Dual Boot ->Single Boot

[ralph]

I have a dual boot system with Win XP Pro SP2 on both partition 1 (c drive)
and partition 2 (d drive). The partition 2 system had been installed first.
There is a c:\boot.ini file on partition 1.
I would like to remove the operating system from partition 2, leaving me
with a conventional single boot sytem (on partition 1). I use the NTFS file
system on all partitions.
What do I need to do?

 

[WTC]

I have a dual boot system with Win XP Pro SP2 on both partition 1 (c drive)
and partition 2 (d drive). The partition 2 system had been installed first.
There is a c:\boot.ini file on partition 1.
I would like to remove the operating system from partition 2, leaving me
with a conventional single boot sytem (on partition 1). I use the NTFS
file system on all partitions.
What do I need to do?

If no data is not needed on Drive d, then reformat this drive. Once this is
accomplished then go to start>run and type

msconfig

Go to Boot.ini and click"Check all boot paths". This should remove the dual
entry from the Boot.ini file.

 

[ralph]

William:
Thanks for the information. As a followup: Does a "regular" single boot Win
XP system have a boot.ini file?

 

[WTC]

William:
Thanks for the information. As a followup: Does a "regular" single boot
Win XP system have a boot.ini file?

Yes it does and you're welcome.

 

[OliverS]

If no data is not needed on Drive d, then reformat this drive. Once this is
accomplished then go to start>run and type

msconfig

Go to Boot.ini and click"Check all boot paths". This should remove the dual
entry from the Boot.ini file.

I have a similar problem, except I have two physical hard drives, C:\
and D:\. I am running XP Pro SP2 from the C:\ drive. Somehow, I
installed XP Pro on the D:\ drive as well, but I never activated it on
the D:\ drive.

I have both data and a couple of programs installed on the D:\ drive. I
infer from your comments above, that to get rid of the OS installation
on the D:\ drive, an appropriate procedure would be:

* back up all information on the D:\ drive, which I can do with an
external MaxTor OneTouch drive which I have installed.
* Uninstall all programs installed on the second drive.
* Reformat the second drive
* Restore data only from the OneTouch drive.

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[WTC]

I have a similar problem, except I have two physical hard drives, C:\ and
D:\. I am running XP Pro SP2 from the C:\ drive. Somehow, I installed XP
Pro on the D:\ drive as well, but I never activated it on the D:\ drive.

I have both data and a couple of programs installed on the D:\ drive. I
infer from your comments above, that to get rid of the OS installation on
the D:\ drive, an appropriate procedure would be:

* back up all information on the D:\ drive, which I can do with an
external MaxTor OneTouch drive which I have installed.
* Uninstall all programs installed on the second drive.
* Reformat the second drive
* Restore data only from the OneTouch drive.

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race." HG Wells

That would be appropriate, but no need to uninstall programs from drive d if
you are going to reformat d drive.

Good Luck.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

I have a similar problem, except I have two physical hard drives, C:\
and D:\. I am running XP Pro SP2 from the C:\ drive. Somehow, I
installed XP Pro on the D:\ drive as well, but I never activated it on
the D:\ drive.

I have both data and a couple of programs installed on the D:\ drive. I
infer from your comments above, that to get rid of the OS installation
on the D:\ drive, an appropriate procedure would be:

* back up all information on the D:\ drive, which I can do with an
external MaxTor OneTouch drive which I have installed.
* Uninstall all programs installed on the second drive.
* Reformat the second drive
* Restore data only from the OneTouch drive.

If you're getting the boot menu with boot options to choose at
load time, you can get rid of that by editing C:\boot.ini using
Notepad. Just remove the option line that references the 2nd OS.
You can also change the timeout value to zero, but that's not
actually needed

*TimDaniels*.

 

[WTC]

If you're getting the boot menu with boot options to choose at
load time, you can get rid of that by editing C:\boot.ini using
Notepad. Just remove the option line that references the 2nd OS.
You can also change the timeout value to zero, but that's not
actually needed

*TimDaniels*.

This is the preferred method...

start>run and type

msconfig

Go to Boot.ini and click"Check all boot paths". This should remove the dual
entry from the Boot.ini file.

 

[OliverS]

That would be appropriate, but no need to uninstall programs from drive d if
you are going to reformat d drive.

Good Luck.

The reason I propose to first uninstall programs loaded on the D:\
drive, is that I figure there are references on the C:\ drive such as in
the registry. Is this correct?

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[OliverS]

This is the preferred method...

start>run and type

msconfig

Go to Boot.ini and click"Check all boot paths". This should remove the dual
entry from the Boot.ini file.

In my case, just deleting the dual boot option won't clear up the space
occuppied by the operating system on the second drive.

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[WTC]

The reason I propose to first uninstall programs loaded on the D:\ drive,
is that I figure there are references on the C:\ drive such as in the
registry. Is this correct?

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race." HG Wells

Yes.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

In my case, just deleting the dual boot option won't clear up the space
occuppied by the operating system on the second drive.

Deleting the OS and correcting the boot menu are independent
operations. You can do the former and still have the option presented
by the boot manager. That's why I brought up the boot menu after
others told you how to get rid of the 2nd OS.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Timothy Daniels]

The reason I propose to first uninstall programs loaded on the D:\
drive, is that I figure there are references on the C:\ drive such as in
the registry. Is this correct?

No. The programs installed in the OS resident on the D: drive
are in the registry of the OS on that drive, not in the registry of the other
OS which is resident on the C: drive. To verify this, remove the D: drive
and see that the C: drive OS continues to function just fine.

*TimDaniels*

 

[OliverS]

No. The programs installed in the OS resident on the D: drive
are in the registry of the OS on that drive, not in the registry of the
other
OS which is resident on the C: drive. To verify this, remove the D: drive
and see that the C: drive OS continues to function just fine.

*TimDaniels*

Perhaps I did not properly describe my situation. The three programs
which I have installed on the D:\ drive in the "Program Files" folder I
installed there manually using the operating system on the C:\ drive.
When installing these programs I rejected the default installation
directory on the C:\ drive and chose a directory on the D:\ drive.
Therefor, it seems to me that these installations would have nothing to
do with the operating system on the D:\ drive.

Please note my other post in which I further analyze my situation.

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[OliverS]

The reason I propose to first uninstall programs loaded on the D:\
drive, is that I figure there are references on the C:\ drive such as in
the registry. Is this correct?

Here is my latest analysis of the situation:

I have come up with the following analysis and proposal for deleting the
installation of Windows XP Pro on my D:\ drive:

I am assuming that the operating system files on the D:\ drive are
independent of the operating system files on the C:\ drive and vice
versa. I also note that the installation date for the operating system
files on the D:\ drive is 2/5/2005. I have also made a rough comparison
of the folder/file content on the D:\ drive with the folder\file
content on my external Maxtor OneTouch drive to determine whether
something which I have identified as an operating system file on the D:\
drive might actually be necessary for the functioning of the drive
independent of the second operating system.

Based on this analysis I have concluded that the following items on the
D:\ drive are unique to the operating system installed on the D:\ drive
and therefor can be deleted:

1. The entire Windows folder
2. The entire Documents and Settings folder
3. All folders in the Program Files folder, EXCEPT for the three folders
containing programs which I had installed there manually using the
operating system on the C:\ drive. All of the presumably superfluous
folders (e.g. Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player) have creation
dates of 2/5/2005.
4. Two system files in the root directory of D:\ with creation dates of
2/5/2005, hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys. There appear to be no other
operating system files in that root directory.

All together, the above are using about a GB of disk space.

In the root directory of d:\ there is also a Backup 041007.bft, which is
a Windows backup file which I presume can be deleted once I determine
that I have no need for it.

I propose to do the following:

a. Backup the D:\ drive to my Maxtor OneTouch drive using Retrospect
Express or Norton Ghost or both.

b. Delete the folders and files described above which I have concluded
relate only to installation of the operating system on drive D:\. I may
do this initially simply by adding an extension *.delos, i.e. delete
operating system.

c. Make the changes to boot.ini suggested elsewhere in this thread to
suppress the dual boot option at startup.

Does anyone have any comments on this analysis and procedure?



--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[WTC]

Here is my latest analysis of the situation:

I have come up with the following analysis and proposal for deleting the
installation of Windows XP Pro on my D:\ drive:

I am assuming that the operating system files on the D:\ drive are
independent of the operating system files on the C:\ drive and vice versa.
I also note that the installation date for the operating system files on
the D:\ drive is 2/5/2005. I have also made a rough comparison of the
folder/file content on the D:\ drive with the folder\file content on my
external Maxtor OneTouch drive to determine whether something which I have
identified as an operating system file on the D:\ drive might actually be
necessary for the functioning of the drive independent of the second
operating system.

Based on this analysis I have concluded that the following items on the
D:\ drive are unique to the operating system installed on the D:\ drive
and therefor can be deleted:

1. The entire Windows folder
2. The entire Documents and Settings folder
3. All folders in the Program Files folder, EXCEPT for the three folders
containing programs which I had installed there manually using the
operating system on the C:\ drive. All of the presumably superfluous
folders (e.g. Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player) have creation
dates of 2/5/2005.
4. Two system files in the root directory of D:\ with creation dates of
2/5/2005, hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys. There appear to be no other
operating system files in that root directory.

All together, the above are using about a GB of disk space.

In the root directory of d:\ there is also a Backup 041007.bft, which is a
Windows backup file which I presume can be deleted once I determine that I
have no need for it.

I propose to do the following:

a. Backup the D:\ drive to my Maxtor OneTouch drive using Retrospect
Express or Norton Ghost or both.

b. Delete the folders and files described above which I have concluded
relate only to installation of the operating system on drive D:\. I may
do this initially simply by adding an extension *.delos, i.e. delete
operating system.

c. Make the changes to boot.ini suggested elsewhere in this thread to
suppress the dual boot option at startup.

Does anyone have any comments on this analysis and procedure?



--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race." HG Wells

You may want to unhide system files to make sure the root drive has only
those two files. To unhide file go to the control Panel>Folder Options>View.
There you will see 2 or 3 items you can check or unchecked to unhide files.
I have never had a problem with Norton Ghost.

Overall sounds like a great plan and Good Luck. I hope someone out there
will help you more if you need it because I will away for a few days. And
once again.....Good Luck.

 

[OliverS]

You may want to unhide system files to make sure the root drive has only
those two files. To unhide file go to the control Panel>Folder Options>View.
There you will see 2 or 3 items you can check or unchecked to unhide files.
I have never had a problem with Norton Ghost.

Overall sounds like a great plan and Good Luck. I hope someone out there
will help you more if you need it because I will away for a few days. And
once again.....Good Luck.

Thanks for the reply. I think I have everything unhidden, but I will
double check. I thought I had disabled all of that secrecy stuff
shortly after installation of the OS.

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[OliverS]

This is the preferred method...

start>run and type

msconfig

Go to Boot.ini and click"Check all boot paths". This should remove the dual
entry from the Boot.ini file.

I am having problems with this.

After deleting the invalid boot path using the above procedure:
* I am prompted for a restart ok
* After restart I get a msg prompt stating that I have started in
selective mode, and that I should choose normal mode.
* Choosing normal mode, reverts to the original dual boot configuration
of the boot.ini and then causes problems on rebooting.

How do I get out of this cycle?
--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[OliverS]

I am having problems with this.

After deleting the invalid boot path using the above procedure:
* I am prompted for a restart ok
* After restart I get a msg prompt stating that I have started in
selective mode, and that I should choose normal mode.
* Choosing normal mode, reverts to the original dual boot configuration
of the boot.ini and then causes problems on rebooting.

How do I get out of this cycle?

I think I have resolved this, and I think this is how it was done:

I searched on C:\ for "boot.*", using the wildcard in anticipation of a
backup extention. And, "boot.ini.backup" was found, with the two boot
paths, at "C:\Windows\pss\". After making a copy of this file, I edited
it with Notepad to delete the second OS path. Then I went to
Start>run>msconfig and set it for normal boot with the "old" boot.ini file.

It seems that I had to go through a lot more grief on startup before the
thing finally got resolved, and I didn't make good notes.

I do note that the following Microsoft document suggests a differnet
methond for editing the boot.ini file to delete an operting system.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q289022#Task6

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race." HG Wells

 

[WTC]

I think I have resolved this, and I think this is how it was done:

I searched on C:\ for "boot.*", using the wildcard in anticipation of a
backup extention. And, "boot.ini.backup" was found, with the two boot
paths, at "C:\Windows\pss\". After making a copy of this file, I edited
it with Notepad to delete the second OS path. Then I went to
Start>run>msconfig and set it for normal boot with the "old" boot.ini
file.

It seems that I had to go through a lot more grief on startup before the
thing finally got resolved, and I didn't make good notes.

I do note that the following Microsoft document suggests a differnet
methond for editing the boot.ini file to delete an operting system.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q289022#Task6

--
Cheers! OliverS
When replying personally, remove "_nospam_"

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race." HG Wells

Thanks for the link, some good info.