Member Avatar for chound

I have to OS both XP, I want to delete the one on C:\. Is formating the only way to do this.

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Short answer: no — formatting is not the only way. There are two clean steps: remove the extra boot-menu entry so the machine boots straight into the working XP, then remove the unwanted Windows files or reformat that partition. 's mention of osuninst.exe can help in some upgrade/uninstall scenarios, and is right that the boot menu is controlled by boot.ini. 's point (removing the Windows directory) will destroy that install but will still leave the boot menu alone until boot.ini is fixed; 's question about eliminating the choice is exactly solved by editing boot.ini.

Recommended, safe sequence (from the XP you plan to KEEP):

  1. Back up C:\boot.ini and copy ntldr and ntdetect.com from the root to a safe folder.
  2. Remove the unwanted boot entry: run msconfig → BOOT.INI tab to delete the extra line, or make boot.ini editable (attrib -s -h -r C:\boot.ini) and edit with Notepad. Reboot to confirm the remaining XP starts without asking.
  3. Once confirmed, delete the other partition's Windows folder (or reformat that partition).

Example boot.ini fragment (what to edit/remove):

[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="Windows XP Pro" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows XP" /fastdetect

Troubleshooting/cautions: ensure the kept XP’s partition has ntldr/ntdetect.com in its root and is marked Active (Disk Management). If the system won’t boot, start the Recovery Console from the XP CD and use bootcfg /rebuild, fixboot, and fixmbr. Always keep backups (or an image) and the XP CD before deleting system folders.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for fry

Go Start -> Run. Type osuninst.exe and hit "Enter". If that doesn't work go here:

Member Avatar for j198116

Go Start -> Run. Type osuninst.exe and hit "Enter". If that doesn't work go here:

That seems to really work, but what about deleting an os choice menu, I have one that say
1 Windows XP
2 Windows

So I would like to delete One of them so that I sould not have to make a choise at all because only one works....

Member Avatar for jwenting

I usually take a 1 Tesla magnet, sure to get rid of anything on that drive :)

More seriously, just boot from another medium and remove the Windows or WinNT directory and your OS is effectively hosed.
Disk might still try to boot but will do you little good.

More generally, repartitioning the disk will hose anything on it just as does formating.

Member Avatar for MartyMcFly

So I would like to delete One of them so that I sould not have to make a choise at all because only one works....

You need to edit your boot.ini file.

http://www.tweakxp.com/article37466.aspx

The above link shows you how.

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