[bwhit22]

I recently bought a used laptop that came with Windows 2000. I installed Windows XP Home Edition on to it, and it made me install it as a clean installation. For some reason it wouldn't let me upgrade - said not supported. Anyhow, now I have Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating systems on my computer. I boot into Windows XP.

Is this bad for my computer? Do I need to remove the Windows 2000 system, and if so, how do I go about that?

I don't have too much computer knowledge and don't want to screw this up!

Thanks!
Bwhit22

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Hi bwhit22...Welcome to G2G!

Having a second operating system on a computer is not necesarily bad, but it does take up quite a bit of space on the drive. The removal procedure is not really that difficult even though it looks really complicated when you first read it. I'll post the instructions for you and you can decide whether the 2000 goes or stays.

Start the Windows operating system that you want to keep.

To determine the Windows folder that you want to keep...click Start then Run and type %windir%...then click "OK". Remember the folder that is opened. For example, the folder may be C:\Windows.

Note This is your "working" Windows folder. Do not delete or remove this folder from the partition.

In Windows Explorer, find the Windows folder that you want to remove.

Important Make sure that this folder is NOT the folder that you identified as your "working" Windows folder in the above step.

Right click the Windows folder that you want to remove, and then click "Delete".
Click "Yes" to confirm the deletion of the folder.
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. The "Startup and Recovery" dialog box appears.
Under System startup, click Edit to modify the Boot.ini file.

The Boot.ini file opens in Notepad and looks similar to the following:

[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="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
/fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows 2000"
/fastdetect

On the File menu in Notepad, click Save As, and then save a backup copy of the Boot.ini file that is named Boot.old.
On the File menu, click Exit to close the backup copy of the Boot.ini file.

In the Startup and Recovery dialog box, under System startup, click Edit to reopen the Boot.ini file.
In the [boot loader] section of the Boot.ini file, identify and then delete the line of text for the Windows operating system that you want to remove. For example, if the Windows folder that you removed in earlier was for the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system, remove the following line of text from the Boot.ini file:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows 2000"
/fastdetect

On the File menu, click Save to save your changes to the Boot.ini file.
On the File menu, click Exit to close the Boot.ini file.
Click Ok to close the Startup and Recovery dialog box.
Restart your computer.

Let us know how you fare...

wannabe1

Edited by wannabe1, 13 November 2005 - 09:43 PM.

[wannabe1]

Hi bwhit22...Welcome to G2G!

Having a second operating system on a computer is not necesarily bad, but it does take up quite a bit of space on the drive. The removal procedure is not really that difficult even though it looks really complicated when you first read it. I'll post the instructions for you and you can decide whether the 2000 goes or stays.

Start the Windows operating system that you want to keep.

To determine the Windows folder that you want to keep...click Start then Run and type %windir%...then click "OK". Remember the folder that is opened. For example, the folder may be C:\Windows.

Note This is your "working" Windows folder. Do not delete or remove this folder from the partition.

In Windows Explorer, find the Windows folder that you want to remove.

Important Make sure that this folder is NOT the folder that you identified as your "working" Windows folder in the above step.

Right click the Windows folder that you want to remove, and then click "Delete".
Click "Yes" to confirm the deletion of the folder.
Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
On the Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. The "Startup and Recovery" dialog box appears.
Under System startup, click Edit to modify the Boot.ini file.

The Boot.ini file opens in Notepad and looks similar to the following:

[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="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
/fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows 2000"
/fastdetect

On the File menu in Notepad, click Save As, and then save a backup copy of the Boot.ini file that is named Boot.old.
On the File menu, click Exit to close the backup copy of the Boot.ini file.

In the Startup and Recovery dialog box, under System startup, click Edit to reopen the Boot.ini file.
In the [boot loader] section of the Boot.ini file, identify and then delete the line of text for the Windows operating system that you want to remove. For example, if the Windows folder that you removed in earlier was for the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system, remove the following line of text from the Boot.ini file:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS.0="Microsoft Windows 2000"
/fastdetect

On the File menu, click Save to save your changes to the Boot.ini file.
On the File menu, click Exit to close the Boot.ini file.
Click Ok to close the Startup and Recovery dialog box.
Restart your computer.

Let us know how you fare...

wannabe1

Edited by wannabe1, 13 November 2005 - 09:43 PM.