How to eliminate dual boot

[Stuart Grant]

On my other computer, a Dell Dimension I have a dual-boot system with Win98
and WinXP. It works reasonably well but I no longer need Win98 and would
like to remove it.
Win98 is on Partition C and Win XP on Partition G of the same hard disk. I
seem to remember that when I set up the dual boot arrangement I was told
first to install Win 98 and then WinXP in another partition. I am not quite
sure of the way to proceed with the uninstall.
My thought is to uninstall WinXP and then to reinstall it in C: on top of
and thus removing Win98, since the CD I have is an upgrade with SP1. Then I
will have to download and reinstall SP2.
Does anyone know if this is the right way to proceed. or if there is a
better, safer way ?
Stuart

 

[RedForeman]

On my other computer, a Dell Dimension I have a dual-boot system with Win98
and WinXP. It works reasonably well but I no longer need Win98 and would
like to remove it.
Win98 is on Partition C and Win XP on Partition G of the same hard disk. I
seem to remember that when I set up the dual boot arrangement I was told
first to install Win 98 and then WinXP in another partition. I am not quite
sure of the way to proceed with the uninstall.
My thought is to uninstall WinXP and then to reinstall it in C: on top of
and thus removing Win98, since the CD I have is an upgrade with SP1. Then I
will have to download and reinstall SP2.
Does anyone know if this is the right way to proceed. or if there is a
better, safer way ?
Stuart

Stuart,

Just so I can help setup your answer better, please provide me/us with
a few answers first...

Hard drive total size?
Partition C size?
Partition G size?

I would suggest you image your drive G to drive C, do you have those
tools or that knowledge? If not, no biggie. Another option would be
to wipe C, format, reinstall, update, then migrate your G drive to
your C drive usiing FAST (Files and Settings Transfer).

if you haven't already figured, there are numerous ways to do things
with Windows, just depends on your level of knowledge and comfort....

 

[John John]

On my other computer, a Dell Dimension I have a dual-boot system with Win98
and WinXP. It works reasonably well but I no longer need Win98 and would
like to remove it.
Win98 is on Partition C and Win XP on Partition G of the same hard disk. I
seem to remember that when I set up the dual boot arrangement I was told
first to install Win 98 and then WinXP in another partition. I am not quite
sure of the way to proceed with the uninstall.
My thought is to uninstall WinXP and then to reinstall it in C: on top of
and thus removing Win98, since the CD I have is an upgrade with SP1. Then I
will have to download and reinstall SP2.
Does anyone know if this is the right way to proceed. or if there is a
better, safer way ?

If your intentions are to reinstall Windows XP to the "C:" partition
then just boot the computer with the Windows XP CD and when you get to
the disk and partition selection screen just select the Windows 98 (C
partition and format it. You should format it Full NTFS. It goes
without saying that *all* the information and files on the C: partition
will be lost!

Anything can go wrong when you install operating systems and do disk and
partitioning or formating work. Make sure that you have a backup of
your important files! Make sure that you format the right partition!
If you format the second partition all the information on it will be lost.

After you install to the first partition you will still have two Windows
XP installations on the computer, you can simply delete the one on the
second partition. You do not need to reinstall Windows XP to remove
Windows 98. You can safely remove Windows 98 on the C partition and
keep on using the current Windows XP installation on the second
partition. If you want to keep the current XP installation just post
again and someone will tell you how to do it. Also tell us if the
computer has a floppy diskette drive, not required but can serve as a
safety measure if you wish to delete Windows 98 and keep the current
Windows XP installation, in case you delete the wrong files on the
system partition.

John

 

[Stuart Grant]

Thanks for jumping in so promptly

The hard disk is 20GB
Partition C is.6.2GB with 2.9GB free
Partition G is 8.05GB with 850MB free

I am afraid that I do not have the tools or knowledge to image G to C. I
assume that there is not enough room anyway

I assume that I could wipe C. I have removed most of the programs other
than the operating system but I that I am afraid that I don't know how to
"migrate" G to C using FAST. Amway there again is probably not enough room.

I simply thought that if I only had one system on the computer it would be
better to have it on C.

As you see I am not very knowledgeable ! The partitioning made some sense
seven years ago when this was my only computer. Now it makes no sense and
the obvious best thing would be to reformat and start from scratch, but I am
reluctant to do that.

Do you not think my first suggestion might work? I have turned the computer
over to my wife now . It is not getting a lot of work.

Stuart

 

[Stuart Grant]

Thank you for jumping in.

The problem is that I don't want to lose some of the information and files
on the "C:" partition and the back up facilities are limited. There is a
floppy and a DVD drive but I do not have any program to write CDs or DVDs on
this computer. There is a floppy drive.

I want to keep the current XP installation inasmuch as I don't want to have
to reinstall the other software.

Hope this is clear. I am looking foir a very easy answer and perhaps there
isn't one !

Stuart

 

[John John]

I see from your other post that your disk isn't very big and that the
partition sizes that you have are barely big enough for Windows XP!

You can delete any and all the files that you want on the C: partition
*except* the following:

boot.ini
ntldr
ntdetect.com

and NTBOOTDD.SYS (this file may be present but most likely it isn't)

To be certain that you aren't left with a non bootable system should you
delete the wrong files, you can create a Boot Diskette for Windows XP.
To create the diskette do the following:

Boot to the Windows XP installation and format a diskette. At a command
prompt issue:

format a: /u

The diskette *must* be formated with Windows XP, if you do it with
Windows 98 the diskette will fail to boot your XP installation.

Copy the files mentioned above (boot.ini, ntldr, ntdetect.com and if
present NTBOOTDD.SYS) to the diskette. These are hidden system files,
to see and copy them unhide them in Folder Options.

Boot the computer and go in the BIOS and set the boot order so that it
boots to the diskette drive first. Save the changes and exit the BIOS.
Put the boot diskette in the drive bay and boot the computer and try
to start the Windows XP installation with the diskette. If you can
successfully boot with the diskette you now have the assurance that if
you delete the wrong files or make mistakes you will still be able to
boot the computer.

Now you can delete all but the mentioned files on the C: partition.
That also assumes that the programs that you use with Windows XP are
installed on the XP partition, only you know that. If some of your
Windows XP programs are installed on C: evidently if you want to keep
them you cannot delete them.

John

PS. Maybe you should consider replacing your drive with a larger one,
IDE drives are not all that expensive.

 

[RedForeman]

Thank you for jumping in.

The problem is that I don't want to lose some of the information and files
on the "C:" partition and the back up facilities are limited. There is a
floppy and a DVD drive but I do not have any program to write CDs or DVDs on
this computer. There is a floppy drive.

I want to keep the current XP installation inasmuch as I don't want to have
to reinstall the other software.

Hope this is clear. I am looking foir a very easy answer and perhaps there
isn't one !

Stuart











- Show quoted text -

IMO, I would invest in another hard drive. Why? Because, I would want
to keep the integrity of the existing drive. That being said, it is
by far the easiest and safest possible way of accomplishing your task.

After purchasing new drive, install it in case, remove old drive.
Install OS, update, reapply programs needed. Open case, insert old
drive making sure jumper settings are set for master/slave, and
continue. Your old drive will be there, and you'll have the ability
to copy or move data from one drive to another. you won't be able to
boot to the second drive unless you get a boot manager, or swap master/
slave jumpers, but that's another story....

Hang in there, there are still options we havent' even discussed
yet.....

RedForeman

 

[Rock]

Thanks for jumping in so promptly

The hard disk is 20GB
Partition C is.6.2GB with 2.9GB free
Partition G is 8.05GB with 850MB free

I am afraid that I do not have the tools or knowledge to image G to C. I
assume that there is not enough room anyway

I assume that I could wipe C. I have removed most of the programs other
than the operating system but I that I am afraid that I don't know how to
"migrate" G to C using FAST. Amway there again is probably not enough
room.

I simply thought that if I only had one system on the computer it would be
better to have it on C.

As you see I am not very knowledgeable ! The partitioning made some sense
seven years ago when this was my only computer. Now it makes no sense and
the obvious best thing would be to reformat and start from scratch, but I
am reluctant to do that.

Do you not think my first suggestion might work? I have turned the
computer over to my wife now . It is not getting a lot of work.

Stuart

Stuart, your drive is too small. I suggest getting a larger drive, costs
are quite low. Backup the data using your favorite backup program, then use
FAST to create a copy of the data and settings (I would not rely solely on
FAST. Make sure there is also a full backup of the data by some other
means.)

Install the new drive, install XP clean, reinstall apps from original media,
then use FAST to bring back the data and settings. If for some reason FAST
doesn't work out restore the data from the backup.

How to clean install XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[Stuart Grant]

Thank you for your very clear and detailed instructions and advice.

I am very grateful to everyone who took the time to respond and advise. I
am not taking the practically unanimous advice to buy another hard disk.
The computer is seven years old. The processor is Pentium 800MHz. The
computer is nearing the end of its useful life. It doesn't seem worthwhile
to spend more money on it. On the other hand it is perfectly adequate for
the things my wife does with it - some e-mail, some internet surfing, some
letters with Word and one or two smallish Excel spreadsheets, if I
straighten out the rather complicated partitioning and get rid of Win98.

The big step forward is that I have got my wireless network going and can
control the computer from this one. I have more than 50GB free and can
copy all of the contents of the other hard disk on to this one, sort them
out and format and reinstall as necessary. I have already copied all of C:.
Most of the software I use with XP is on the XP partition but one or two
things are on C but I can sort that out. The important thing is that I will
have a complete back up on this computer

I am now going to prepare a Boot diskette as you carefully outline.

I will delete all the files on C: and, I think reformat. I am not sure
about how to migrate the XP installation from G: to C:. I would rather
migrate than reinstall from the CD because the existing installation has
asp2 and many, many, updates from MS.

I am grateful for all the advice and think I can now go ahead.

Stuart