2 versions of Win2K?

I tried to install the latest "fiixit" from Microsoft for Win2K. I did not have enough disc space to install all files, so had to uninstall, but as warned. changes had already been made so that the computer would not boot. So I made a new installation of Win2K.Now boots OK and all seems to be working fine. However, the damaged version of Win2K or parts thereof are still in the computer. On bootup, I am given the choice of choosing 2 versions. The default version is the one that works, but the second choice is the nonworking version. How can I get rid of this annoying choice ( and the corrupted file(s)). Compaq Presario with 512 RAM , Pentium 1.

 

You can stop the "bad version" from showing up at boot time by editing boot.ini and removing the line that points to it.

For the rest, details please.
- Did you install the new version over the old one or did you put a 2nd install in a different place?
- Do you have your Hd partitioned?
- If partitioned, how are you for space on each partition and where is your pagefile located?

If you installed the new over the old, you may not have to do anything other than edit the boot.ini file.

If you installed to a new location, you MAY be able to just remove WINNT/Windows and run with just WINNT.000/Windows.000.

OTOH, if it were my PC, I'd be real tempted to backup personal files and start over with a format/install to get a clean system. If you have several partitions, you could simply format the system partition and do the install. Nothing in the data partition would have been touched.

 

Thanks. I'm comfortable editing .ini files, etc., but I haven't done this sort of thing in Win2K. Can you walk me through this?
HD is not partitioned. HD is only 1.5 G or so.
Install was over the previous version. That's why I'm confused that I still have the option of using it. It's no good as it is, so why let me choose it?

 

Oh , in regards to formatting, etc. , I would but this PC will be replaced by a more modern PC in a week or so, at which time I will be starting all over from scratch. Didn't feel like doing it twice in such a short time.

 

The boot.ini file will be in C:\. Probably set to read-only and hidden.

I'm an old DOS fan and the easiest for me to cure this is still a DOS window and

attrib -r -a -s -h c:\boot.ini

which will open the file up for you.

Then any text editor and take a look at it. It is a very simple file and you should be able to see the line marked as "default" and the line below that that matches. Keep those.

The other (older and bad) version will be the remaining line. Just delete it and save the file.

For Example, here is one of my boot.ini files

[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

If there were other entries, I could just remove them. Also, and just for fun, the "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" is just for display and can be changed to anything that suits you.

And BTW - you could also cure yours by setting timeout=0 which would prevent the whole choice screen from popping up to annoy you.

 

Thanks Newt! I knew you were a good ole DOS kind of guy from your other postings. All is well now.
Long live batch files, and all that other good DOS stuff!

 

Glad you got it working.

And when I said I was "an old DOS guy ", I meant old guy and DOS fan.

GUIs are pretty but there are still things that are just plain easier to do from a cmd prompt - even on 2K/XP.