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I have 3 partitions, one has Windows 7 installed, and other 2 windows server. (So basically triple boot, right?)

Windows 7 has a virus and has been impossible to remove, how can I reinstall just windows 7 while leaving the the windows server installations alone.

Note: Windows 7 is installed on C drive.

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You shouldn't have a problem selecting, formatting and installing Win7 into the one partition. The installer should not touch the other partitions. However the Win7 install program will probably make the Win7 partition the active partition that is booted. If the install program does not recognize the other two server partitions as bootable, then you will have to use an editor such as EasyBCD (after the installation) to install those alternate boot options.

Note: Windows 7 is installed on C drive.

Actually this is not going to help you identify which partition to use during the install. Windows always assigns the C: drive letter to the partition from which it has booted. For example, I have a dual-boot PC that has WindowsXP and Windows7, each installed in their own partition. Each OS reports that its partition is the the C: drive.

You should run the Disk Management Tool, which is one of the Computer Management Tools under Administrative Tools. You need to learn how to identify your existing Win7 partition by its size, partition number and relative location, not by its drive letter. Unintentional clobbering of a partition during an OS installation is typically (or always?) due to selection of the wrong partition for installation or formatting, rather than the install program writing beyond the selected partition.

BTW during the installation, when it's time to select the partition for Win7, you will have to first click the Drive options (Advanced) to expose the Format button.

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  • Is EasyBCD easy to install and configure? What details would I need before hand to set it up?
    – orange
    Aug 16, 2012 at 12:16
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    As its name implies EasyBCD is not complicated. I mentioned it only for completeness as a possible recovery method for restoring triple-booting. The Win7 installer should be able to find the other Microsoft OS partitions. I know it can find an XP partition, and automatically add it to the boot list.
    – sawdust
    Aug 16, 2012 at 20:19
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You should just be able to re-install Win 7 to the same partition it was already on. You'll want to format it (like sawdust showed), but the installer should pick up the other two Windows installations and add them to the bootloader automatically. (The Windows installer is pretty good about picking up other Windows installations...don't get me started on its habit of silently overwriting any other bootloader!)

Something semi-unrelated to the original question to keep in mind regarding sawdust's post: Windows does not always mark its boot drive as C:. I'm not totally sure under what cases it doesn't, but often if I install Windows to a partition on a hard drive that already has a Windows install on another partition, it will install itself to D: (or the first available letter).

I've had Win 7 installed for a while, and when I installed Win 8 on another partition, the Win 8 installer picked up the existing Win 7 install, and therefore installed itself to D:.

Again, I'm not totally sure exactly under what circumstances this will happen, but it can be confusing if you aren't expecting it!

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