Format & reinstall XP problem?

[Kenny]

Have fully formatted, not quick option, HDD and reinstalled XP. At bootup I
now have 2 XP's in boot menu! I thought a full format removed everything so
why have I got this? I have successfully resolved similar situation before
by following the steps here:
http://tweakhomepc.virtualave.net/dual/removedualboot.html
Only difference then was that the 2nd XP was on a different partition, this
time they're on the same one, drive's not partitioned. The file "boot.ini"
does not exist on this PC and yes I have searched hidden system files. I
have an almost identical PC and "boot.ini" is on that in the root folder of
C:, only real difference in the PC's is that this one has 2HDD's and a
number of partitions.
I have only installed XP, no chipset drivers or anything as yet. Selecting
the 2nd XP PC boots normally, selecting 1st XP the PC boots slowly but to
the new XP install, the old one doesn't exist. I don't know what's going on
here and any advice appreciated, in particular why I have no "boot.ini".

 

[purplehaz]

The boot.ini file is hidden and protected. You have to have hidden files and
protected files set to show.
If you actually have two installs of xp on the same partition, then you did
not do the format correctly. Format with a win9x floppy boot disk(fdisk also
if you want). Then boot to the xp cd and install.
If you don't have two installs and the boot.ini is just wrong for some
reason, just set hidden and protected files to show and then edit it in
notepad.

 

[Peter Hutchison]

Have fully formatted, not quick option, HDD and reinstalled XP. At bootup I
now have 2 XP's in boot menu! I thought a full format removed everything so
why have I got this? I have successfully resolved similar situation before
by following the steps here:
http://tweakhomepc.virtualave.net/dual/removedualboot.html
Only difference then was that the 2nd XP was on a different partition, this
time they're on the same one, drive's not partitioned. The file "boot.ini"
does not exist on this PC and yes I have searched hidden system files. I
have an almost identical PC and "boot.ini" is on that in the root folder of
C:, only real difference in the PC's is that this one has 2HDD's and a
number of partitions.
I have only installed XP, no chipset drivers or anything as yet. Selecting
the 2nd XP PC boots normally, selecting 1st XP the PC boots slowly but to
the new XP install, the old one doesn't exist. I don't know what's going on
here and any advice appreciated, in particular why I have no "boot.ini".

Type MSCONFIG, click on Boot.ini and click 'Check all Boot Drives' to
remove old entries.

Peter Hutchison
Windows FAQ
http://www.pcguru.plus.com/