Please select operating system to start

[webejammin]

Sincerely would appreciate any help... My son decided to reinstall his Dell
Windows XP Pro OS since it was running slow, instead of waiting for Dad to
clean up and run some maintenance programs. I've have everything running now
except when the computer boots up it, instead of booting to the welcome
screen it boots to a page that say's "Please select the operating system to
start, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Professional Setup" It defaults
to the Setup choice. I see in the Boot.ini that there is a reference to this
setup. How can I get it to boot correctly to the welcome screen.

Many Thanks!!!

MAK.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Go to Start > Run and type: MSCONFIG , and hit enter.
Click on the BOOT.INI tab and then click on "Check All Boot Paths"
to delete incorrect boot paths.

If the above does not work for you, then:

Right-click MY COMPUTER and select:

Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery Settings > Edit

CAREFULLY edit your boot.ini file to remove the SECOND entry.
Your boot.ini file should then read similar to this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows Professional" /fastdetect

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Sincerely would appreciate any help... My son decided to reinstall his Dell
| Windows XP Pro OS since it was running slow, instead of waiting for Dad to
| clean up and run some maintenance programs. I've have everything running now
| except when the computer boots up it, instead of booting to the welcome
| screen it boots to a page that say's "Please select the operating system to
| start, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Professional Setup" It defaults
| to the Setup choice. I see in the Boot.ini that there is a reference to this
| setup. How can I get it to boot correctly to the welcome screen.
|
| Many Thanks!!!
|
| MAK.

 

[webejammin]

Many Thanks!!! Carey

The boot.ini file reads exactly as you've listed with the extra line under
'fastdetect' I'll edit out the extra line and see if that clears it up.

MAK.

 

[webejammin]

Hi Carey,

I removed the second line, but now when I reboot the computer I get the same
screen, but instead of the 2nd option "Windows XP Professional Setup" it
reads "Windows Default" plus the original 1st option "Windows XP
Professional" Here's a copy of the boot.ini file

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I would appreciate if you could take a look.

MAK.

 

[IT Admin, Johnny]

I think Windows is usually installed under partition(1), but I suppose that
may not always be the case.

However, if it is actually installed under partition(2), try changing the
line where it says "Default" to:
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

Be careful however, I am not sure what happens when this file is incorrectly
changed. The line I just gave you was directly from my own computer.

Hi Carey,

I removed the second line, but now when I reboot the computer I get the
same
screen, but instead of the 2nd option "Windows XP Professional Setup" it
reads "Windows Default" plus the original 1st option "Windows XP
Professional" Here's a copy of the boot.ini file

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I would appreciate if you could take a look.

MAK.

Go to Start > Run and type: MSCONFIG , and hit enter.
Click on the BOOT.INI tab and then click on "Check All Boot Paths"
to delete incorrect boot paths.

If the above does not work for you, then:

Right-click MY COMPUTER and select:

Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery Settings > Edit

CAREFULLY edit your boot.ini file to remove the SECOND entry.
Your boot.ini file should then read similar to this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows Professional" /fastdetect

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------

:

| Sincerely would appreciate any help... My son decided to reinstall his Dell
| Windows XP Pro OS since it was running slow, instead of waiting for Dad to
| clean up and run some maintenance programs. I've have everything
running now
| except when the computer boots up it, instead of booting to the welcome
| screen it boots to a page that say's "Please select the operating
system to
| start, Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Professional Setup" It defaults
| to the Setup choice. I see in the Boot.ini that there is a reference to this
| setup. How can I get it to boot correctly to the welcome screen.
|
| Many Thanks!!!
|
| MAK.