Daily Archives: March 21, 2009

How to clear up a partial install of Windows XP

If you installed two systems on the computer and you need to delete the partially installed one, you can perform the following steps to clear the boot information from the boot screen menu.
1. Clear the boot information of the redundant Windows XP.
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Before we go any further, I strongly recommend you read the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
Title: HOW TO: Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP
Link:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;289022
a. Click “Start”, right click “My Computer” and click “Properties” to open System Properties.
b. Click “Advanced” and click “Settings” under “Startup and Recovery”.
c. Click “Edit” to open the Boot.ini file.
d. Delete the boot information of the redundant Windows XP under [Operating Systems].
e. Make sure that the default boot OS is Windows XP. (The partition number in the “Default” section is the same as Windows XP’s partition number.)
For example, if the Windows XP’s boot information is like follows:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS=”Microsoft Windows XP Professional” /fastdetect
The Default section should be “default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS”
f. Click “File”-> “Save” and Exit.
2. Delete the system folders of the redundant Windows XP
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Note: Be careful to perform this operation.
a. Click “Start”-> “Run”, type in “%WINDIR%” without the quotation marks and press Enter.
b. It will open the normal Windows XP’s system folder.
c. Then, you will be able to determine the system folder of the redundant Windows XP.
If you have any questions or need help doing the above, don’t hesitate to contact me for assisted support.