How to get rid of Dual Boot 2

[KMartin2004]

Hello everyone,

I have a dual boot system which has Windows 2000Pro/Xp Pro.

I had my computer built with XP Pro preinstalled for me then i added a second hard drive and installed 2000 Pro which i needed for school. Well, this caused XP to not boot anylonger. So i did a XP fix which then worked fine.

So my question is. I want to get rid of 2000 Pro since i dont use it anymore and utilize the second hard drive. What is the best, and safest way to dump 2000 Pro, utilize the second hard drive while not hurting XP at all.

XP Pro = Drive C
2000 Pro = Drive E

Thank you for any help you can offer.

KMart2004.

 

[Marcs41]

Reading your post, all I can say is: format drive E: ?

Marc
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[bcastner]

Two steps:

. Boot into XP. Right-click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Startup and Recovery - Settings, Edit

You want your boot.ini file to resemble:
[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Remove any reference to the Win2k installation under the operating systems subsection.

. Now you could just delete things on drive E:, the bulk of Win2k is in E:\winnt\ but if it is NTFS there may be protections in place to make this chore difficult. As marcs41 suggested, a reformat would be the easiest thing to do.

 

[KMartin2004]

OK, I'm sorry, but i gave the incorrect information. I couldn't really remember. The computer was preinstalled with 2000 Pro not XP.

So 2000 Pro was installed first on 1st hard dirve and XP Pro on hard drive 2. I want to keep XP and dump 2000. 2000 is on the boot disk, but i dont want to keep 2000, just XP.

Is this possible without having to reformat eerything?

Thanks,

KMart2004

 

[bcastner]

Do the same steps as before, although your boot.ini will look slightly different:

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

You now can delete the C:\WINNT folder, and any other junk you see. If the filestore is NTFS, this article will prove handy:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

 

[KMartin2004]

Thank you Bcastner and marcs41 for your information. I will try to use this information this weekend. I'm kinda nervouse that i might do something wrong. I think i need to back up my system before i edit the .ini file.

Bcastner, how safe is this without backing up my system?

Thanks,

KMart2004.

 

[bcastner]

There is always Recovery Console:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330184

Three ways to edit boot.ini, what the syntax of each part means, and how to recover if you mess up:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prmc_str_masc.asp

Perhaps the safest way to edit boot.ini is to:
Start, Run, CMD

bootcfg /query
##The following is a sample of bootcfg /query output:

Boot Loader Settings
--------------------
timeout: 30
default: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

Boot Entries
------------
Boot entry ID: 1
Friendly Name: "Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional"
Path: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
OS Load Options:

Boot entry ID: 2
Friendly Name: "Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
Path: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
OS Load Options: /fastdetect

Note the Boot entry ID# when you do a bootcfg /query. In the following I will assume Win2k to have an ID of 1.[/b]

Now type the following, with your correct ID# for Win2k:

bootcfg /default /id 2
bootcfg /timeout 0
bootcfg /delete /id 1

You are done. Reboot to test. Then go delete the old Win2k stuff on drive C.

 

[linney]

How to Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Windows XP (Q314079)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q314/0/79.asp

Q305595 - HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q305/5/95.asp

When you start deleting files on your C Drive make sure you are showing Hidden and System files from within XP Folder Options / View and do not delete the bootup files for XP which will be in the root of C drive even if XP is in E drive. These are the Boot.ini the Ntdetect.com and the Ntldr files.

 

[bcastner]

linney's point is a good one, so, files to delete and not delete on your C drive:

Start Windows Explorer.
On the View menu, click Folder Options.
On the View tab, click Show all files, and then click OK.
In the root folder of drive C or the boot drive, do NOT delete the following files: (not all may be there)
Boot.ini
Ntbootdd.sys
Ntdetect.com
NTLDR


On the drive on which Windows 2000 is installed, delete the following files if they exist:
Hiberfil.sys
Pagefile.sys


Delete the following folders if they exist:
Windows or WINNT
Program Files
Documents and Settings

While I am here, let me make an annotation on my advice above:

bootcfg /default /id 2 <<=== set XP as the default OS
bootcfg /timeout 0 <<=== Do not display an OS option menu
bootcfg /delete /id 1 <<=== Remove the selection Win2k

You are done.

 

[wolluf]

If your 2k drive has the boot sector on it (which if 2k was installed first, it will have), you would be better off creating a new boot sector on the XP drive (then you don't have to worry about what you do to the other drive).

To do this, copy the files mentioned - ntldr, ntdetect.com & boot.ini to the root of the XP drive. Then boot into recovery console and run fixboot X: (where X: is XP drive as seen from recovery console - should be C: from your earlier detail saying XP on C. Boot.ini should look like:

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

or

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

if SP2.

Now try booting with just the XP drive connected. If this works ok, just make it master (I'm presuming its not, as you said second drive - though I'm intrigued as to why XP is on C: if 2k already on in first drive when you installed XP - wondering if your setup is perhaps a little different to what it appears - eg, what happens if you try booting with just XP drive connected now - before doing anything?), makse 2k slave, and then you can do as you wish with 2k drive (format, repartition etc).

 

[KMartin2004]

wolluf, you bring up a good point. Why would XP show as drive C? I thought the boot disk is always Drive C.

Thanks,

KMart2004.

 

[bcastner]

The boot disk is always the active partition on the first PnP enumerated drive in the system. It could easily be Drive D:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q825668