2 operating systems - I want to get rid of 1

[P156KWJ]

Hi,

Earlier today I tried to boot up my Dell Optiplex GX270 but unfortunately System32 had corrupted somehow. The computer suggested I re-install the operating system. I have been using XP professional with it since the PC was manufactured in 2003 (updated to SP3), but unfortunately I could only find Microsoft XP Home edition 2002 disk (SP1). I installed this to an extent. The system32 has restored, but of course, now I have 2 operating systems, and I only want professional, but now it has put Home Edition as my default, and when it asks which OS I want to use during boot-up, it gives me about 0.5 seconds to switch the selection to professional!

To make matters more confusing, there appears to be a problem with home edition, meaning I cannot continue setup for user profiles etc.

Basically, I need to delete XP Home edition (not professional!) but preferably without formatting the whole hard drive, which would leave me with no OS at all!

Thanks,
Sulzer

 

[nath9425]

Well, firstly, change your boot manager.

Easiest way of doing this would be to download Vista Boot Pro

http://www.vistabootpro.org/

And change it from the menu of 'Operating System Entries' for which one you want the default - or completely remove one all together.

As for getting rid of the partition and adding it to it, I would use Disk Management (Built In Windows) or Partition Manager - Get a free trial, delete the one you don't want, extend the main drive and walloah! You have your PC back.

 

[FusionRail]

Change the boot selection timings, it easy, just ask

 

[P156KWJ]

Well, firstly, change your boot manager.

Easiest way of doing this would be to download Vista Boot Pro

http://www.vistabootpro.org/

And change it from the menu of 'Operating System Entries' for which one you want the default - or completely remove one all together.

As for getting rid of the partition and adding it to it, I would use Disk Management (Built In Windows) or Partition Manager - Get a free trial, delete the one you don't want, extend the main drive and walloah! You have your PC back.

preferably something I don't have to pay $8.95 for

fusion, could you tell me how to do that, that'd be great...

 

[FusionRail]

okie dokes, you on MSN?

 

[Broken Viking]

Hail Sulzer!

The system32 has restored, but of course, now I have 2 operating systems, and I only want professional, but now it has put Home Edition as my default, and when it asks which OS I want to use during boot-up, it gives me about 0.5 seconds to switch the selection to professional!

Basically, I need to delete XP Home edition (not professional!) but preferably without formatting the whole hard drive, which would leave me with no OS at all!

The first possible problem is that it sounds to me like ye might've installed XP Home over XP Professional, meaning that trying to run XP Pro again might not work at all...But nonetheless, I'll try and provide a simple solution to the problem. 8)

The standard WinNT installation (Upon which WinXP and Vista are based) uses a Microsoft boot-loader which reads operating system entries and other information from C:\BOOT.INI. This file is normally hidden in Windows (And can only be changed by a system administrator) so to see and edit it you'd first need to enable viewing of hidden files, and "protected" operating system files. To do this, open an explorer window and make the relevant changes under Tools > Folder Options. Likewise, if thy system boots from a volume other than C:\, substitute that letter with the one of your boot volume. The BOOT.INI file can be edited using Windows Notepad, or any other suitable text editor.

The structure of the BOOT.INI file is fairly easy to understand, and - Making a few assumptions here - Here's what yours might look like:

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINXP_HOME
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINXP_HOME="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

So to switch the default operating system back to XP Professional, change the second line (Starting default=) to read default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINDOWS. Also, I'd advise changing the timeout= parameter to a value of 5 or more, as this will give ye enough time to select XP Home or strike the [F8] key for advanced boot options (Safe mode, recovery console etc) if ye need to. 8)

Alternatively, another thing that ye could try doing is booting into WinXP Home (As we already know that installation works OK) and running System Restore (Under: Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools) to "roll-back" thy PC to it's previous and uncorrupted WinXP Pro state. As all WinXP versions store restore-point data under [Volume]:\System Volume Information, a restore point made under XP Pro should be recoverable by XP Home.
Bear in mind however that in doing this, ye'll lose any program installations and configuration changes made after the time of the relevant system restore point. hock:

Finally: It should go without saying that ye should back-up any important user data to another PC, an external HDD/USB key or similar media before attempting either of the above so that in the event of things going very wrong, ye'll still have a copy of thy data. 8)

Farewell...And hope this helps!
>> Death <<

 

[FusionRail]

Hail Sulzer! The first possible problem is that it sounds to me like ye might've installed XP Home over XP Professional, meaning that trying to run XP Pro again might not work at all...But nonetheless, I'll try and provide a simple solution to the problem. 8)

The standard WinNT installation (Upon which WinXP and Vista are based) uses a Microsoft boot-loader which reads operating system entries and other information from C:\BOOT.INI. This file is normally hidden in Windows (And can only be changed by a system administrator) so to see and edit it you'd first need to enable viewing of hidden files, and "protected" operating system files. To do this, open an explorer window and make the relevant changes under Tools > Folder Options. Likewise, if thy system boots from a volume other than C:\, substitute that letter with the one of your boot volume. The BOOT.INI file can be edited using Windows Notepad, or any other suitable text editor.

The structure of the BOOT.INI file is fairly easy to understand, and - Making a few assumptions here - Here's what yours might look like:

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINXP_HOME
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINXP_HOME="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

So to switch the default operating system back to XP Professional, change the second line (Starting default=) to read default =multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(0)\WINDOWS. Also, I'd advise changing the timeout= parameter to a value of 5 or more, as this will give ye enough time to select XP Home or strike the [F8] key for advanced boot options (Safe mode, recovery console etc) if ye need to. 8)

Alternatively, another thing that ye could try doing is booting into WinXP Home (As we already know that installation works OK) and running System Restore (Under: Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools) to "roll-back" thy PC to it's previous and uncorrupted WinXP Pro state. As all WinXP versions store restore-point data under [Volume]:\System Volume Information, a restore point made under XP Pro should be recoverable by XP Home.
Bear in mind however that in doing this, ye'll lose any program installations and configuration changes made after the time of the relevant system restore point. hock:

Finally: It should go without saying that ye should back-up any important user data to another PC, an external HDD/USB key or similar media before attempting either of the above so that in the event of things going very wrong, ye'll still have a copy of thy data. 8)

Farewell...And hope this helps!
>> Death <<

Thats just a stupidly long way round of doing something which is, really easy if you know where the menu is. You dont need to edit/backup the boot.ini feature at all.

Thats just clearloy trying to show you know more about computers than everyone else

 

[Broken Viking]

Thats just a stupidly long way round of doing something which is, really easy if you know where the menu is. You dont need to edit/backup the boot.ini feature at all.

Well...If ye know where the menu is, then I suppose that works for ye - But as it happens, although I know that there is a GUI way of configuring boot options, I havn't a scooby where it is.
I learned how to edit BOOT.INI directly through my own experiments with Windows systems, and - Finding that direct editing was good enough for me - Didn't see the need to learn if/where a GUI-based option could be found...Hence when it comes to editing the OS table, I can only suggest direct editing as an option. :razz:

Thats just clearloy trying to show you know more about computers than everyone else

Nope...You're completely wrong there, I'm afraid. :roll:

 

[466.networkers]

I agree with you there Death.

Rich, it may be quicker/more user friendly to use a third-party application to alter the bootloader, but it is easier to edit the BOOT.INI file in the root of the Windows drive. But it should only be done by someone who is comfortable with editing core Windows files, so only do it if it completely neccessary.

 

[dan_atki]

Topic tidied, please stop flaming each other.
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