Hi again Bmore:
Though I am still a little puzzled by your statement that D: currently has
4GB used and 10GB available, it sounds like this is what happened:
When you re-installed XP, the new installation automatically noticed that
there was already another O/S on Drive C: so it dutifully installed itself
onto D: to avoid conflict. If this is true, and if it's true that your
original O/S on drive C: is now working properly, then all those windows
files on Drive D: are now redundant.
I am guessing that, during the re-installation of the 2nd O/S on D:, the XP
installation software also automatically "repaired" the bootup problem you
were having with the original instance of XP on C: and created a "boot menu"
which you see at startup.
I can't think of any reason you can't just remove the extraneous files from
D:. However, if you want to be extra careful, you can re-name any extra
files on D: before deleting them. For example:
Temporarily re-name D:\Windows to D:\WindowsXX.
If this causes no instability in your system after a reasonable amount of
time, feel free to delete it permanently. Deleting this file alone will get
you about 1.5GB of space.
Another way to determine if a file can be safely deleted is to check the
date it was created. If it was created on the same date you installed the
second O/S on D:,it is likely part of that extraneous XP installation and
thus safe to delete. If in doubt, leave it alone.
I don't think deleting all the extra files on D: will cause any problems
with your booting up to C: however, the new boot menu is likely to remain
visible at startup. There is a way to remove it but maybe better to leave
well enough alone.
If you are of a mind to really clean up your system, then plan for a nice
clean re-install (after backing up all your important stuff of course). I
have found that this eliminates alot of the "clutter" that builds up over the
years and makes my O/S losts leaner and meaner.
Hope this helps.
Mark
