how to remove undesired second BOOToption?

[rocio]

I recently installed MS200k twice in my computer. Each
install was in it's own partition. The first install was
in drive 'c:' and held the system. The other was in
drive 'j:' and was a boot partition.

This was a temporary arrangement while I increased the
size of the partition in drive c, which I did
successfully, and once it was done, I deleted the OS in
partition 'j:', from within Computer Managment/Disk
Management window.

However, something must still be in the registry, because
now, everytime I start my computer, at some point it gives
me the option of booting with one OS or the other (in
these case both are Win200k). Using the first option my
computer without problems, however, using the second
option will give me the error message bellow and stop the
start up (I can not escape, enter or do anything other
than press the reset button on my compter):

"Windows 2000 could not start because the following file
is missing or corrupt: <windows 2000 root>system32
\ntoskrnl.exe"

Could some one help me find out how to 'totally' delete
the second OS, so that I do not get this option and error
everytime I start up my computer?.

If I need to do something with the Registry, could the
adviser please give me detailed instructions as to 'where'
and 'what' to type as I'm not an expert in this type of
troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Rocio

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I recently installed MS200k twice in my computer. Each
install was in it's own partition. The first install was
in drive 'c:' and held the system. The other was in
drive 'j:' and was a boot partition.

This was a temporary arrangement while I increased the
size of the partition in drive c, which I did
successfully, and once it was done, I deleted the OS in
partition 'j:', from within Computer Managment/Disk
Management window.

However, something must still be in the registry, because
now, everytime I start my computer, at some point it gives
me the option of booting with one OS or the other (in
these case both are Win200k). Using the first option my
computer without problems, however, using the second
option will give me the error message bellow and stop the
start up (I can not escape, enter or do anything other
than press the reset button on my compter):

"Windows 2000 could not start because the following file
is missing or corrupt: <windows 2000 root>system32
\ntoskrnl.exe"

Could some one help me find out how to 'totally' delete
the second OS, so that I do not get this option and error
everytime I start up my computer?.

If I need to do something with the Registry, could the
adviser please give me detailed instructions as to 'where'
and 'what' to type as I'm not an expert in this type of
troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Rocio

You write "I recently installed MS200k". I must have been
asleep for a few centuries - my version of Windows is still
Win2000, compared to your Win200,000 . . .

The reference to your second Win2000 installation is not
kept in the registry; it is kept in the hidden file c:\boot.ini.
Type this command from a Command Prompt:

notepad c:\boot.ini

then delete the unwanted line and set timeout=0.

 

[rocio]

Thank you Pegasus, for your response. I guess is me how
has been sleepy all this time, and I still unsure how to
properly abbreviate MS 2000 Prof. I have seen it done in
so many ways! How would you abbreviate it?

Regarding your suggestion, I will try making that change,
hoping I will not do any real damage to the registry.
However, I have one doubt, when you write...

notepad c:\boot.ini

Am I supposed to write also the 'notepad' word in the
line command, just as you instructed in that line? Also,
when I do this, would I then see the drive partition I
deleted? (eg: j:\boot.ini ) being that one the one I
have to delete? I'm not sure is the 'c:\boot.ini' the
one that needs to be deleted, as this is the 'working'
system drive. Could you please clarify?

The next line:

then delete the unwanted line and set timeout=0.

I understand. As I think it refers to the countdown time
when selecting the option, which when set to 'timeout=0'
won't show, continuing start up without stoping. Could
you please clarify my previous doubt before I proceed?

Thank you very much!!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

Thank you Pegasus, for your response. I guess is me how
has been sleepy all this time, and I still unsure how to
properly abbreviate MS 2000 Prof. I have seen it done in
so many ways! How would you abbreviate it?

You can abbreviate it any way you like. It's just that you
wrote "MS200k". The letter "k" is usually an abbreviation
of "1000", hence "MS200k" expands to "MS200,000" . . .

Regarding your suggestion, I will try making that change,
hoping I will not do any real damage to the registry.

In my reply I wrote "The reference to your second Win2000
installation is not kept in the registry; it is kept in the hidden file
c:\boot.ini." - so why bring up the registry issue again?

However, I have one doubt, when you write...
notepad c:\boot.ini

Am I supposed to write also the 'notepad' word in the
line command, just as you instructed in that line?

That's exactly what you need to do!

Also, when I do this, would I then see the drive partition I
deleted? (eg: j:\boot.ini ) being that one the one I
have to delete? I'm not sure is the 'c:\boot.ini' the
one that needs to be deleted, as this is the 'working'
system drive. Could you please clarify?

Have a look at boot.ini, try to analyse what you see,
then post again if still in doubt.

 

[rocio]

Pegasus, ok... I got it... and I mean I got it!
Problem solved! Thank you for your advice... and for your
patience...

Rocio