meanman

hi i have had windows xp home and vista running on two diffrent hdds when i boot up i get a choice of which os to boot to ,
yesturday i decided i wanted to use the hdd that vista is on for storage so i formated it and got rid of vista but when i boot i still get the option to pick the os to boot to,
i need to get rid of this but i dont know how could someone please help

PC eye

There are two commonly used methods for this. The experienced user will make a copy of the original "boot.ini" file before trying out a dual boot with another especially bewer version of Windows since this file is changed along the master boot record. The second is to boot your system with the XP installation disk and go to the recovery console.

At the recovery console there are two commands you can try here to correct this. Those are the "FIXMBR" and "FIXBOOT" commands that yo0 would type at the command prompt. Generally the fixmbr command works the best. The other option available is to use an old WIN 98 or ME startup floppy disk and boot the system with that. Once you reach the dos prompt you type in "FDISK /MBR".

The last thing done is a manual edit of the "boot.ini" file found at the root of the hard drive. Since this is hidden you may have to go into the tools drop down menu on the explorer bar of either MyComputer or Windows Explorer. Click on the options to open the next screen and then click the "views" tab. Uncheck the options to hide protected system files and click on the apply button to see that done.

Now the hardest part is the actual edit of the boot.ini file itself. Right now it should look like this.
;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Home Edition" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

After right clicking on the boot.bak file which will look the same but give a practice file to work with uncheck the "read only" box at that time. Now go to NotePad and browse for the same file to open it. You will have to set the "all files" instead of "text only" to see it. Once it is open look at how the finish will appear below.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Home Edition" /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN /FASTDETECT

Without reinstalling XP this should remove the entry you see when Windows is loading. You then save the file as the boot.bak to overwrite the practice file and delete the actual boot.ini file after. Once that is done you can rename the boot.bak file to boot.ini. That was the practice file there. To insure no mistakes at first make a copy of the actual boot.ini file and save it to a folder or even floppy. Right click on the original and make the changes. Afterwards simply recheck the "read only' on the followup right click.

SirKenin

The easiest way is to go to Start > Run and type in msconfig. Go to the Boot.ini tab. Delete the Vista entry and save the config file. That should fix you up.

PC eye

BUNK! Once the boot.ini file is restored you still have to deal with Vista's "bootmbr" file where the real fun begins. Being lazy and not unplugging the primary I had some fun trying to change properies on it for manual deletion. That one file can not be removed with a Live Linux distro either. It's improved form of protection on it there. The "FIXMBR" command at the recovery console simply restores the master boot record from any change made by the beta installer.

The boot.ini file is a simple right click to uncheck the "read only" and open it with NotePad to remove the other lines. That's where you can't plan on right clighting to delete after. Surprise! You now have try dragging it from one window to another in Windows Explorer and keep trying to drag it into the recycle bin. Finally a message asking if you want to delete it will finally appear if you try long enough.

SirKenin

Here's how to do it from start to finish.

Start the Recovery Console
Run fixboot {drive}
Run fixmbr
Exit Recovery Console and Reboot into XP.
Go to Start > Run and type in msconfig
Go to boot.ini tab and remove vista entry
Save the file
Reboot.

No screwing around like PC Eye is famous for. For some reason he misses steps (in this case fixboot) or doesn't get them right at all and does everything the hard way (like trying to screw around with editing the boot.ini properties and contents).

EDIT: Because he'll argue until he's blue in the face, call me names, tell me I'm wrong, throw irrelevant Google links and cut and pastes at everyone, tell us about his AST 486 and his custom IBM interfaces, I will add a link that outlines what I just told you.

http://www.tech-recipes.com/microsof..._tips1040.html

PC eye

Again you are "way off"! The problem isn't with the XP boot.ini file. That is XP's own file. You already have file permissions for editing that by right clicking on it and unchecking the "read only" box. The dual boot selector was put there by a "NEWER OS" and is not XP orientated. No %^#&@ around???

Currently I am multibooting XP, RC1, and Eventually when lilo gets installed Zenwalk a Linux distro. Vista did install the "bootmgr" file onto the XP primary on the first install. With the primary disconnected aftter wiping that Vista copy saw a fresh installation with a new mbr on it's own. But all you can do is move the "bootmgr" file into a folder to get it off of the root of the primary drive. Even the Vista beta couldn't delete it until full permissions are set.

The bootmgr file is what shows at boot time to select Vista or the "older operating systems" option on the line above. Gee XP is booting normally now that bootmgr is buried in a useless folder somewhere!

SirKenin

hahahaha.

Did I tell you Meanman? Or did I tell you? Do I know how to call him or what? He's as predictable as they come. Should we tell him that the title of the article is "Vista: How to Uninstall Vista on Dual Boot Machine"? Maybe he would like to contact the editors at contact@tech-recipes.com and tell them how wrong they are?

haha. That was a good chuckle.

PC eye

I certainly don't need an email address. But so far you haven't provided a working link to any article or blog detailing how that is done. Instead you see Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage

SirKenin

It works for me. Oh well.

PC eye

That's because you have a membership on another forum obviously. Try posting the information and a working link if that isn't too much to ask.(he he he )