witsend said:
Hello all. I have a silly little problem that has a simple solution to be
sure, but I'll be darned if I can come up with it. Basically, I have
downloaded the setup files from the windows xp disc and now when I turn on
the computer, its giving me the option to start windows as I normally
would,
or to start windows xp setup, which will invariably mess up the machine if
others in the family stumble across this option. Where oh where are these
setup files on my machine and how do I get rid of them?
Thank you muchly!
witsend said:
Hello Rich and thank you. You are correct to some extent. I am having
issues with a hard drive that is not being recognized beyond 137 GB. I am
aware of the plethora of reasons why this could happen. However, none
apply
here. I was going to try to repartition the drive with the xpSP2 disc,
however it doesn't seem to have that option. Only the original xp disc
(which does not have any of the service packs) can be used for this
purpose.
Its a long story but basically no matter what I do, I can't partition this
thing beyond 137 GB. Even using my installed version of xp which has all
the
service packs and updates proves fruitless. It should be seeing the whole
drive but it is not.
At any rate, I will try your suggestion to remove the setup files. Will
let
you know how things go.
Thanks again.
witsend said:
Ok, I tried it and the end result was that the options given are now:
Windows xp professional
Windows (default)
before it was:
Windows xp setup
Windows xp professional
The exact wording may be wrong, but you get the idea.
I selected Windows (default) to see what happens and it went into Windows
setup again. Maybe I can use msconfig to change the boot order around a
little?
Right now it shows under the boot.ini tab:
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=c:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
I really hate this thing because one slip of the finger could kill my
machine. That much I know. Any suggestions?
witsend said:
Ok used system restore and now the Boot.ini tab in msconfig shows the same
except ...
timeout=30
and
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
I guess the default change did the trick as the choose operating system
option no longer shows.
Thanks for setting me in the right direction.
witsend:
It's good that Rich helped you to correct your boot.ini file to eliminate
the superfluous entry. Just one minor point...you may want to consider
changing the "Timeout" entry to something like 3, instead of 30. It's not
terribly important but it should save you a fraction of time during bootup
of your system.
More importantly - re your problem with the 137 GB HDD limitation...
There are two basic requirements for Windows XP to recognize the full
capacity of large-capacity hard drives, i.e., hard disks having a capacity
greater than 137 GB...
1. Your mainboard's BIOS must support large-capacity disks, and,
2. The XP operating system must contain SP1 and/or SP2 at the time the
large-capacity HDD is installed.
1. Assuming your mainboard's BIOS supports large-capacity disks, i.e., hard
drives greater than 137 GB, the Windows XP operating system that does *not*
include SP1/SP2 at the time the large-capacity HDD is installed will
recognize *only* a maximum capacity of 137 GB (actually 137 billion bytes
which translates into approx. 128 GB). Should the disk have a greater
capacity, the remaining disk space will *not* be recognized by the XP
operating system. If, on the other hand, the XP installation disk contained
SP1 or SP2 at the time of the OS installation, then the full capacity of the
disk would be recognized.
Keep in mind that in any event, your mainboard's BIOS *must* support
large-capacity disks. If it does not, then installing SP1 or SP2 will *not*,
in and of itself, provide this support. Virtually all mainboards
manufactured over the past five years or so support large-capacity disks. If
the mainboard is an older one not providing this support, frequently a BIOS
upgrade to provide large-capacity disk capability is available from the
mainboard's manufacturer.
2. So assuming your mainboard supports large-capacity disks...
If you installed an XP OS that did *not* include SP1 and/or SP2 at the time
a large-capacity (160 GB or greater) was installed, the system would
recognize only up to 137 GB, (usually about 128 GB in binary terms). If &
when SP1 and/or SP2 is *subsequently* installed, the full capacity of that
disk will be recognized (again
assuming that your motherboard's BIOS supports large-capacity disks) -- the
137 GB that was partitioned/formatted when XP was originally installed, and
the remaining disk space which will be reflected as "unallocated space" --
disk space that you can subsequently partition/format using XP's Disk
Management utility (Start | right-click My Computer | Manage | Disk
Management). Note that this will be a second partition on the disk.
Assuming you can live with a HDD containing two (or more) partitions - fine.
However, the only way to create a single partition of the large-capacity
disk at this point - should that be your desire - would be through a
third-party partition management program such as Partition Magic or some
other program designed for that purpose. Or you could simply start over and
make a fresh install of the XP OS (including SP1 and/or SP2). Obviously this
would delete *all* the data currently residing on your HDD so for most users
this would not be a practical option.
Anna
