[Canus]

this morning i noticed that i was having a few problems with the computer. slow start up. errors. etc. I told my kid brother that i would fix it when i come home ( being in a hurry for work) anyway some time throughout the day he got the idea that he would fix it himself. he has seen me fix a few problems repairing the files with my windows media center cd, and he decided to take it upon himself to try. now dont ask me how he managed this but he somehow snapped my cd on the very short distance from my desktop to my cd drive. This is why you can sence a little frustration and anger in my post.

he got a windows cd from a neighbour and installed a new copy or atleast partially installed it. now whenever i start up windows i get the good old blue screen of death. now if i push a button before the BSOD i have the chance to load my original windows.

if possible i would love to be able to uninstall the new windows and keep my old windows. Its not even like i can just format with my windows MCE as he is utterly useless, any help would be appreciated

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What button do you hit to boot the appripriate OS? Does the system give you the option to boot the partial Installation from your brother and the genuine installation u were trying to repair? Your rsponse wld determine that advise u get.

Cheers.

[defmonk]

What button do you hit to boot the appripriate OS? Does the system give you the option to boot the partial Installation from your brother and the genuine installation u were trying to repair? Your rsponse wld determine that advise u get.

Cheers.

[piper]

Hi Canus. You can all Microsoft at (800) 360-7561 to order replacement media. See Microsoft article 326246 for additional support options. If you're planning to keep this system for a while, it's to your benefit to get another disk.

[Canus]

What button do you hit to boot the appripriate OS? Does the system give you the option to boot the partial Installation from your brother and the genuine installation u were trying to repair? Your rsponse wld determine that advise u get.

Cheers.

im not exactly sure the button i push, if i just leave it it loads the one that wont work, i usually try to pust f8 but i think anything works fine and yes, the system gives me the option to boot both the genuine windows MCE and the window professional he installed

[defmonk]

If you're ablt to boot the right OS, then myabe editing the boot.ini file on the OS home drive will solve your problem. If your OS was installed on C drive, locate the file boot.ini on the C drive. It's usually hidden so you gotta unhide it first.

Be careful what you do to the file, if you mess it up, your OS may be doomed. If you're familiar with the file, then just remove the entry for the partially installed OS and default the loader to the correct OS. If you're not familiar with it, then copy the content and paste here so I can help you modify. You should backup the old one though.

Cheers.

[wannabe1]

Hi Canus...

Open Control Panel and double click the "System" icon. Under the "Advanced" tab, in the "Startup and Recovery" section, click the "Settings" button. In the window that opens, click on the "Edit" button...a notepad window will open (boot.ini). Copy and Paste the contents of that window here for us.

wannabe1

[Canus]

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

[Canus]

yah im kinda of knowledgable with this, but i dont trust myself to attempt it on my own, ill leave that to the professionals.

[wannabe1]

Just so I'm completely clear on this, you want the MCE to be the operating system that starts, correct?

[defmonk]

Replace the boot.ini file with the one below (ensure u backup the previous one!):


[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

[wannabe1]

defmonk...All that's done is to select the default operating system. There are a couple other entries that need to be addressed, as well.

Canus...If it IS the MCE that you want to start, open the boot.ini file as you did before, copy the red text below, delete everything in the current boot.ini file and paste in the edited version I've provided.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Then navigate to the C: directory and delete the Windows.0 folder.

Reboot.

[defmonk]

I don't wanna take chances on this fellow unintentionally deleting a vital file....I also had a situation where I modified the boot.ini file and OS refused to come up . Following my advice wld ensure that his problems get solved...I admit that yours is a better option tho'.

CHeers.

[Canus]

Just so I'm completely clear on this, you want the MCE to be the operating system that starts, correct?

correct

[Canus]

kinda confused mates. whos advice do i follow lol

[wannabe1]

Follow mine...