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Duplicate operating system

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by mike devon, 2008/04/24.

  1. 2008/04/24
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I have an old Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop, I have recently had to reinstall Windows XP Home because of a problem the first time i did it there were questions about partitions and NTFS i just accepted default, however i still had problems with getting on the internet, so reinstalled it again.
    Every thing is working fine now and all updates done, however my hard drive seems to be quite full and every time i start up i get a black screen white writing asking me to choose my operating system both of which are Windows XP Home, i have 30 seconds to decide, i always let it just run and it then starts up ok, question could i have loaded XP twice on to my hard drive and in different formats? and if so how do i keep the good copy and get rid of the other one?
     
    mike devon,
    #1
  2. 2008/04/24
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Yes - easily done if you don't read each setup screen carefully :)
    No - the drive, if a single partition will be formatted either NTFS or FAT32, not both.

    How many copies of the Windows folder have you and what are their names?

    Post your boot.ini file here for us to look at .....

    In Windows Explorer enable through Tools > Folder Options > View - Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide protected operating system files.

    boot.ini is in C:\Windows - right click > Open. Opens in Notepad - copy & paste here.

    Reset the View options you changed.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2008/04/25
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Hi PeteC Have had trouble pasting notepad document to this forum.

    [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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS= "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
    I hope I've got this right, just to confirm when I power up I accept as default the first line when it offers which operating system I want, have never down arrowed to the second choice, also confirm that when it is up and running everything is working well. Regards Mike Devon
     
    mike devon,
    #3
  5. 2008/04/25
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    This is interesting and your original question re. formats now has some meaning :)

    According to your boot.ini you have two copies of Windows on 2 separate partions - so a different format for each partition (NTFS/FAT32) is possible.

    When you reinstalled Windows you created a new partion - unless the second partition already existed - and installed it there.

    The installation which is the default is shown in blue below ....

    When you look in Windows Explorer how many drives do you see ?

    I would anticipate C:\, D:\ and E:\ - no floppy I think, but that would be A:\ anyway, where either D:\ or E:\ is your DVD/CD drive.

    Please confirm the drive letter of the DVD/CD drive.

    Then go to Start > Run > type in diskmgmt.msc > Enter

    Disk Management opens - what are the drive letter of the first and second partitions?

    Give me this info and we can proceed.
     
    PeteC,
    #4
  6. 2008/04/28
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Windows explorer = main "c" cd drive "d "
    diskmgmt.msc reads across Volume = (c:). Layout = Partition. Type = basic.
    File System = NTFS. Status = healthy (S... Capacity = 37.21GB. free Space = 30.64GB. Free = 82%. Fault Tolerance = No. Overhead = o%

    Below there is a box with a black line above, in it 47mb unallocated and to the right of that a further box with a blue line above in that is37-21GB NTFS Healthy System.
     
    mike devon,
    #5
  7. 2008/04/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Thanks for the info - I get the picture :)

    As far as I can see you have only one copy of Windows installed, but you didn't answer this earlier question
    - in Windows Explorer?

    The disk layout in Disk Management is very strange - 47 Mb unallocated at the start of the drive is very odd - probably the result of your various installation attempts. Unallocated indicates that that part of the drive is not formatted, is not a partition and is not seen by the Operating System. Thus your ~84 Gb drive is seen by Windows as a ~37 Gb drive which would explain your comment about lack of disk space.

    It is easy enough to convert the unallocated space into a partition and reclaim the 47 GB, but I would have concerns about doing that with the System drive at the end. In general the System drive must be at the start of the drive to function. Although your's is at the end of the drive the first part is unallocated and not seen by the OS and is therefore OK.

    Before we proceed any further I will seek a second opinion - so hold fire.

    To minimise the wait for the default Windows to load go .....

    Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Startup and Recovery - Settings and at the top of the Window change 'Time to display a list of operating systems' from 30 secs to 5 secs. This will knock 25 secs off the startup time yet still retain the opportunity to change the OS from the boot screen.
     
    PeteC,
    #6
  8. 2008/04/28
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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    Pardon me Pete but aren't you mixing GB with MB? Mike said 47 mb unallocated. That's not all that unusual. I think he likely has a 40 Gig drive.

    If there is only a single Windows system directory and no other Windows0 or similar directory, editing the bootloader line out of the boot.ini file for the second partition should put the box back in shape.

    From the boot.ini file, it is obvious that at one time there was a second partition on the primary drive. From what mike reports that diskmgmt shows, there is only one partition currently. It would be a stretch to consider the 47 unallocated megs as having been the former second partition but stranger things have happened. ;)
     
    surferdude2,
    #7
  9. 2008/04/28
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Well spotted - my bad :)
     
    PeteC,
    #8
  10. 2008/04/28
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    PeteC I can find only one folder labeled Windows and that in "C" in my computer. When I go into Internet Explorer it goes into My Documents no folder labeled Windows.
    When I go into My Computer > right click local disc "c" besides Windows folder there are two folders one is labeled All Users Windows and the other is labeled Default User Windows ( It is Faded Out ) don't know if this is important. Mike
     
    mike devon,
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  11. 2008/04/30
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    It seems clear that you do not have 2 copies of Windows installed so the boot.ini can be edited to remove the second entry.

    Before I go into that there are some things I am not following ....
    I think you mean left double click - right click brings up a menu - but what is puzzling me is ...
    Besides the Windows folder there should be several others as shown red lined in the screenshot - there may be more depending on what you have installed, but Documents and Settings and Program files are standard Windows folders. Documents and Settings will contain at least a folder for your user account labelled with your user name and an All Users folder.

    I have never seen All Users Windows or Default User Windows folders and can't think that Home is any different in this respect from Pro which I use, but I could be mistaken. However you say that the computer is running OK - so :confused:

    Before we edit the boot.ini to remove the possibly phantom install please reboot and select the second option in the loading screen - that is the second operating system offered and see what happens. If the boot fails power down the computer and reboot and select the first operating system.

    Let me know what happens ....
     

    Attached Files:

    PeteC,
    #10
  12. 2008/05/02
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Duplicated Operating System

    Pete C Have checked there is only one windows folder, I was looking at it in tiles instead of details.
    Have powered up on second choice of Windows XP and get the following msg
    "Windows could not start because of a computer disc hardware configuration problem "
    "Could not read from the selected boot disc check boot path and disc hardware" Mike Devon
     
    mike devon,
    #11
  13. 2008/05/02
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    OK - the second 'OS' is a phantom .....

    Read the notes below very carefully and follow to the letter ....

    In Windows Explorer - Tools Folder > Options > View and check 'Show hidden files & folders and uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files ...' and uncheck 'Hide extensions for known file types' > OK

    Navigate to the C:\ drive and right click on boot.ini > Open.

    boot.ini opens in Notepad

    Click on File > Save as and save it as bootold.ini

    Close Notepad

    Right click again on boot.ini and open in Notepad

    Delete ......

    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS= "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect

    Your boot.ini should then read .....

    [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 Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

    Click on File > Save and close Notepad

    Restore the settings you changed under Tools > Folder Options > View above and reboot.

    Windows should then boot up without a choice of operating system.
     
    PeteC,
    #12
  14. 2008/05/02
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Pete C I think I am following your instructions correctly, all goes well until I come to the last save, msg comes up " cannot create the c:\boot.ini file make sure the path and file name are correct" I have tried several times and it seems to think the file already exists which I suppose it does in c: drive
    Sorry about this Mike
     
    mike devon,
    #13
  15. 2008/05/02
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The file does indeed exist, but you are editing it as you would a Word document - I can't fathom out for the moment why it will not save.

    Just check that it has not somehow inherited the 'read only' attribute .....

    Right click on boot.ini in C:\ drive > Properties - if Read only is checked uncheck it and try again.
     
    PeteC,
    #14
  16. 2008/05/03
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Duplicated Operating System

    Pete C Have done that and it worked fine and all systems are go.
    Do I need to go back in again and retick the read box in Properties? Mike Devon
     
    mike devon,
    #15
  17. 2008/05/03
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Mike

    Glad to hear it worked out - yes, go back and recheck the read only box in boot.ini properties. I checked my desktop and laptop boot.ini's and the laptop was read only - I dont't fiddle with that, but the desktop was not read only - clearly I fiddled with that at some time :)

    Also remember to reset the files view as I mentioned in post #12
     
    PeteC,
    #16
  18. 2008/05/04
    mike devon

    mike devon Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Pete C Every thing is working fine, I would like to thank you for your support and patience during this work through, I have learnt a little more and gained some confidence, your efforts are much appreciated, Thank you Mike Devon
     
    mike devon,
    #17

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