How to uninstall Vista / Restore XP?

[Arthur Lipscomb]

Hi. I'm trying to figure out how I can uninstall Vista from a second hard
drive. I've searched Google and found this question asked numerous times
but no workable solution. I can't run the XP recovery console because my CD
is for the original XP and I'm now running SP2. Is there any other way to
uninstall Vista or restore XP's boot record?

I have installed Vista bootpro but I don't know what to do to delete the
Vista boot record or restore XP's.

Please advise.

Thanks

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Create a slipstreamed cd that integrates SP2 into your original xp. I use
AutoStreamer. Use the network version of SP2.

 

[Will Schuitman]

If Your windows XP is on your primary drive which usually would be C drive
and vista on a secondary which may be D drive or whatever other drive letter
your system has alocated
then I guess the simplest way to do it would be to boot into windows xp goto
"administrative tools"
then goto "storage" and format the drive or partition that contains vista
then in C drive you will have to edit the file called "boot.ini" and find
the boot record for vista which will be on C drive and delete it I'm not
sure what the filename is of vista's boot record
hope this helps

 

[Arthur Lipscomb]

Deleting Vista isn't the problem. It's the left over Boot.ini file that
will remain on my C drive. Why Microsoft let Vista (a *beta* operating
system) modify XP's boot file I'll never understand. I have no problem
editing the boot.ini, I just don't know what edits to make. I don't want to
make a mistake and kill my computer.

 

[Arthur Lipscomb]

I actually already have a slipstreamed cd. And if I could find where I put
it, I'd do just that. I'm hoping there's an easier method like editing the
boot.ini file. Otherwise I may just create another slipstreamed CD.

Thanks

 

[Will Schuitman]

Ok in C drive you would normally have a file called "boot.ini"
if you open it with notepad the contents should look like this (pre vista
version)

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN

on a system with vista installed the contents look like this and it will be
named "boot.bak"

;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN

if your not sure about modifying this file your best bet would be to boot
your system from the Xp CD then choose repair and from the prompt type
"fixboot" or "fixmbr" and all should be back to normal

 

[Will Schuitman]

And it should not make a difference if your Xp cd contains sp2 or not, you
should still be able to get into the recovery console and use the command
prompt
I'm guessing if you try to use automated recovery then it probably won't let
you because of the sp2 issue
my Xp pro cd does have Sp2 on it either and my system has but it still lets
me into the recovery console

I hope this helps

Ok in C drive you would normally have a file called "boot.ini"
if you open it with notepad the contents should look like this (pre vista
version)

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN

on a system with vista installed the contents look like this and it will
be named "boot.bak"

;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN

if your not sure about modifying this file your best bet would be to boot
your system from the Xp CD then choose repair and from the prompt type
"fixboot" or "fixmbr" and all should be back to normal

Deleting Vista isn't the problem. It's the left over Boot.ini file that
will remain on my C drive. Why Microsoft let Vista (a *beta* operating
system) modify XP's boot file I'll never understand. I have no problem
editing the boot.ini, I just don't know what edits to make. I don't want
to make a mistake and kill my computer.

 

[Will Schuitman]

Just another quick comment if you get into recovery console it might be
worth formatting your drive that has vista on it first before your repair
your boot sector otherwise you may get errors if the repair process detects
an installation of vista

And it should not make a difference if your Xp cd contains sp2 or not, you
should still be able to get into the recovery console and use the command
prompt
I'm guessing if you try to use automated recovery then it probably won't
let you because of the sp2 issue
my Xp pro cd does have Sp2 on it either and my system has but it still
lets me into the recovery console

I hope this helps

Ok in C drive you would normally have a file called "boot.ini"
if you open it with notepad the contents should look like this (pre vista
version)

[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN

on a system with vista installed the contents look like this and it will
be named "boot.bak"

;
;Warning: Boot.ini is used on Windows XP and earlier operating systems.
;Warning: Use BCDEDIT.exe to modify Windows Vista boot options.
;
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /FASTDETECT /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN

if your not sure about modifying this file your best bet would be to boot
your system from the Xp CD then choose repair and from the prompt type
"fixboot" or "fixmbr" and all should be back to normal

Deleting Vista isn't the problem. It's the left over Boot.ini file that
will remain on my C drive. Why Microsoft let Vista (a *beta* operating
system) modify XP's boot file I'll never understand. I have no problem
editing the boot.ini, I just don't know what edits to make. I don't
want to make a mistake and kill my computer.


If Your windows XP is on your primary drive which usually would be C
drive and vista on a secondary which may be D drive or whatever other
drive letter your system has alocated
then I guess the simplest way to do it would be to boot into windows xp
goto "administrative tools"
then goto "storage" and format the drive or partition that contains
vista
then in C drive you will have to edit the file called "boot.ini" and
find the boot record for vista which will be on C drive and delete it
I'm not sure what the filename is of vista's boot record
hope this helps

Create a slipstreamed cd that integrates SP2 into your original xp. I
use AutoStreamer. Use the network version of SP2.

Hi. I'm trying to figure out how I can uninstall Vista from a second
hard drive. I've searched Google and found this question asked
numerous times but no workable solution. I can't run the XP recovery
console because my CD is for the original XP and I'm now running SP2.
Is there any other way to uninstall Vista or restore XP's boot
record?

I have installed Vista bootpro but I don't know what to do to delete
the Vista boot record or restore XP's.

Please advise.

Thanks

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Vista does not use the boot.ini file.

I actually already have a slipstreamed cd. And if I could find where I put
it, I'd do just that. I'm hoping there's an easier method like editing the
boot.ini file. Otherwise I may just create another slipstreamed CD.

Thanks

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

VistaBoot Pro is capable of deleting the unwanted entry in the boot options
screen and removing the boot configuration data for Vista from C:.

 

[John Barnes]

Make sure that your XP drive (partition) is your system drive, and that it
contains the ntldr, boot.ini and ntdetect.com files.
Use VistaBootPro to fix the master boot record to the XP format. You will
then use the boot.ini as you did before you installed Vista.
If there is a problem with the entries, you can then boot your xp cd to the
recovery console and execute bootcfg /rebuild to reset your correct boot
entries.
If you changed your boot order when you installed Vista, you not have to do
anything except change the boot order