How can I switch from dual boot to WinXP only ? 3

[ylan]

After dual booting Win98 SE and WinXP Pro for the past 6 months, I no longer need Win98 SE in my daily work. How can I reconfigure my system ( Celeron 900 ) to use WinXP Pro only ? Do I just delete Win98 SE or Do I have to take additional precautions ? I do not have the slightlest clue . Please advise. Thanks,

 

[ashpp]

Hi,

Yup deleting the directory is fine. You also might what to remove it from the boot menu aswell.

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Start & Recovery -> Click Edit

You'll get a file like this and you'll need to delete the line for Windows 98.

[boot loader]
timeout=3
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" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 2000" /fastdetect
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:"


HTH

Ash.

 

[ylan]

Thanks , Ash., for the tip. I looked at the file <boot.ini> and found something like this :

---------------------------------------------------
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS=&quot;Microsoft Windows XP Professional&quot; /fastdetect
C:\=&quot;Microsoft Windows&quot;


---------------------------------------------------

I did not see any line for Win98 SE . I am positive that Win98 SE was installed on drive C:\ and WinXP Pro on drive D:\ .

Please explain... Thank you

 

[ashpp]

Remove the C:\=&quot;Microsoft Windows&quot; line

Ash.

 

[wolluf]

Small warning - you can remove everything from the win98 partition except ntldr, boot.ini and ntdetect.com (XP's boot sector files) - XP won't boot if you remove any of these.

PS. you can make an XP boot floppy by copying said 3 files to newly formatted floppy (will boot your XP if you accidentally remove/damage the boot sector).

 

[ylan]

Thanks, Ash and Wolluf , for your kind inputs. I 'll take full note of your advices. Meanswhile, any further suggestions and warnings would be most welcome...

 

[ylan]

Hello Wolluf,
I used &quot;Search&quot; in WinXP to look for the files ntdetect.com and ntldr ( I am confused by this file name . A file with no extention ?? ) in all partitions in my system. The search could not locate these 2 files . Please explain.

 

[kochg]

Hi Ylan,

These are protected operating system files, and won't show up in a search, even if you include searching hidden files.

To see them, disable the 'hide protected operating system files' in windows explorer\tools\folder options\view
Regards,

G

 

[ylan]

Thanks, Kochg, for your kind advice which I implemented right away. Somehow, &quot;Search&quot; in WinXP could not locate these 3 files! I wondered what could be the problem?

 

[kochg]

It's not a problem, it's just XP protecting users against themselves. Why should a normal user be able to view these files? If they remove ntldr for example, windows will simply not start up, so I think it's an improvement to hide these sensitive system files.

Search is able to display these files, but you will have to do an advanced search, and include searching hidden files and folders. Search only shows you the system files if you enable it in the folder options as specified before.

 

[ylan]

Thanks, kochg, for the tip . After using advanced options in &quot;Search&quot;, I found all 3 files ! It's great to learn something new in WinXP.

Best regards,