RC2 Uninstall, Dual Boot

[Guest]

I have been testing RC2 but haven't used it lately, when I get more memory
most likely I will upgrade to Vista RTM, but for now I would like to
uninstall it and reclaim my hard drive space.

I did a dual-boot, and have 4 partition:
C: Vista
D: XP Home
E: Vista Pagefile
F: CDROM (would also like to make this Z
G: XP Pagefile & Downloads

COULD format the C: but I think that drive also has the boot files for XP,
since it is the bootable partition. I really don't want to reinstall XP just
to uninstall RC2. I haven't done any screwing around with it yet, thank you
in advance!

 

[thecreator]

Hi esu lanoisseforp,

Basically I am in the same boat as you, but waiting for more Vista
Drivers to be released.

I am dual-booting as you, however I own Acronis True Image 10 Home. I
have created an Image of Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 installed on
Drive E:. Vista Ultimate RC2 was installed on Drive G, but when booted into
Vista, it is shown as Drive C:.

For me, it is very simple to do. I will boot into Windows XP Home
Edition. From inside of XP, I will reformat my G: partition and that gives
me a clean partition, for whatever I want to use it as. Then I will create a
new Drive Image of the XP Partition. Once the image has been created, I will
use My Computer and go into the root folder of the Drive C: and delete all
the hidden files for booting up the computer.

Now, since I won't be able to boot the computer, I will be reinstalling
Windows XP from scratch. Now, once I am able to boot up the computer again
and it is working, I will then be using my Acronis Rescue Bootable CD and I
will be restoring the XP partition.

Hence, I won't be missing a beat. Real easy to do, once you have the
necessary programs to do it. Questions?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681528708SF Link is
to Acronis True Image 10 Home Download version.

 

[...winston]

You scenario implies that Vista was installed second...thus a lot of extra
steps..to achieve the same end result.
Any image of XP created after Vista was installed will contain the dual boot
files, thus why restore it after a clean XP install if the only objective is
remove Vista.
Consider Vista Boot Pro(it works in XP too) to remove the dual boot loader
files, then use ACI10 or XP Disk Management to finalize other drive setup.
..winston

 

[thecreator]

Hi winston,

Your asumption is correct about Vista being installed second. However
you are assuming that Windows XP Home Edition was installed as the C: Drive
in my setup, since you are not addressing anyone in particular, that
assumption is not correct. The Boot Drive does not contain any operating
system. Thus the operating system image does not contain Vista Boot files.

 

[...winston]

Thanks for the update and clarification.
It was hard to tell from your post that you had a boot partition in place or
that your suggestion was applicable to the op's request/intent/setup(see
below)
It certainly will work for yours..and a perfectly acceptable and very
efficient approach to dual booting. Thanks again.
..winston

Hi winston,

Your asumption is correct about Vista being installed second. However
you are assuming that Windows XP Home Edition was installed as the C:
Drive in my setup, since you are not addressing anyone in particular, that
assumption is not correct. The Boot Drive does not contain any operating
system. Thus the operating system image does not contain Vista Boot files.