[John Rickert]

I have been gone for awhile and am back with probably more problems. I have tried alll the suggestions that were given to me and still am not running properly. THe system reboots about every 10 minutes now.

On the way in on boot up prior to the Windows XP screen I get the following message:

Please select and operation system.

I have two choices and they are both the same. THey are Windows XP professional.

I guess I have installed a second op system.

Once in, I select a dos prompt and type format c:

It says you will lose data and I say yes.

I then get a message saying the following. Format cannot run because the volumn is in use by another process. Format may run if this volumn is dismounted first. I say yes to the dismount question and it says it can't do it.

How can I get beyond this?

I really want to format and start all over. John

[Advertisements]

Howdy:

You need to boot using your XP cd.. You will get an option to Remove All Psrtitions (along with a couple others).. Use that option to wipe all partitions from your hdd.. Once that is done, you will get another option to choose where you want to install XP.. Pick your c: drive and follow the prompts from there..

Murray

[Murray S.]

Howdy:

You need to boot using your XP cd.. You will get an option to Remove All Psrtitions (along with a couple others).. Use that option to wipe all partitions from your hdd.. Once that is done, you will get another option to choose where you want to install XP.. Pick your c: drive and follow the prompts from there..

Murray

[Linkmaster]

Hi John Rickert, Welcome to GTG !!

Do you have the XP CD ??

try this :

Go to Start, right click My Computer, select Properties
Click on Advanced, in the Startup and Recovery section click on Settings
Click on Edit

Notepad will open and it will look like this :

[boot loader]
timeout=3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

Post here what shows up in Notepad.

Edited by Linkmaster, 05 December 2005 - 11:36 AM.

[Linkmaster]

Sorry Murray S.,

Posted at the same time !!

[John Rickert]

When I boot from the XP CD, I get 4 options. Which one do I pick to see the partition info you mention?

[John Rickert]

Here it is.

[Boot Loader]
Timeout=5
Default=C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT
[Operating Systems]
signature(52e052d)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Setup"

[dsenette]

what are the 4 options you get after booting from the cd?

(just for info purposes....doing linkmaster's steps will solve the problem of removing the other os from the "select your os to boot from" screen...but it won't get rid of the second version of xp on your system)

[John Rickert]

The four options are:

Install Win XP
Install optiona Win components
Perform additional Tasks
Check sys compatability.

By the way, to edit the boot, how much do I remove?

Thanks for all your help. This is kind of fun as I am learning a few things but what a frustrating set of events.

[Murray S.]

Howdy:

Sounds like you have a Recovery/Restore cd rather than a retail XP cd.. What is the make of your system??

Murray

[John Rickert]

I have a clone from a company in San Diego. It is a pentium 4 with the usual hard drive, floppy, zip drive, USB ports and a dial up modem.

The CD is a CD I used to upgrade from Win 98 I believe. I hope I don't have to go buy an XP OP SYS.

John

[dsenette]

what does the cd say on it?

[John Rickert]

Windows XP Pro Corporate. Maybe I need to reformat, install Win 98 and then install my xp pro. Is this an option?

[dsenette]

did you get those 4 options after putting the cd in...while you were logged into windows?

[John Rickert]

Yes

[dsenette]

ah...there's the deal.....put the cd in the drive....reboot the machine and enter your bios...(usually either by hitting f2 or del during boot)...make sure to set your cdrom as the first device in the boot order...save t he changes (this will cause the machine to reboot)..press any key..when it tells you to press any key to boot from cd...