setup files won't go away

G

gib65

Member
I just installed a fresh copy of Windows XP Home onto a computer at work. Something strange is happening. It seems the setup files are not erasing upon reboot. Even after I take the CD out and reboot, I still get the option of loading Windows XP Home or Windows XP setup. What's worse is that Windows XP setup is the default option, so if I leave the computer to its own devices when starting up, it will commence the Windows XP installation program.

I've got two partitions. One is 40GB and seems to contain the setup files that keep prompting me with my choices on bootup. The other is 4.5 GB and contains the new installation of Windows. Obviously, I'm being prompted to load into either of these two at startup. The problem is, even if I load into the new installation of Windows, and I try to reformat the other partition from there, it fails half way through (my guess is that it encounters the setup files and aborts the operation).

If I could only get rid of those setup files, I (probably) wouldn't be prompted to choose what to boot into at startup nor would reformatting the large partition fail. Does anyone know how to get rid of setup files that just won't go away?
 
When you reinstalled windows you didn't delete the existing partitions and then repartition then install windows. You can edit your boot.ini file to get rid of it but you'll still be loosing disk space. Your best bet would be to do a fresh install making sure you delete the existing partitions.
 
johnb35 said:
When you reinstalled windows you didn't delete the existing partitions and then repartition then install windows. You can edit your boot.ini file to get rid of it but you'll still be loosing disk space. Your best bet would be to do a fresh install making sure you delete the existing partitions.
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I tried deleting the partition the first time around. The problem is it tells me it can't delete that partition because the setup files are on it (yes - even the first time installing).

How can I edit my boot.ini file and what do I change it to?
 
When you reinstalled did you boot to the install cd or did you just try to reinstall while inside windows? If you boot to the install cd, you can delete any fat32 or ntfs partition.
 
johnb35 said:
When you reinstalled did you boot to the install cd or did you just try to reinstall while inside windows? If you boot to the install cd, you can delete any fat32 or ntfs partition.
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I installed from inside Windows but only because it wouldn't boot from the CD.
 
You need to go into the bios and check your boot order settings and set cdrom to boot first before hard drive. You can't do a fresh install of windows while inside windows.
 
johnb35 said:
You need to go into the bios and check your boot order settings and set cdrom to boot first before hard drive. You can't do a fresh install of windows while inside windows.
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I completely agree with johnb35.

Installing Windows inside Windows is ALWAYS a bad idea...
 
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