booting of my computer

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G

Guest

I had some problems with my computer and some how since I fixed the problem,
I now have three "Windows XP Home Edition" operating systems to "choose" from
while my computer is trying to boot. How do I get rid of two of these
version.
 
You need to edit BOOT.INI. Right click My Computer and select Properties, Advanced, Startup and Recovery. Click the Edit button. If you're unsure of what you're changing, post back here with the contents. Also, make note of which ones of the 3 entries actually work to boot Windows.
 
Do u have 3 ?

larry

I had some problems with my computer and some how since I fixed the problem,
I now have three "Windows XP Home Edition" operating systems to "choose" from
while my computer is trying to boot. How do I get rid of two of these
version.
Click to expand...


Any advise given is my attempt to show appreciation for all
the excellent help I've received here but I'm no MVP so it
may only apply NUGS (Normally, Usually, Generally, Sometimes :)
 
Thanks for the help!! Here is what is on the screen:
[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=mutli(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
etc,etc,etc,partition(1)\WINDOWS=etc
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
ect,etc,etc partition(3)\WINDOWS=etc
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Please note that my next problem/question is how to repartition the disk
drives
m
 
Donna, does the Default choice work to boot the computer? I ask, because deleting the wrong item will make your computer unbootable.

Also, when you're viewing BOOT.INI in Notepad, you can go to View, Word Wrap and make sure its unchecked. Otherwise you'll leave partial lines in the file.

As for partitioning, you can create new/multiple partitions when you do a clean installation of XP. This done by deleting existing partitions, and creating new ones in their place. When you create a new partition, you can specify the size. After installation, you can only partition using 3rd party utilities like BootIt Next Generation, www.bootitng.com, Partition Majic, or others. These allow you to resize existing partitions, without destroying data, to free up room for new partitions.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

DonnaJH said:
Thanks for the help!! Here is what is on the screen:
[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=mutli(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition"
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
etc,etc,etc,partition(1)\WINDOWS=etc
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect
ect,etc,etc partition(3)\WINDOWS=etc
/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Please note that my next problem/question is how to repartition the disk
drives
m
Click to expand...
 
DonnaJH said:
I had some problems with my computer and some how since I fixed the problem,
I now have three "Windows XP Home Edition" operating systems to "choose" from
while my computer is trying to boot. How do I get rid of two of these
version.
Click to expand...

Before making any manual changes to the BOOT,INI file use Start - Run
- MSCONFIG. Go to the BOOT.INI tab and click on the "Check all boot
paths" button.

If you are still left with multiple choices after doing this then you
need to follow Doug Knox's advice.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
for Ron,
When I get into the msconfig, I don't see a Boot.ini tab. These are my
choices:General-System.ini-Win.ini-Services-Startup, please help
 
Hi DonnaJH,
Write Down the Line unmber of the Functioing Operating Sys which you Log in
with and delete the rest of Lines.

Please read this carefully and apply it to uninstall the unwanted OSs lines;

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
Home" /fastdetect

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

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS2="Microsoft Windows XP
Home 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 15).

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
Home 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.
Please report back here
Best of luck
nass
 
A big THANKS to the guys who helped me on this problem, it took a while be
Ithink that I finally got it, after following all the advice given. I hope
you are around the next time I need help.
 
DonnaJH said:
for Ron,
When I get into the msconfig, I don't see a Boot.ini tab. These are my
choices:General-System.ini-Win.ini-Services-Startup, please help
Click to expand...

That is very unusual. I just checked two XP Home systems (in case
this was another difference between Home and Pro) and the BOOT.INI tab
is there, between Win.ini and Service, on both of them.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/bootini.htm may have an explanation.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
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