Uninstalling 2nd Copy of Windows XP from a Dual-boot System

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi

Please try the following article by Michael Stevens:

"I have two installations of XP on the same partition........"
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#20

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups


"AlienSniffer" <AlienSniffer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A3C14602-882F-412B-9025-DC8DA5B0FCED@microsoft.com...
> Recently, I decided to do a clean reinstall Windows XP Home Edition
> (WXPHE)
> over my current system, also running WXPHE. I rebooted with my Windows
> disc
> in the CD-ROM drive and ended up accidentally creating a dual-boot system.
>
> Now, I'm running two instances of WXPHE on my computer but I want to
> uninstall the 2nd copy that I installed by mistake.
>
> I want to revert back to when I had only my first copy of Windows before
> in
> tried the clean reinstall. How can I uninstall the 2nd instance of WXPHE
> from
> my system and no longer have a dual-boot system?
>
> Thanks,
> Scott

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Will,

Thanks for your quick reply. After several days of searching for the answer,
my quest has concluded, thanks to you. Below, I posted the information from
the link you send me, though I recommend that people follow the link to the
site because there's a lot of solid information there.

Specifics:

Step 2 (see below) didn't work as directed. It only echoed "windir" back to
me. But I was still able to take the rest of the information and remove my
second instance of Windows XP and revert my system back to a single-boot
system once again.

Thanks a million for your reply.

Scott

-----
The following was copied and pasted from:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#cmd

I have two installations of XP on the same partition, how do I remove
the one I don't need?

1. Boot to the desired version of Windows XP you want to keep.
Making note of the position in the boot menu. This will be
important when you edit boot.ini.

2. Open a command prompt * and type "echo %windir%" without the
quotes but with the %. This will give you the current Windows
folder you are using.

3. From Explorer, delete the folder containing the installation you
want to remove. The original install folder is usually called
Windows and subsequent folders will be derivatives of Windows
or Winnt.

4. From System Properties [Winkey+Pause/Break] > Advanced Tab >
Statup and Recovery > Settings > Edit.

5. Select the Edit button and from notepad, first backup boot.ini,
by going to File; Save As and rename boot.ini. to something like
boot.inibak.

6. Remove the line referencing the installation not chosen; you made
note of in step one.

7. Set timeout=0 so the system boots directly into Win XP (you will
not get the boot menu).

8. Save As boot.ini & Exit.

9. Reboot.

* To access the command prompt: Start>All
Programs>Accessories>Command
Prompt or from Start>RUN>Type "CMD" without the quotes, then press
OK.

The text above was compiled from various sources and is not my
original content.

Michael Stevens MS-MVP revised 3-5-04

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi Scott

"echo %windir %" should return X:\WINDOWS - where X is the root folder.

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups


"AlienSniffer" <AlienSniffer@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:04BDB83C-6F8F-47A8-B9A6-BAEC16120E1D@microsoft.com...
> Will,
>
> Thanks for your quick reply. After several days of searching for the
> answer,
> my quest has concluded, thanks to you. Below, I posted the information
> from
> the link you send me, though I recommend that people follow the link to
> the
> site because there's a lot of solid information there.
>
> Specifics:
>
> Step 2 (see below) didn't work as directed. It only echoed "windir" back
> to
> me. But I was still able to take the rest of the information and remove my
> second instance of Windows XP and revert my system back to a single-boot
> system once again.
>
> Thanks a million for your reply.
>
> Scott
>
> -----
> The following was copied and pasted from:
> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#cmd
>
> I have two installations of XP on the same partition, how do I remove
> the one I don't need?
>
> 1. Boot to the desired version of Windows XP you want to keep.
> Making note of the position in the boot menu. This will be
> important when you edit boot.ini.
>
> 2. Open a command prompt * and type "echo %windir%" without the
> quotes but with the %. This will give you the current Windows
> folder you are using.
>
> 3. From Explorer, delete the folder containing the installation you
> want to remove. The original install folder is usually called
> Windows and subsequent folders will be derivatives of Windows
> or Winnt.
>
> 4. From System Properties [Winkey+Pause/Break] > Advanced Tab >
> Statup and Recovery > Settings > Edit.
>
> 5. Select the Edit button and from notepad, first backup boot.ini,
> by going to File; Save As and rename boot.ini. to something like
> boot.inibak.
>
> 6. Remove the line referencing the installation not chosen; you
> made
> note of in step one.
>
> 7. Set timeout=0 so the system boots directly into Win XP (you will
> not get the boot menu).
>
> 8. Save As boot.ini & Exit.
>
> 9. Reboot.
>
> * To access the command prompt: Start>All
> Programs>Accessories>Command
> Prompt or from Start>RUN>Type "CMD" without the quotes, then
> press
> OK.
>
> The text above was compiled from various sources and is not my
> original content.
>
> Michael Stevens MS-MVP revised 3-5-04
>
>