Windows Vista Removing Windows XP from a dual-boot configuration with Vista

I had XP on my C IDE drive, I intalled a new SATA HDD and put Vista on. Of course, this new SATA HDD became the C drive with Vista on and XP is now on the D IDE drive. I tried to remove XP with no success. I just realized that Vista installed the mbr on the original C drive; that is, the new D IDE Drive with XP on it ???

So I don't need XP anymore and I want to reformat this D drive, how can I go about it?

THX,

Z

 

Set your SATA as the boot drive and only drive in the computer and then boot from the Vista DVD and when you get to the install screen click the option in the bottom left "Repair Your Computerâ€. It will run a check and either find the one OS and stop with just two options buttons at the bottom of that box "“ Load Drivers and Next "“ choose Next. Or it will pop up another box offering to repair startup problems, if it does this then don’t accept and click No to get back to the first box and then click Next on it.

From the list of options choose Command Prompt and then type in these commands and hit enter after each one

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /rebuildbcd

That last one should find just one OS, accept to add it to the boot list.

Reboot.



(Edit:- Just a note for anyone coming across this topic. My above instructions are incomplete and you should continue reading the thread).

 

Removing XP from a dual-boot...

I read a lot about this on Microsoft forums but there were many mixed and contradictory instructions so I haven't tried it yet and, here you come with crystal clear info. I'll certainly proceed with it later on this evening, thx a million, I'll keep you posted,




z

 

Removing XP from a dual-boot config...

Just to make sure you got a clear picture of my situation, I've previously set the SATA C drive as the default boot drive in the bios, I've set Vista as the default OS in Startup/Advanced Parameters/System and I've installed VistaBootLoader with VistaBootPro 3.3 on my C SATA drive... and still I couldn't reformat the D IDE drive with XP on it.


z

 

I would say that the Vista install to the sata drive did not mark the Vista partition as Active and so the bios is finding that hard drive to be unbootable and so choosing the next available drive that is bootable, which means you are still booting through the IDE drive. Look in Disk Management and see if the Vista partition is marked as Active. Also check which drives/partitions are marked as System and Boot. I bet the IDE drive is marked as System and the Vista install marked as Boot.

While you are there best mark the Vista partition as Active. Just right click on it and choose that option from the menu. I think this will be necessary for some of the bootrec commands to work.

Makes no difference either way to what you want to do.

If as I think you are still booting through the IDE drive. Then this would have merely reinstalled the VistaBootLoader component on the IDE drive over the top of the existing one, so would have made no changes to the system.

Let us know what Disk Management shows before you go ahead with all this.


Also, I think I have overlooked one boot component. There are 4 things that need to be in place for Vista to boot by itself. The bootrec commands take care of 3 of them, the 4th "“ the bootmgr file "“ will also need to be placed inside Vista. You can do this yourself before you start by making a copy from the one on the IDE drive. Or, after you have run all the bootrec commands you can reboot from the DVD to the options screen again where you choose the Command Prompt, and this time select the first option on the list "“ startup repair. That will do it.

Something else I’ve just thought of, as it’s a SATA drive you may well have to load your sata/raid drivers as you are booting from the Vista DVD so that it can see the drive. Do you know how to do this.

Before you go ahead, let me just do all this myself on a test rig. Not sure if I’ve done it all in this order with a SATA drive before. Give me an hour or so.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

 

Ok, you do need to mark the Vista partition as Active before you start, otherwise two of the bootrec commands won’t recognise the partition. Also, copy the bootmgr file over yourself before you begin. I just tried all this with both a sata drive as the second drive and an IDE drive as the second drive. With the IDE drive the Startup Repair did replace bootmgr. With the sata drive it would not, even thought it correctly reported that it was missing.

One other thing (have you lost faith in me yet?) The rebuildbcd command replaces the BCD and the BOOT folder that the bcd lives in, but it does not duplicate the other contents of the boot folder. None of it is absolutely essential, but before you format the XP partition you can copy over what’s not there in the Vista boot folder. You only need the folder for your language "“ en-US probably. Don’t bother with the BCD.LOGs as they won’t match the new BCD that is now in Vista.

Later.



Last word: Nothing here will do any damage to your Vista, so if it does not work just connect your IDE back up as you had it and Vista will boot as before.
I AM off to bed this time.

 

Life is a Mystery

You were right on almost all counts... you are pretty hot stuff man... you were right, Disk management was seeing D IDE drive with XP as System and C SATA drive with Vista as Boot but since bootmgr was not availabe on C, the system was booting with the D IDE drive with XP boot files.
Of course, I had forgotten to set the C SATA drive with Vista as Active so that's why all prompt commands didn't work in the first place when trying to bootrec/fix things up and worked perfectly afterwise... and the Startup Repair option did in fact make a new bootmgr file on the C SATA drive with Vista which now boots on its own perfectly, now here's where you were wrong.

I didn't have to load the SATA drivers for the operation to work
It's better to simply disconnect all other drives before starting this procedure
VistaBootPro 3.3 is a much easier way to make a backup of the BCD
My language is French, I'm French-Canadian

...and here's my last question before I zap-format this D IDE drive and give a long kiss goodnight to XP. I have had tremendous problem with Administrator's rights trying to acces or simply copy some files from both partitions of this D IDE drive, the cause being (I guess) that I used the same Administrator name for both Vista and XP and obviously, it's not a good idea since I must have spent at least a full working day with a few extra hours trying to manage, change and give myself (from the Vista world) all XP Administrator's rights with no success at all. So, once I have reformatted the XP system partition on the D IDE drive, will I be able to access all files of the other D IDE drive partition?; in short, will all Administrators' rights on this other D partition disappear with XP by the same token?


THX for the welcome,


z

 

I’m glad it all worked Z. As for your question about file admin rights, not my area I’m afraid, so just in case the experts here on that subject don’t read this far in the thread, I would say start a new thread specifically for that issue.

It wouldn’t have been XP boot files on the IDE drive that you were booting through, but all Vista ones that were inside your XP install. - You probably didn’t have to load sata drivers because the Vista DVD did it for you. I’m finding more and more that the DVD seems to have a large cache of common drivers. "“ I agree that it is best to disconnect other hard drives. That is what I meant in the first sentence of my first post, but I see now that it was not worded very well. - You could have made a backup of the BCD with VBPro and then manually placed it inside a new boot folder in Vista. You would just have had to remove the XP option from the boot menu yourself.

This has taught me a valuable lesson. There are always unexpected variables and I should not jump in with advice when I have not tested that exact setup. Also, I should not assume just because someone’s written English is perfect that English is their first language!

Lang may yir lum reek.

 

Good advice

You could have made a backup of the BCD with VBPro and then manually placed it inside a new boot folder in Vista.

I couldn't because I didn't have full access (Admin rights) to the D Ide XP drive and for the Admin rights, I'll work it out, I've been through it all already and I am almost sure I have found the problem: using the same Admin name for both OS... which I admit was not all that clever but hey, Life is a grand experience and so are computers


Lang may yir lum reek.

Hey that is really cool, ok, your name is McTavish, my guess is that you or your ancesters are Scotish; hence, this must be from the Celtic languages family, so either scots gaelic or breton or welsh or cornish. And it must mean something like "My language is... lum reek "

THX again,

z

 

Conclusion

I guess that the lesson from all this dual-boot mumbo-jumbo is:

1. if you want to install two OS in a dual-boot config, the best and safest way to do it is to install each OS on two distinct drives and to disconnect the other drive while installing

2. if you want to install two OS in a dual-boot config on two partitions of the same drive, the best and safest way to do it is to install the older OS first, use different Admin names for each OS and then make a backup copy of the second OS BCD on your second partition


Cheers,


z

 

???

I just notice that your location is indicated on your ID ???


z

 

An exact literal translation of the phrase doesn’t really convey its intended meaning, so enough to say that the sentiment is "Have a long, happy and prosperous life" It’s a very old Highland saying that is not much used now, except maybe at hogmanay.

The best way to dual/multiboot is not the Microsoft way with your OSes crosslinked. You want them all independent so you can do what you like to one without affecting the other "“ but that’s another story.

Later.