Member Avatar for tigertim71

Hi,

This is my first thread.

Yesterday, I installed Windows 2000 Pro, but did this by installing a new copy of windows 2000 (clean install) and not upgrading to W2000 (which Microsoft recommends) as it was my understanding that ME cannot upgrade to 2000.

Now when I startup a message comes up saying 'Please select the operating system to start:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows (refers to ME)

This morning I tried reinstalling W2000 hoping that this might delete ME, but I'm now left with:

a) my W2000 pro installed with all updates from yesterday (good)
b) ME which isn't functioning properly (not good)

I would like to either:

1) Completely remove ME (is this partitioned?) so that I only have W2000
2) If this does not work, completely remove both operating systems and restart the process with W2000 only (I have a full, and not upgrade disk, so can do this).

I probably should have taken the recommended route to replace ME with W2000, so maybe this is why I'm in this situation now.

Many Thanks for any advice.

Tim

  • 2 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 197 Views
  • 1 Week Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

Quick expert note that complements the thread: the menu you described is the NT-style boot loader (NTLDR + boot.ini) offering both your new Windows 2000 entry and an older "Microsoft Windows" entry (Windows ME). already has W2000 running and correctly pointed to partitioning as the root issue; below are safe, concrete steps and cautions to tidy the boot menu, confirm whether ME still occupies disk space, and plan future dual-boot setups.

Edit the boot menu (safe first step)

  • Back up your data and make a copy of C:\boot.ini before changing it.
  • In Windows 2000: My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery -> Settings -> Edit opens boot.ini. Remove the line that refers to the MS‑DOS/Win9x entry (the one that looks like a plain C:\= line) and save. Example fragment:
[boot loader]
timeout=15
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
  • Keep your Windows 2000 CD/Recovery Console handy. If the machine becomes unbootable you can repair the boot sector or MBR with Recovery Console commands (for example fixboot / fixmbr) or restore NTLDR/NTDETECT.COM.

How to tell if ME is still installed (and how to reclaim space)

  • Open Computer Management -> Disk Management to see partition types and which partition is marked "System" (holds boot files) and which is "Boot" (holds the running Windows folder).
  • Look on each partition for a WINDOWS folder or files like IO.SYS / MSDOS.SYS to identify a Win9x/ME install. Only remove or reformat a partition after confirming it is not the active/system partition and after imaging/backing it up.

Planning for Linux or another OS later

  • Best practice: install Windows first, leave unallocated space, then install Linux (its installer will create root and swap and install GRUB). Keep a small shared data partition (NTFS) if you need easy file sharing.
  • Resizing NTFS or moving partitions is risky: image the disk first (full image), use a modern live tool such as GParted to resize, and test boots after each change. If GRUB replaces the MBR and you want Windows bootloader back, you can restore it from the Windows CD/Recovery Console.

Practical caution: always have a full backup or disk image and your install/recovery media before editing boot.ini, changing active flags, or touching partitions.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for caperjack

when install win2000 you should have deleted the windows partition and created a new partition and formatted it and loaded win2000 fresh!

Member Avatar for tigertim71

Don't worry. After one week of late nights, I have begun to learn (the hard way) about partitioning and my W2000Pro is now working well.

This particular problem is resolved, but in the future I'm not sure how to allocate space if I want to introduce a new application in Windows with either another Windows application or Linux (eg. DSL or Ubuntu)....

Member Avatar for caperjack

Don't worry. After one week of late nights, I have begun to learn (the hard way) about partitioning and my W2000Pro is now working well.

This particular problem is resolved, but in the future I'm not sure how to allocate space if I want to introduce a new application in Windows with either another Windows application or Linux (eg. DSL or Ubuntu)....

if you harddrive is big enough for this ,you should have created a few partitions when installing win2000,you can now use a 3rd party program like partition magic or some other there are many

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.