best bet there.

You said you did a recovery using the Win7 disc--what exactly does this entail? Did you reformat the C: partition during the process? [I believe you can do a fresh install of Win7 once the disc sees the original installation. If you didn't do a fresh install then I'll look for instructions to refresh my memory on the steps.]

I changed the boot order in bios so that the DVD drive booted first. So the W7 booted and I selected the option to reformat the C drive. I had previously reinstalled W7 by clicking Run C:. Doing it that way created a windows.old folder. I reformatted the next go around to try and get rid of the k/l.

Can this thread be moved to Malware or should I start a new thread there?

Many thanks.

[dclemmons]

Originally Posted by tgell

You can do a clean install on a computer with an upgrade disk.

http://www.winsupersite.com/article/...ade-media.aspx

Thanks. That's the site that convinced me a clean install is possible with an upgrade disk.

[sach2]

I would make a new thread to the malware section explaining what you have tried and why you believe you still have a keylogger.

They will have more experience knowing where one may hide and you will not invalidate your ability to reinstall Win7 should you need to do it again.

****
I haven't installed Win7 since it came out. When you chose to format C: did it also give you options to delete the other existing partitions? [During XP install you have the option of deleting all existing partitions one-by-one and then with the whole disc reading as unallocated you can just have the installer take over the disc and create a new partition for Windows]

[dclemmons]

Originally Posted by sach2

I would make a new thread to the malware section explaining what you have tried and why you believe you still have a keylogger.

They will have more experience knowing where one may hide and you will not invalidate your ability to reinstall Win7 should you need to do it again.

****
I haven't installed Win7 since it came out. When you chose to format C: did it also give you options to delete the other existing partitions? [During XP install you have the option of deleting all existing partitions one-by-one and then with the whole disc reading as unallocated you can just have the installer take over the disc and create a new partition for Windows]

sach2, just want to close the loop and let you know what a major help your post was.

I went thru the reinstallion process again. I deleted the recovery partition but it only deleted the volume. At least it deleted the volume because in Disk Mgt. it left a few files. I then deleted the C partition and the two partitions merged. Makes sense, no files left to partition.

I proceeded with the reinstallation and everything is good.
I admit I held my breath and crossed my fingers when activation time came but Microsoft activated Windows 7 as per normal. There is no windows.old folder and in Disk Mgt, I see the primary partition and a System Reserve partition which I believe holds some of the system files.

I cannot tell you the amount of grief the keylogger caused me. Think old girlfriend but I believe it is finally gone. Life is good.

Again, thank you for your help.

[sach2]

I'm glad you figured things out on your own. It sounds like you have a clean install and things are working well.

I'm not sure my previous replies were that helpful but I recently read a few links that explained the Win7 install process in some detail. Reading the MS link it appears that as long as you have an installation of XP/Vista on the HD when you begin the upgrade it is validated automatically.

Originally Posted by sach2

I just wanted to give a link to the official MS explanation of the different install types.

There are two types of Custom installs one with the format and one without (which includes the Windows.old folder). I believe that by default you are pointed to choosing the one which saves personal files to Windows.old.

step by step instructions with screen shots

I think this screen is the one [similar to the one in XP I was referencing] where you can delete any existing partitions by using the icons at the bottom of the window and then when the drive shows all unallocated space you just keep that space highlighted and select Next.

Sounds like you figured it out by yourself. Good work!