2 WinXP on one computer

[Guest]

I bought my HP Pavillion 533W - WinXP 1.2GHz system used and inherited the
previous owners registration info on it.
In my ignorance, I felt a need to remove his info and replace it with mine.
As such, after discovering no way to modify the existing system info, I
attempted to reload WinXP from a system disk over the existing version.

The result was:

1) a second boot OS choice at startup,

[boot loader]
timeout =30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition"/Fastdetect/No-Execute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition"/Fastdetect

2) a frag of my email POP address's on all my personal address's that
requires me to remove them and re enter them again any time the system shuts
off, and

3) the system locks up and freezes on the WINDOWS IS SHUTTING DOWN
screen after requesting "reboot" and won't respond without a power down.

....................QUESTION.....................

Any idea how I remove the first listed boot option and partition???
SYSTEM RESTORE is not an option.

 

[Guest]

I bought my HP Pavillion 533W - WinXP 1.2GHz system used and inherited the
previous owners registration info on it.
In my ignorance, I felt a need to remove his info and replace it with mine.
As such, after discovering no way to modify the existing system info, I
attempted to reload WinXP from a system disk over the existing version.

The result was:

1) a second boot OS choice at startup,

[boot loader]
timeout =30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition"/Fastdetect/No-Execute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition"/Fastdetect

2) a frag of my email POP address's on all my personal address's that
requires me to remove them and re enter them again any time the system shuts
off, and

3) the system locks up and freezes on the WINDOWS IS SHUTTING DOWN
screen after requesting "reboot" and won't respond without a power down.

...................QUESTION.....................

Any idea how I remove the first listed boot option and partition???
SYSTEM RESTORE is not an option.

Please write down the right line which you boot to the correct Boot of the
OS you would like to Keep.
Read these Instruction carefully then apply:

1. Open Windows Explorer, click My Computer, and click on the Tools menu,
then Folder Options, then the View tab.

2. Under "Hidden files and folders", chose to Show them. Uncheck the box
next to "Hide protected operating system files", and click Yes to confirm,
then OK to exit.

3. Browse to your C: drive, and make a copy of the boot.ini file in the same
folder as a backup.. Next, open the original boot.ini file with Notepad.

4. Look for the [operating systems] section. This is the area shown on the
Boot Menu and will probably show at least two lines, each reflecting a
different installation of Windows XP. It should look similar to this:

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

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS2="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

Note: If you have XP Home, it will indicate "Microsoft XP Home" above
instead. This does not affect any of the subsequent steps.

5. In order to tell the installations apart, we'll modify the portion in
quotes, which is the description you see on bootup. For example, you might
change them to:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional X" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS2="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional Y" /fastdetect

Note the "X" and "Y" we've added to tell them apart in the boot menu. You
can use anything you want in the quotes.

6. Save your changes to the boot.ini and restart your machine. Make note of
which installation of XP you want to keep. In our example, we want to keep
the installation "Y" since that's the one that is working correctly.

7. When the computer reboots, click on Start, then click Run, type in
"msconfig", and click OK. Select the BOOT.INI tab, and note the [operating
systems] section again. Select the "good" installation, and click the "Set
as Default" button and click OK.

8. Head back to the boot.ini on your C: drive, and edit it again with
Notepad. Under [operating systems], delete the line that will no longer be
used, leaving only the line reflecting your "good" installation of Windows.
Make note of the backslash and folder name of the "bad" installation that
you are no longer using before you delete this line (you'll need this later
in step 12).

9. In the example below, the bad folder name is "\WINDOWS" since I am now
using the installation in the "\WINDOWS2" folder. Again, look for the
folder location immediately after the partition number such as in this
example:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional X" /fastdetect

10. Save the changes to your boot.ini file, and restart your computer. You
should not be prompted with a boot menu and the correct version of Windows
XP should load automatically.

11. If you have not yet backed up your documents, do so now! If you make a
mistake on the next step, you could lose some of your documents. If you need
backup software click here to get WinBackup. If you need a place on the web
to back it up, click here to get a free XDrive account.

12. Recall the folder of the "bad" or "old" installation of XP from step 8.
This installation is no longer used, and the duplicate Windows files are
simply taking up space on your hard drive. Since you are now using a
different installation, you are free to delete these files.

13. In step 8, I removed the line that pointed to the "\WINDOWS"
installation location. Note that this may vary for you. At this point, I
can delete the "Windows" folder since I am now using the "Windows2" folder
for Windows XP. This will save a fair amount of hard drive space.

14. Once you've done this, you're done.
Reboot and see if you will be represented with the Boot Options.
When you are in Type in the RUN Command the following Text :
msconfig Press OK and Click on the Boot.ini Tab and click on *Check All
Boot Paths* and see if any Reference there for the line of the unwanted OS
and Delete or Uncheck.
Hope this helps
Regards
nass

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I bought my HP Pavillion 533W - WinXP 1.2GHz system used and
inherited the previous owners registration info on it.
In my ignorance, I felt a need to remove his info and replace it
with mine. As such, after discovering no way to modify the existing
system info, I attempted to reload WinXP from a system disk over
the existing version.

The result was:

1) a second boot OS choice at startup,

[boot loader]
timeout =30
default = multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition"/Fastdetect/No-Execute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS = "Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition"/Fastdetect

2) a frag of my email POP address's on all my personal address's
that requires me to remove them and re enter them again any time
the system shuts off, and

3) the system locks up and freezes on the WINDOWS IS SHUTTING
DOWN screen after requesting "reboot" and won't respond without a
power down.

...................QUESTION.....................

Any idea how I remove the first listed boot option and partition???
SYSTEM RESTORE is not an option.

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )

You can change the "registered owner" information fairly easily.

Change the Registered Owner and Organization in the registry - Windows XP
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/owner.htm

Changes the Register Owner/Organization in Windows XP
(An actual utility to help you do this..)
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_change_owner.htm

As for (1) - you can see and obviously know about the BOOT.INI file. Edit
it and remove the appropriate entry.

How to edit the Boot.ini file in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022

As for (2) - admittedly - I have never heard of this. Also - you left out
any hint of what clietn you are using. Assuming Outlook Express - I would
export all of your contacts/emails and then delete all accounts in Outlook
Express.. Reboot and create the accounts and import the information. Reboot
and see if the information stuck. If it did not - sounds like you may have
a bum profile (from your earlier attempt to fix the registered owner info,
no doubt) and your best course of action would be to create a new user
profile and see if the settings stick for that account and migrate them
there.

As for (3) - there are places out there that have compiled such issues and
their solutions:

Resources to help troubleshoot shutdown problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308029

Windows XP Shutdown & Restart Troubleshooting
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm


You should consider a clean install - you would bet better off in many ways.
For one - you have no idea what neat scripts and things may be lurking on
there from the previous owner still - not to mention what was done with the
system as it stands. When buying a used computer - the nest course of
action is to first install the OS from scratch.

 

[Guest]

Nass:
Everything worked up to:
1) deleting old files. I cnnot get access to the folders as they are write
protected and even when I uncheck the protection, it sets it right back up
again as soon as I close the "Profiles".
2) If I close out the msconfig menu from edit, the system automaticly
detects the 2nd partition and resets all that I removed.

I need to remove the partition completly... Any thoughts?

 

[Guest]

"Shenan Stanley" :

Thankyou so much for your time Shenan. I suspected that effect was there in
the registery but it never occured to me to simply search for the guys name.

Much abliged.
Mike

 

[Guest]

Hi Mike,
Two things here that according your System set up:
1- is to create new user with admin rights and take the ownership of the
folders and files you want to delete.
If you can't logon in Normal Mode try in safe Mode with Blank Password if it
is the case, if it is easy to log on but can have rights to delete or edit
the best solution is to create a New Account and take the Ownership of the
Folders and Files.

On how to take the Ownership of Folder or File have alook on this Article:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308421

How to create a new Account:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ddocs/en-us/lsm_create_new_user.mspx?mfr=true
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/share/accounts.mspx

2- if you have the other partition Separate from the one you want to keep
9i.e you have the new Partition say D:\ and the Old One is C:\) then you can
format C:\ from the Windows Explorer by Right click the Drive Letter and
Select Format or from My Computer.
Hope this helps
nass

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Nass:
Everything worked up to:
1) deleting old files. I cnnot get access to the folders as they
are write protected and even when I uncheck the protection, it sets
it right back up again as soon as I close the "Profiles".
2) If I close out the msconfig menu from edit, the system
automaticly detects the 2nd partition and resets all that I removed.

I need to remove the partition completly... Any thoughts?

(1 & 2) You can probably gain access to the files - if the message you are
reciving is "access denied" when trying to open them:

How to Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

How to disable simplified sharing & set permissions
on a shared folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307874

If you have Windows XP Home - read carefully!

 

[Guest]

Nass:
Everything worked up to:
1) deleting old files. I cnnot get access to the folders as they are write
protected and even when I uncheck the protection, it sets it right back up
again as soon as I close the "Profiles".
2) If I close out the msconfig menu from edit, the system automaticly
detects the 2nd partition and resets all that I removed.

I need to remove the partition completly... Any thoughts?

Another thing to try is to start in Recovery Console and Delete that
Partition and set the other Partition as Active to be able to Boot up your
Computer for this try this Article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314058
Hope this help
Regards
nass