XP installed twice on same partition - how to uninstall one of the

[Guest]

during the installation of my xp, an error occurred so that i had to start
the whole thing all over again. the system interpreted this as a new
installation. so now i have two windows xp os on my drive. each time i boot,
i am asked which of the two os i want to use, xp or xp? how can i delete
one of the two os? on c: i have got a directory c:windows and one named
c:windows.0. how can i know which of the two will be deleted if i delete one
of them? how do i find out which one is active now or where all my settings
are stored, because i always used the first in the list when i booted.

pleeeease help me!

 

[bxf]

Well, you can't really have more than one Windows installed on the same
drive, unless you specifically provided an alternate name for one of
them. i.e., you cannot have two directories called "Windows" on the
same drive.

I'd have a look at my C drive to see if there is anything there which
looks like it doesn't belong - my guess is that you won't find
anything. Then, you need to change your boot.ini file in order to
remove the reference to the non-existent OS.

You can do this using NOTEPAD, but if you make a mistake you can render
your system non-bootable. You can also maniulate this file in
legitimate ways, like from one of tehtabs hanging off the System
Properties window (Windows key + Break) and perhaps even frm MSCONFIG,
I'm not sure and I cannot verify now.

If you use NOTEPAD, simply remove the appropriate line. Since, in your
case, both installs were the same, then I'd expect both lines in your
boot.ini file to be identical, in which case you should be able to
delete either one. If they are not equal, post back here with the
contents.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Check All Boot Paths

Start | Run | Type: msconfig | OK |
Boot.ini tab | Check All Boot Paths button |
A dialog box will open detailing the location of any invalid operating
system locations | Confirm you want to remove the entry and reboot

[[Check All Boot Paths - This button will check the boot paths for all
operating systems listed in the BOOT.INI to ensure they point to a valid
operating system. ]]

Picture of Msconfig
http://www.winnetmag.com/Files/16/20784/msconfig.gif

If there is only one you will get:
It appears that all BOOT.INI lines for Microsoft operating systems are OK.
-----

I have two installations of XP on the same partition
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html

Scroll down to and expand...
20. I have two installations of XP on the same partition.......


[[You reinstalled Windows XP on your computer thinking it would overwrite
the existing version of Windows XP and now there are two copies when you
boot up. Crap! What to do now? Not to worry, here's the solution.]]
http://www.cyberwalker.net/faqs/reinstall-reformat-winxp/two-copies-xp.html

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Check All Boot Paths

Start | Run | Type: msconfig | OK |
Boot.ini tab | Check All Boot Paths button |
A dialog box will open detailing the location of any invalid operating
system locations | Confirm you want to remove the entry and reboot

[[Check All Boot Paths - This button will check the boot paths for all
operating systems listed in the BOOT.INI to ensure they point to a valid
operating system. ]]

Picture of Msconfig
http://www.winnetmag.com/Files/16/20784/msconfig.gif

If there is only one you will get:
It appears that all BOOT.INI lines for Microsoft operating systems are OK.
-----

I have two installations of XP on the same partition
http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html

Scroll down to and expand...
20. I have two installations of XP on the same partition.......


[[You reinstalled Windows XP on your computer thinking it would overwrite
the existing version of Windows XP and now there are two copies when you
boot up. Crap! What to do now? Not to worry, here's the solution.]]
http://www.cyberwalker.net/faqs/reinstall-reformat-winxp/two-copies-xp.html

The information on the cyberwaker.net site refers to two installations
of XP on two SEPARATE partitions.

Installing XP twice on the same partition confuses things drastically.
The two installations of XP will have the same Programs folder, the
same Documents and settings folder, and possibly the same Windows
folder. This really confuses things.

To fix your OS so that there is only ONE installation of XP on a
single partition will require the wipe of your System Partition, and
"clean" install of XP, making sure you delete all partitions, and
create a new one to install XP on. I advise you to make this System
Partition at least 10 gig. Larger would be better, especially if you
have many large programs.

Unless you back up your programs and data files on a separate
partition or other block device such as a CD or DVD, you will lose all
data on the HD.

Donald L McDaniel
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