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old xp install won't go away


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#1
Jawabiscuit

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I'm not sure what to do about an old xp install that was on a partition that's currently removed/merged/etc. Are there any utilities out there to get rid of this thing? It's just kind of annoying, and it still show up when I reboot and I have to select which OS to run. :whistling:

Here's what won't work:
WinXP cd
add/remove programs
any other uninstaller i've tried
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#2
SRX660

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Was this old install still on the partition when you moved it? If so, do you have more than one windows folder on your "C" drive. You will have to determine which OS you are currently using and try deleting the other. Usually the old install will be the windows folder and any new installation folder will be called "Windows1" or "Winnt" or similar. This may not be the case since you merged partitions. You will have to find out. After deleting the 'correct' windows folder you will need to remove the Windows entry from the Boot.ini file.

To do this click Start>Control Panel>System. In System properties click the Advanced tab and press the Settings button in the Startup and recovery section.
In the Startup and Recovery settings window click the Edit button. The boot ini file will now open in Windows Notepad. before proceeding click File and then Save As and now rename the boot ini file to boot.inibak This is just as a precaution.

Now take a look at the boot ini file. It will have two entries for Windows XP. Remove the line which refers to the Windows installation you have just removed. You were asked in step 2 of this tutorial to make a note of the position - first or second - of the installation you booted to. If you booted to the first option on the boot menu you will need to remove the second line. If you booted to the second option on the menu you will need to remove the first line.

Now click File>Save As and save the file as Boot.ini. Exit Notepad.

Reboot your PC and you should boot to the XP desktop without windows asking you which os to boot to.

Unless you have data that you really want to save i would have started over and fdisked, formatted, and reinstalled XP on the computer. I have far fewer problems with clean installs than any other method. Any data that is important to you should be burnt to cd's or dvd's anyway. Its the only real way to keep data as hard drives can die and leave you with nothing.

SRX660
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#3
Jawabiscuit

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Thanks, that does help. I wound up reformatting the whole thing. I decided it was time. Now when I want to install SP2, because I have an SP1 disk, it decides to crash on reboot at the WindowsXP screen. What is there to do? I don't understand Windows! It's a big pain in the [bleep].
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#4
SRX660

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Uh, you kinda lost me on your answer. How are you trying to install SP2? Was this a downloaded file? I've done dozens of SP2 installs with no problems. I ALSO have one computer that would not install SP2 no matter what i tried. I even got a SP2 disk from microsoft and it still did not work. I finally just parted the computer out to other computer builds. The only thing left is the MB. I still have no idea why SP2 would not install. I have another computer with the same MB but a different processor and SP2 installed fine. Electronics, don't ya just love it.

The computer crashing tends to make me think the SP2 was downloaded and there is a corruption in the file. I would try redownloading the file and run it from your HD.

SRX660
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#5
Jawabiscuit

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Yeah, the real wierd thing is that my computer was running on SP2 for a long time before now. There was a time a reformat ago that it didn't want to take even then. I finally got it to work. However, it seemed like all I had to do was restart it a couple of times and it worked. It's only happening (the crash) after I install SP2 and subsequently have to reboot. It just doesnt' wanna take. I'll get by one way or another. It's like you and I said, it's just a pain in the [bleep].
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#6
wannabe1

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Hi Jawabiscuit...

Download This Version for IT professionals and save it to your hard drive. Burn it to a cd and hang on to it for future use if your XP installation CD does not contain it.

Run a System Restore to a date before you first tried to install SP2. Reboot again just to check the speed and stability...then install the downloaded IT version...preferrably running it from CD.

This may not be the answer, but it has gotten me past similar hurdles on occasion.

wannabe1
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#7
Jawabiscuit

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I can't do system restore because I cannot logon to Windows. It freezes on the WinXP screen with the loading bar. But I will try to install SP1 again from disk and then your version of SP2. I was wondering anyway what the IT version was before I downloaded the one I have. I had to download the one I have from another site because Microsoft makes it so hard to find on their site. I really hate going to their site.
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#8
Jawabiscuit

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Well, nothing seems to work. My computer doesn't like SP2.
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