Windows XP: 2 OSs on one partition

by Jaybilal - 12/11/07 8:02 PM

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Post 1 of 7

2 OSs on one partition

by Jaybilal - 12/11/07 8:02 PM

As cool as the title sounds I did it on accident and I don't want it. I tried to overwrite the Windows 2K OS but instead I got my Win XP on the same partition. I don't know how to delete the 2k OS now, and I'm wondering am I able to re-install XP with the same product key. Please help...

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Post 2 of 7

you can't get rid of it

by tad_man - 12/11/07 8:45 PM In reply to: 2 OSs on one partition by Jaybilal

you can't get rid of it without formatting the partition. When you boot up, it probably gives you the option to pick an OS to boot from and counts down a few seconds. You can change the count time to zero so that you don't have to wait for it.

Right click on 'my computer' >> properties >> advanced, Click 'startup' under 'Startup and recovery". Change the 'time to display operating system' to zero. Now you don't have to wait!!! ALSO, make sure the default operating system on that screen shows the OS you want to run

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Post 3 of 7

I want to get rid of it now

by Jaybilal - 12/12/07 7:22 AM In reply to: you can't get rid of it by tad_man

I really don't have anything on the machine. But if I put in the XP install disk it just does the same thing over again (one of the reasons I'm concerned that I can't just re-install). I also can boot to BOTH OSs Win 2k and XP. I don't want to start putting my programs and files on the machine in it's current state because then I'll have invested too much. Right now I have my files on CDs and an old MP3 player, the latter of which I'm selling to a friend at week's end. So I need to wipe this baby clean

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Post 4 of 7

It's a goof

by Jimmy Greystone - 12/11/07 11:13 PM In reply to: 2 OSs on one partition by Jaybilal

It's a goof in the bootloader that you're seeing. A phantom entry if you will. XP almost certainly overwrote/upgraded your Win2K installation, but somehow the bootloader entry for it didn't get cleared up.

You can follow the advice of the other poster, or you can look for one of any number of programs that can edit that menu for you, and allow you to remove it. You could even attempt it yourself by poking around in the boot.ini file. Just be careful, because one little mistake can mean you won't be able to get back into your computer very easily.

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Post 5 of 7

Also if you don't have it configured for a boot recovery

by Dango517 - 12/11/07 11:37 PM In reply to: 2 OSs on one partition by Jaybilal

this might be advantageous to you in some situations. You can shrink it to it's minimum amount of space to save room on the disk drive and just keep it there till it crashes or you run out of space and are forced to remove it.

See this path:

start> control panel> administrative tools> computer management> disk management> At this point read the help about shrink, extend, mount, then right click on C: drive, choose shrink. In the wizard choose the maximum shrinkage. This will save you as much room as possible on your hard drive. Follow the help instructions carefully.

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Post 6 of 7

Unfortunately this is not advantageous

by Jaybilal - 12/13/07 2:50 PM In reply to: Also if you don't have it configured for a boot recovery by Dango517

I thinking there are some I/O address conflicts or something because my monitor will blink off for a second. I want this to go away and I have all my files backed up now. Should I just nuke it it because I'm concerned that this will cause problems down the road. I'm about 3 seconds from using dban just to start from scratch and do it the right way

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