two operating systems???

[Guest]

My stepfather tried to to a system repair with windows 2000. It would not do
a repair so he reinstalled windows. He now has 2 operating systems on his
machine. Can one be removed and how or does he reformat and start over. If
that is the case where is the best place to get step by step directions.
Should he download drivers to a disk as well? He will not have access to the
internet while his system is down. It is an older machine but the only one
that is in the budget.

 

[David Webb]

The extra operating system can be removed, but we have to determine which one is
actually safe to call redundant. You say that he tried to do a repair
installation, but it failed. Do you know what caused this failure? I ask this in
order to correctly guide you regarding which OS to eliminate. In other words, if
the original is corrupted in some way then the new installation should be saved.
Otherwise, the latest OS installed can be removed. Food for thought.

By the way, if both systems are okay he should presently be able to boot-up from
either OS, in order to evaluate their performances.

Another way to identify where the new OS is installed, is to open Windows
Explorer and check the folder names. A standard installation will be installed
in the C:\WINNT folder. An upgrade from Win98 will be installed in C:\WINDOWS.
The new install will be some variation of these names, such as C:\WINNT2 or
C:\WINDOWS2, etc.

In order to verify which folder is currently in use, open a command prompt
window and execute this command:

echo %windir%

Here's what we need first: A copy of the contents of his BOOT.INI file. This is
basically a text file. He'll have to use Copy & Paste to send you the info, then
you can paste it in a reply to this message. Be sure that he doesn't try to
retype all the info.

To obtain this info, do this: Click on Start > Run and then type C:\BOOT.INI and
click on OK. This should open the file in Notepad where the contents can be
copied from.

After we receive this info and you tell us which version you want to eliminate,
the new or the old, we'll give you the step-by-step procedure.

| My stepfather tried to to a system repair with windows 2000. It would not do
| a repair so he reinstalled windows. He now has 2 operating systems on his
| machine. Can one be removed and how or does he reformat and start over. If
| that is the case where is the best place to get step by step directions.
| Should he download drivers to a disk as well? He will not have access to the
| internet while his system is down. It is an older machine but the only one
| that is in the budget.

 

[Dave Patrick]

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

(Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want
to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very
important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive
controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later
you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver
for your drive controller in drive "A")

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Guest]

Thank you for all your help. He got his computer up and running. There was a
neighbor up the road who knew how to straighten out his problem. But I may be
back with more questions in the future. You guys are a great source of
knowledge and willing to share it in terms that I can understand. THANK YOU

 

[David Webb]

You're welcome....and thanks for the feedback!

Thank you for all your help. He got his computer up and running. There was a
neighbor up the road who knew how to straighten out his problem. But I may be
back with more questions in the future. You guys are a great source of
knowledge and willing to share it in terms that I can understand. THANK YOU