[freakoverdose]

On my XP home edition I had a boat load of malware and the registry code was completely demolished and nothing would run. I would get so many popups and error messages I decided to reinstall windows.

I bought Xp professional and changed the boot sequence in my BIOS to run CD ROM first. It would never run the CD I had put in the CD ROM first and it would just load my windows. I was able to open the disc in my XP home and install professional. Now, when I boot my system it gives me the option to run the professional or my old home edition. It's still there!

How do I remove the Home version so I just have my professional?

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in your BIOS disable all boot devices except 0 which is your CDROM, then boot from CD and delete the partition which has the home version on.

if you still can't boot from CD get a USB CDROM and boot from that

[sandman01086]

in your BIOS disable all boot devices except 0 which is your CDROM, then boot from CD and delete the partition which has the home version on.

if you still can't boot from CD get a USB CDROM and boot from that

[freakoverdose]

I tried to disable them and it wouldn't let me. There is no other way to uninstall the other windows?

[sandman01086]

have you got a second computer? try taking out your hard drive and putting it in there, see if you can boot from CD from your second pc and format it that way. (back up your files first though) make sure you delete all partitions on there and start from scratch

[Ztruker]

Wait, don't delete or format anything yet.

What you did was a parallel install of XP Pro along side of XP Home. All you need to do is remove the entry for XP Home from boot.ini then delete it's directory structure on the hard drive (probably C:).

Press WinKey+R, type msconfig and press Enter
Click on the boot.ini tab. You will see a a default= and a couple entries under [operating systems].
Write down the path shown in the XP Home entry. It will look something like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition". The part you want is \WINDOWS as that is the name of the directory (folder) in the root of the C: drive that contains all the XP Home files. XP Pro is probably \WINDOWS.0.

Now delete the line for XP Home, leave XP Professional. Select XP Pro and click on the "Set as default" button.
Click Apply then OK.

Right click on the Start button and select Explore. Expand (click on the + next to) the C: drive. Find the directory that matches the name you wrote down. Right click on it and select Delete. Click Yes when asked if it's okay. Click All when asked.

I know this sounds complicated but it really isn't. If you have any questions, post the data from your boot.ini here and I or someone else can help you determine what to delete in it and also what directory structure on your boot (C: most likely) drive.

You can also create a batch file of the following code and run it to look at or change the boot.ini file. Select it all, then right click and select copy. Open Notepad then click on Edit / Paste. Click on File then Save. Save the file to the Desktop as "xboot.bat" (enclose in double quotes). Now you can double click on xboot.bat on the Desktop to look at or change boot.ini or copy it's contents to post here.

@echo offc:cd \attrib -s -h -r boot.iniif exist bootbk3.ini goto is321if exist bootbk2.ini goto is21if exist bootbk1.ini goto is1:is321copy /y bootbk2.ini bootbk1.ini &copy /y bootbk3.ini bootbk2.ini &copy /y boot.ini bootbk3.inigoto edit:is21copy boot.ini bootbk3.inigoto edit:is1copy boot.ini bootbk2.inigoto edit:is0copy boot.ini bootbk1.ini:editx boot.ini & attrib +s +h +r boot.ini

[freakoverdose]

It would not allow me to delete the XP home line. This is what I see:







I do not know how to delete the XP home line. Also, when I explore under C: I do not see the other windows directory. I only see one. Here:

[freakoverdose]

Ok I was able to delete the XP home line from the boot file in notepad.

However I the old xp files are still available.

When i go into documents and settings I still have access to the XP account documents and all the pictures and video I had saved in that windows. Now, I backed them up before I even installed PRO onto an external. All the program files from XP Home are also in the Program files folder for PRO but do not show up in the start menu.

[freakoverdose]

Ok I also noticed that all document folders in my PRO are attached to my D:HP RECOVERY drive. Whatever that is. It keeps giving me warnings saying that that drive is full. I cannot save anymore pictures because PRO is saving them to D.


ugh. I just wanted to WIPE everything and install PRO. Thats all I wanted to do. Now it's all messed up.

[123Runner]

Reverify in your bios that you have "boot from cd" first.
Completely turn the comp off and restart. It should boot from cd. You might get a message that states "boot from cd hit any key" Make sure you do that.
If successful, the cd will start loading some files and find the other OS. Delete that partition. I would probably leave the HP restore partione alone.

[sandman01086]

the HP restore partition is what some computer manufacturer's put on their computers so you can retrieve files in case you have problems, I find it best to leave well alone and back up any files normally

[The Skeptic]

What were you aiming to in the first place? If you intended to reformat and start afresh with XP pro then you chose the best option. Don't get yourself involved with parallel installations, just start from the beginning.

Set the BIOS to boot first from the CD drive. Please note that you have about 5 seconds to push any key after the message "push any key to continue", is shown. If you miss the timing the computer will boot from your old OS. If the computer doesn't boot from the CD:

1: Insert your new xp pro disk to another computer and try to run setup. If not successfull then something might be wrong with the new disk. If Setup starts, follow the instructions and quit the installation (press F3 when given the option). No harm will be done to the other computer. If not successfull:

2: Take the hard disk out, connect it as slave to another computer (make sure to set the jumpers correctly) and reboot. Go to My Computer, right click the icon of the attached disk and choose format. After the format ends take it back to your computer and run full installation of XP Pro.

If you have your data backed up, scan the storage devices in which it's stored with good antimalware programs to make sure you removed all malware, otherwise you may import it back into your computer!