How remove dual boot?

[Ryo94]

Hi,

I had installed windows millenium in the first partition (c:\) then I installed windows xp in the second partition (d:\), windows xp makes a boot table to choose the os that I want to boot. Due to some problems I delete win xp and now I have just windows millenium, the problem is that I still have the boot table to choose beetwen win millenium and win xp, my question is how can I remove this boot menu so that my pc boot directly in windows millenium?

[pillainp]

Edit the boot.ini file to remove the entry relating to the Windows XP install.
In Windows 98, you could boot off the startup floppy disk or Windows 98 CD and type FDISK /MBR at the A:> prompt to let Windows repair the MBR. Since Windows Me does not have a true DOS layer, I do not know if this will work. maybe someone like GLC will be able to tell you more.

[mb26]

if that doesn't work for you (doubt it will b/c it didn't for me with the same problem).. then do a put your boot disk in and type
sys c:
:)

then afterwards u can delete the following files (dont think its essential but they are XP files..)

nt*.*
bootsect.dos
Pagefile.sys
Boot.ini
( in c:\)

they are all 'hidden files' so go into 'folder options' (in control panel) and unselect 'hide protected operating system files'

[Ryo94]

I already tried editing boot.ini and fdisk/mbr but it seems not to work, I delete the file listed above and now I cannot boot :( . I will should reinstall the entire os.

[mb26]

no the thing to do was when u have put yout boot disk in, type in

sys c:

then press enter.

this is the most important thing and u seem to have missed it out.. this is what will fix the problem.. u should have only deleted the files i said *after* the problem was solved.

so try put the boot disk in again, and then type 'sys c:' then press enter.
it should say 'system transferred' and then restart and it should boot up nicely :)

[Ryo94]

Yes I forgot this part, thanks a lot mb26, works perfect! :D

Best Regards

[Aragorn King]

Hey mb26,
Think you can answer my question!

I am using win98 but wanted to try XP. A friend said I could use them both without partitioning my machine. We left 98 in and loaded XP into a separate folder on C drive.

He said I could then use either OS......just change from one to the other. It did not work as he said it would. Had a hard time getting out of XP and back to win98. Got that done with 98 startup disk and do now boot to 98.

The problem now is: I want to get rid of all those XP files. My friend says just delete the XP folder from C drive. I don't think that will work.....and at this point I don't trust his information.

It appears you know a lot about this sort of problem. I hope you can tell me how to get rid of all the XP stuff.

Thanks for being there.

[GaryRouth]

Hi Aragorn -

. . . and Welcome to the Pc Mechanic forums . . .

[. . . in general, you'll usually want to start a new thread for your question. . . Makes it easier for us to follow)

Your friend didn't give you the best advice: Microsoft advises using a different partition for each operating system. Sorry about that.

If mb26 drops by, it looks like he's seen your situation before, so he can correct any guesses that I've made wrong [I haven't had this exact situation before]

Here's what I'd recommend:
1) Slave the drive in another computer and make backups of any critical files that you absolutely need to save. If you already have such a backup, you can skip this step.
2) From either the other computer, or from a WinMe bootdisk from http://www.bootdisk.com - delete the files mentioned in mb26's reply [nt*.*, bootsect.dos, Pagefile.sys, Boot.ini - from the root directory C:\] ... note mb26's note that if you can't see them, you might need to enable viewing of hidden system files (this is if you're slaving in another computer) --> Or, if you are booting to DOS from the bootdisk.com WinMe disk, remove the hidden attributes from those files with this command

attrib -R -H -S

This should allow you to see the files. You can try the delete command to remove them. I believe delete in DOS is just del (my DOS is really rusty). If you get an error message that you can't delete, try renaming those files & then deleting them. The rename command is REN (so my rusty memory thinks).
3) If all's well so far, you can delete the WinXP folder with the deltree command. [for example: deltree C:\WinXP --> where "WinXP" is whatever name you gave that folder]
4) Then rename the win.com file to win.old [or win.bak, or darnit.hek :) ]. . .
5) Then try the fdisk/mbr command to restore a Win98 mbr ("Master Boot Record")
6) Then, on reboot, it'll be time to try an over-the-top reinstall, following the guide http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70846 --- don't forget to 1) disable your Bios AntiVirus 2) install to C:\Windows [and Not to C:\Windows.000] and 3) have your product-key handy.

If all goes well, you'll have Win98 running OK again in about an hour

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[Aragorn King]

Thanks,Gary, for your quick reply. My head is swimming after reading that......as you can tell I'm not very knowledgeable about computers. Will take several readings of your info before my head stops pounding and I can concentrate. Even then don't think I will understand your very well written instructions. ;0) My fault completely, not yours.

Perhaps I should explain that win98, OE6 and IE6 (everything, in fact) appear to work fine.

The only problem I'm having is Norton System Works won't completely uninstall, but I will work on that after getting rid of XP. The XP folders are separate from Windows, both on C drive. XP appears to be conflicting only with NSW. At least I think that is the problem with NSW since I had been using it without problems until I tried to install it in XP. It wouldn't install in XP (since it was already installed in win98..) that's when I decided I didn't want to use XP and my friend helped me set up to boot back in 98. I think if I get rid of the XP NSW will uninstall completely and reinstall completely. That is the only reason I have for not just leaving the XP folders.

One last hope to do this the easy way......I use Norton System Works and it has a WIPEINFO program that reads like it might remove the XP stuff. (It appears the XP files are contained in four folders on C drive......the one I created and three that it created, one of which...Config.Msi... is empty.) Wipeinfo can be directed to remove those four folders. Think that would work?

Many thanks and holding my breath....Aragorn

[GaryRouth]

Aragorn - Most of the dual-booting I've done personally has been with different distros of Linux and various versions of Windows. The only Windows dual-booting I've done has been on totally different partitions using different file systems - so that the two were widely separated. So I'm not much familiar with the state of your system files. The puzzle in my view is how well the two different Windows (98 & XP) would be able to keep their system files apart. That's why it seemed to me logical to remove as much XP manually as possible and do the over-the-top. Perhaps run a Registry Cleaner too. Just to make sure that Win98 has all the files it needs.

You could indeed try leaving things as they are, perhaps going to the Norton website for an uninstallation tool that will remove the Norton for you [in order for you to reinstall it]. . . And just see what happens. If programs have trouble installing on the partially separated 98/XP system, you still have the option to try the manual removal and over-the-top only if necessary.

I wish I could offer help with Norton SystemWorks - but I don't use that either. One of the techs that see a lot of boxes each week from home users will probably be able to answer that one. I don't see that many varieties of machines, since I work at a lab: most of the machines come in groups of a few hundred, and they're all configured similiarly [and of course the mainframes don't really relate to anything here]. . .

If I find a link to the Norton uninstall tool (it's a free download), I'll post it here in this thread.
. . . Gary

[Aragorn King]

Thanks Gary.
Deleted all the XP files. I think.....

The Symantec removal tools wouldn't do the job....tried both several times, yes I did.....finally had to manually uninstall NSW. But that wasn't as bad as I expected......took less than two hours. And it wasn't boring! Then NSW installed with no problems. Just got all the updates and can relax now. Got my baby humming along again.

I intend to leave well enough alone for awhile.

But..... may try to upgrade to XP in a few days....it did look like fun. Oh well, now that I've found this site with all the helpful advice I won't be afraid of anything!!! But believe me, I will uninstall NSW first. Assuming that it will...

Thanks again for all your help.
Aragorn