Dual installations of xp pro on same box 1

[jaybousquet]

In a peak of frustration yesterday, I installed xp pro on my new xp pro dell machine (without overwriting). So now I have 2 installations of the same operating system. When I boot I can choose either of the installations - with the last installation being the default. I would like to remove the last installation completely and use the original one. Can anyone help me accomplish this?

Thanks, Jay

 

[krenkey]

Did you make the second installation install into a different folder If so then simply hit Start - Run then type msconfig go to the bootini and delete the line that corresponds to the install you dont want. Then you can go in and delete the second install folder. Hopefully you installed the second install on a seperate partition so then you can simply format that partition.

 

[jaybousquet]

Thanks krenkey - Here are the contents of my boot.ini file -
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

.......it appears the second installation went to a different partition...(Y/N)? If yes, how can I locate that partition and reformat?

Thanks, Jay

 

[krenkey]

Try this go into Control Panel - Administrative tools - then into Computer management then into disk management. from there you will be able to see the partitions and where the 2nd install is located.

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS

that means that the default operating system in the top line so when you are at youre startup do you hit the default install or go to the second install, you will need to know to safeley delete the correct line.

 

[jaybousquet]

Indeed - at boot there are two choices given, both saying "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" - the one I want is NOT the default... I press the arrow key for the 2nd choice. That is to say, the OS i want appears to be in partition(2). So I would like to reclaim the wasted space in partition(3) and make partition(2) the default. Hope we're not confused!

Jay

 

[krenkey]

Ok so lets start by making the snd on the default, in msconfig select the second operating system then hit the make default button that will make it a default startup boot file. Then we can go and delete the install you dont want, providing that it is on a second partition or in a different folder. it looks like to me its on a different partition. which will make it a lot easier to get rid of.

 

[jaybousquet]

Right - I switched the default - so now the first (highlighted) choice IS the correct one. Should I now delete the line I don't need in the "boot.ini" file and remove the partition I don't want?

 

[krenkey]

Be safe first. Did you find the second partition ? if yes then you can go ahead and delete the second line first boot up and make sure you can still boot up, if you can still boot up after deleting the line then you can remove the partition or at least just start by deleting the folders first.

Do it in steps to make sure youre system is still operable.

 

[Frank4d]

You would want to edit your boot.ini as follows:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I believe partition #3 is your "E" drive. If nothing on it you care about you should be able to reformat it.

 

[krenkey]

You are assuming that he doesnt have any other drives with letters. Being C: primary D: cdrom E:cdrom or f: drive or partition. Thats why i asked him to go into the computer management to determine the drive letters

 

[jaybousquet]

OK - I removed the offending line from "boot.ini" and every thing is great - bypasses completely the whole "select an operating system..." thing and goes directly where I want it. Then I chose to remove the excess partition - it changed to being labeled "Unallocated" - rebooted and everything is soporific. So I guess it's well done and case closed on this one - Thanks so much for your time and experience.

Jay

 

[krenkey]

Youre Welcome