Need help uninstalling Win XP, already did a search

[fleury64]

I was having a lot of problems with Win XP and, in an attempt to reinstall I actually installed another copy. Now when I boot up I have to choose between one OS or the other.

I want to delete the extra one. Win help says to go to ad/remove programs, but it's not there. I did a search of other posts and general advice was to format through disk management.

I suppose I'm a big noob, but I have never accessed disk management before. When i look to Win help to find out, it won't display any files related to accessing disk management!!! One person said to go control panel->system management->disk management, but system management isn't in my control panel and it's not under system (in case you're wondering, I am in classic view).

So, if anyone else can help me out a little more with this, I'd appreciate it.

[pam123]

Okay, just so I'm clear, you want a clean re-install of XP?
That is both copies get nuked and you start over from scratch with a new install?
(I don't see how deleting the new copy will help you if it leaves you with the old copy.).
You cannot reformat from C if you're also using C.
So go into the bios at start-up and make you cd-rom drive the first boot device.
Save and exit with the XP cd in the drive.
It will boot from the cd and you can delete all partitions redo them and format and reinstall from there.
If you want a walk-through post back.

[fleury64]

I have actually since resolved the problems with the original XP and now I just want to get rid of the second copy.

[pam123]

Originally Posted by fleury64 I have actually since resolved the problems with the original XP and now I just want to get rid of the second copy.

Explain!!!!

[fleury64]

I was having a problem with my XP Pro where every time I would boot up, I would get the "blue screen of death". When I restarted, I could run in safe mode. I found that if I did a system restore I could get everything back, but when I shut down and restarted, the same thing would happen and I would have to run in safe mode.

I tried to reinstall Windows per the not-so-helpful instructions I got from Alienware (my actual PC) and instead of reinstalling, it just installed Windows a second time. Eventually I was able to resolve the problem with my original XP Pro, which had all my files, but the second one is still on the drive.

I want to delete the second one, but I want to keep all my files, so a total disk wipe is out. They are not on seperate partitions, so I can't simply format another partition.

I honestly can't believe deleting it is such a big hassle.

[pam123]

Read through this : http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...ight=copies+XP

You want ZeratlusAvenger's post.

[Ob1]

when booting you have an option to choose which xp operating system to install. if im understanding you correctly, then its a simple fix.
first right click the start button and choose explore>then go to tools>folder options at the top of the window>click view> and make sure the following are checked:
display the contents of system folders
show hidden files and folders

and uncheck these items:
hide extensions for known file types
hide protected operating system files (recommended)

click apply at the bottom, then choose apply to all folders at the top. and close the window.

now click on the system partition usually the c: drive and look in the right window pane and look for a boot.ini file. open it up and delete the duplicate line which will probably look like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
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 /NoExecute=OptIn

u probably have two lines of: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

just delete the bottom one, save the changes and restart your pc and the option to choose an operating system when booting up should be gone