More about removing half of a dual-boot setup...

Even though you can't interfere with a Windows operating system which is installed in any partition of a drive which is classified as 'Primary', 'Logical' or otherwise active, you can remove one if its partition is first of all changed to
'simple' and 'unallotted' or 'unassigned'. In other words, trick the system into seeing it as not presently containing anything critical. Then, you can use a program like Easeus Partition Master to wipe that partition, and reformat it,
and then assign it a drive letter, and designate it as 'logical', so it is now ready
to accept some other operating system, should you wish to install one on it.
Alternatively, you could reclaim that portion back into your primary partition containing your main 'C:' drive's operating system, and have only the one partition on your hard drive again. And that's how to get rid of an unwanted O/S in a second partition of your hard drive. Works for me! 

And just in case you weren't following my previous rant (below) this all got started because the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (read: pre-release beta) got
corrupted and quit completing its boot-up and log-on procedure fully. It was hanging at a point just before the user actually signs in with his name and password, so when you can't get into the damned thing, the only alternative that I know of is to trash it, and start fresh. But you can't even do that, until you can outsmart the protection that's built in to stop you from doing that. So this first paragraph above tells how I did that. And you're wondering why, aren't you?

OK - here's why: For a desktop user without a touch-enabled screen and without a desire to go out and buy one, this new Windows 8 is just a less-user-friendly version of Wonderful Windows 7, Service Pack One.  For us guys, we ought to be calling it Windows 7 Mystified and Vistafied. It's got Win-7's good stuff all mixed up with in-your-face and mostly-useless graphics, and extra interrogations all too reminiscent of completely-unloved Vasta Vista, the most awkward Windows since the demise of Windows Millennium. Remember that one? I paid a dealer $146 for that feeble excuse for an operating system a few years ago, and all it did for me was help me practice my cursing and swearing and learn some new words for it. Ditto, Vasta Vista! But every cloud has its silver lining, and that got me and the rest of the world howling at little Sally and the rest of Mighty Microsoft's Techs to get something that actually works for more than making its customers fighting mad every time they turn it on. So they cleaned up their act, and did a wonderful job of it, too, and the result is Wonderful Windows 7.


So today's Question Everything is: "Why do I need Windows 8 on a non-touch system which in any case would still need its keyboard and mouse for certain operations that you can't give the finger to?" And the answer is: "I don't!", so
I took it off this PC's dual boot setup, and got ready for Windows 9 instead.
In case I live that long.... I still have Win-7 and Win-8 on my other PC in a dual boot setup, so I'm not missing anything but some extra annoyance.