How to remove XP from triple boot (98se - 2K - XP) ?

[John7]

Hi,


I have a triple boot system:
C: Win98se (FAT32)
D: Win2000 (NTFS, boot default !)
E: WinXPpro (NTFS)
All separate installs (no upgrades of previous Windows').

I want to uninstall XPpro (incl. SP2).
98se and 2000 MUST remain working (re-install is NO option).
When done, I want to re-install XPpro on E: from fresh.


Who can tell how to uninstall XP while keeping 98se and 2000 intact ?


TIA,
John7

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi,


I have a triple boot system:
C: Win98se (FAT32)
D: Win2000 (NTFS, boot default !)
E: WinXPpro (NTFS)
All separate installs (no upgrades of previous Windows').

I want to uninstall XPpro (incl. SP2).
98se and 2000 MUST remain working (re-install is NO option).
When done, I want to re-install XPpro on E: from fresh.


Who can tell how to uninstall XP while keeping 98se and 2000 intact ?


TIA,
John7

1. Boot into Win2000.
2. Remove e:\Windows
3. Run this command and remove the reference(s) to WinXP:
notepad c:\boot.ini.

 

[John7]

1. Boot into Win2000.
2. Remove e:\Windows
3. Run this command and remove the reference(s) to WinXP:
notepad c:\boot.ini.

Thx Pegasus,

So there is no need to restore Win200's NTLDR and other Win2000 boot files ?

John7

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thx Pegasus,

So there is no need to restore Win200's NTLDR and other Win2000 boot files ?

John7

Win2000 will work happily with the WinXP boot files
(but WinXP does not like the Win2000 boot files!).

 

[John7]

files

Win2000 will work happily with the WinXP boot files
(but WinXP does not like the Win2000 boot files!).

Thanks, now I know what to do.
I was probably a bit overcautious.

John7

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi,


I have a triple boot system:
C: Win98se (FAT32)
D: Win2000 (NTFS, boot default !)
E: WinXPpro (NTFS)
All separate installs (no upgrades of previous Windows').

I want to uninstall XPpro (incl. SP2).
98se and 2000 MUST remain working (re-install is NO option).
When done, I want to re-install XPpro on E: from fresh.


Who can tell how to uninstall XP while keeping 98se and 2000 intact ?


TIA,
John7

Simply format the WinXP partition, and then edit C:\BOOT.INI to remove
any reference to WinXP.


--

Bruce Chambers

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[Andy]

Hi,


I have a triple boot system:
C: Win98se (FAT32)
D: Win2000 (NTFS, boot default !)
E: WinXPpro (NTFS)
All separate installs (no upgrades of previous Windows').

I want to uninstall XPpro (incl. SP2).
98se and 2000 MUST remain working (re-install is NO option).
When done, I want to re-install XPpro on E: from fresh.

If your ultimate goal is to reinstall Windows XP, merely boot from the
XP CD, select new install, pick the E: partition to install to, choose
to reformat the partition (as opposed to using the existing file
system), and let the installation proceed to completion.

 

[John7]

If your ultimate goal is to reinstall Windows XP, merely boot from the
XP CD, select new install, pick the E: partition to install to, choose
to reformat the partition (as opposed to using the existing file
system), and let the installation proceed to completion.

Indeed, my ultimate goal is to re-install XP while keeping the multi-boot
intact.
So by your approach, nothing will remain from the old XP (not even old boot
files) ?

I will re-install from the XP pro CD in my Microsoft Action Pack.
I assume this CD will behave identical to OEM or retail.

TIA,
John7

 

[Ron Sommer]

XP boot files are on C.
I would backup C:\boot.ini.
It has the multiboot options.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

You're implying that the installer of the last installed OS (the one on
the E: partition) has put the boot files (ntldr, boot.ini, and ntdetect.com)
on the C: partition. Is that always true? The boot files could just as
well be on partition E:, and if that were the "active" partition on the
HD that is at the head of the HD boot order, it could just as easily
control the booting.

John7: How many HDs are there, and on which HDs are these
partitions? Which HD is 1st in the boot order (or are you using
the default HD boot order?) Which partition had its OS installed last?
Which partition is marked "active"? (Use Disk Management to check
that - rt-clk MyComputer, select Manage/DiskManagement, rt-clk
the partitions - if "Mark Partition as Active" is greyed out, it's already
"active".)

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

E can't be the active partition, because John is booting 98SE.
The only partition that can be active is C, because 98 SE won't boot from a
NTFS partition.

Please include the original post in your replies.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

The OP also boots WinXP, so evidently he's using
ntldr which was supplied by the WinXP installer
See: "How to create a multiple-boot system in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306559&Product=winxp

quote:
"If you want a multiple-boot system with MS-DOS, Windows 95,
Windows 98 or Windows Me along with Windows XP,
install MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me,
and then install Windows XP."

This all suggests that WinXP was installed last on the OP's
system, and that's why his WinXP is on a partition called "E:".
Now, why couldn't the boot files be on "E:" as well? All that is
necessary, if that is the case, is that "E:" partition be marked
"active". That is the reason for my questions to the OP.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

"98se and 2000 MUST remain working (re-install is NO option)."
The only way for 98se to be booting is for the boot files to be on C and C
is the first active partition.
If XP had been installed to the active partition, it would be on C.

 

[John7]

Hi guys,


Nice vivid discussion going on here.

My install order was plain simple.
All on 1 hard disk.

Install order | partition | OS
1st | C: | Win98se (active part., boot.ini,
ntldr etc.)
2nd | D: | Win2K pro
3rd | E: | WinXP pro

I think I follow Andy's way tonight (see earlier in this thread).
If this won't work, I'll follow Pegasus' and Bruce Chambers'.
All partitions backupped. I'll post my findings here.


John7

 

[Timothy Daniels]

1) Where is quote found?
2) What it means is that WinXP must remain the last
OS to be installed. It does not mean that boot files
must be on the partition that contains Win98 or Win2K
Read the Microsoft document to which I provided a link.

Partition E: could just as easily be the "active" partition
although each of the OSes could call its own partition
"C:" when it runs. Nothing in the installation instructions
say the OS or any of its files must be installed on the
currently "active" partition.

It would be instructive if the OP supplied the contents of
the boot.ini file on partition E: and on partition C:. These
would indicate which set of boot files are being used at
boot time.

It would also be instructive if the OP told us which
partition is marked "active" (use Disk Management for
this).

*TimDaniels*

 

[Timothy Daniels]

My install order was plain simple.
All on 1 hard disk.

Install order | partition | OS
1st | C: | Win98se (active part., boot.ini,
ntldr etc.)
2nd | D: | Win2K pro
3rd | E: | WinXP pro

That all indicates that the booting is controlled
by the 1st partition. But they were put there by the
installer for the WinXP OS because ntldr didn't
exist for Win98. (That's why it's called NTldr.)

I think I follow Andy's way tonight (see earlier in this thread).

Andy's way will solve your problem - you will get a new
installation of WinXP, the other 2 OSes will continue
to work, and you'll be able to multi-boot among the 3 OSes.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

1) In John's original post.
2)According to the Microsoft article, "The system partition refers to the
disk volume that contains the hardware-specific files that are needed to
start Windows, such as Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com. The system
partition can be, but does not have to be, the same volume as the boot
partition."

Look at the Supported File Systems table in the article.
All of the system files will be written to the active partition.
Each operating system must be able to use the active partition.
Win 98 cannot use NTFS.
Both D and E are formatted NTFS.

The article leaves several details out.

XP will only write boot.ini to one partition.
There is no E:\boot.ini .
If you make E: active, XP will not boot.

We don't need to know which is the active partition, because it can only be
one partition.

XP only has to be the last operating system installed if you want the
installation to do all the work of creating a multiboot.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Regarding 1): Installation of WinXP last will not disturb Win98 and Win2K.
See the Microsoft documentation on multi-booting.

Regarding 2): Yes, that is true, and I did not say that what Microsoft
calls the "System Partition" *must* be the same as the
volume that contains the OS (i.e. what Microsoft calls
the "Boot Partition"). The System Partition contains
the boot files, and the Boot Partition contains the operating
system, and the two partitions can not only be on different
partitions, they can be on different hard drives.

This also applies to the OP's case, and there is really
nothing that requires the situation to be otherwise.

Regarding: "All of the system files will be written to the active partition."

By "system files", do you mean the operating system files
or the files of the "System Partition"? And do you know
that this is hard-coded into the WinXP installer?

Regarding: "Each operating system must be able to use the active partition."

It would seem that since ntldr must read NTFS files in order
to load WinXP, and read FAT files to load Win98, it must
be part of WinXP - *if* ntldr is part of any OS. But please
explain why the running OS must be able to "use" the
active partition.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

I should have said, "All of the system partition files will be written to
the active partition."

This statement is partially correct, "It would seem that since ntldr must
read NTFS files in order to load WinXP".
XP can also be installed to a Fat or Fat 32 partition. In this instance, XP
is installed to NTFS, so ntldr is reading NTFS files. I would have said,
"ntldr can read NTFS files".
Ntldr is part of Win XP. It is a XP system partition file.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

(For readers of this NG, "System Partition" in MS Talk is
the partition that contains the boot files - ntldr, boot.ini,
ntdetect.com (and in some cases one other file).
"System Partition" does NOT refer to the partition which
contains the operating system - which is known as the Boot
Partition. In most systems, the System Partition and the
Boot Partition just *happen* to be the same partition -
except in multi-boot systems.)

Ron - Can you point to any documentation that says that
the boot files for Windows XP are automatically put in the
currently "active" partition if that partition is NOT the partition
into which Windows XP is being installed?

*TimDaniels*