Reformatted hard drive, dual Windows XP on reboot

[timothylavino]

I followed all the directions I could find to reformat my hard drive. I
rebooted the computer with the XP Cd in my disc drive, entered the XP
setup, deleted all partitions until none remained, created 1 large
partition in NTSF. I then allowed the computer to do the rest. When it
began installing the operating system I was never prompted to put in
the serial key, and when the installation was done and it rebooted
itself, I found myself at a black screen asking me which operating
system I would like to boot, both of which were Microsoft XP Home. I'm
not really sure why this happened but need help ASAP. Thanks.

 

[Rock]

I followed all the directions I could find to reformat my hard drive. I
rebooted the computer with the XP Cd in my disc drive, entered the XP
setup, deleted all partitions until none remained, created 1 large
partition in NTSF. I then allowed the computer to do the rest. When it
began installing the operating system I was never prompted to put in
the serial key, and when the installation was done and it rebooted
itself, I found myself at a black screen asking me which operating
system I would like to boot, both of which were Microsoft XP Home. I'm
not really sure why this happened but need help ASAP. Thanks.

Does clicking on both entries work or just one? Boot into the working one,
go to Start | Run | Msconfig | Ok. On the boot.ini tab click on Check all
boot paths. It should identify one as invalid and offer to remove it.