Windows XP X 3!

Ian_Coleman

New member
Because of problems with Windows XP, I reformatted the hard drive, and re-installed Windows.
To my surprise, having done that, I found that, during the booting-up process. I was now being offered the choice of 2 Windows XPs.

I thought it best to reformat the drive again, but, after installing Windows again, I found that had a menu containing 3 identical options, although only one will work, as there is physically only 1 Windows XP on the drive.

I assume that the start-up menu is generated in the bios, as reformatting does not remove it. I have looked in the bios, but cannot see anything relevant to removing this memo.

Would some kind person tell me how to get rid of this annoying menu please?

Ian
 
When you reformatted did you totally reformat the hard drive including the partition that XP creates?
The set-up shows two options, totally reformat, reformat leaving the partition it found with the OS on.
 
Ian,

You now have two installations of Windows XP....
Because the Start-up sees two systems, you're given a choice....
(dual-boot -usually Win XP and e.g Dos)

There is a full set of instructions over on the Microsoft knowledge base to sort this out - it's not a five minute job though.

Search for removing dual boot Win XP and you'll find the instructions.

Print out, then folow carefully!

Colin
 
Probably the easiest solution is to use a partition manager program to delete all the partitions on the drive, then put the Windows CD in and let it create a new completely empty partition.

John
 
Colin 55:- I formatted (not using quick format) the partition which contained Windows XP. The other partition on the drive does not contain any operating systems.

ColPrice2002:- Thanks for that I'll take a look. Incidentally, the menu only offered 3 instances of windows - there was not a DOS option.

Ian
 
John, that would be great, but the other partition on the drive contains Trainz, and quite a number of other programs!

Ian
I don't think you can build a new copy of Windows and retain previously installed programs. All the registry keys would be lost. It might well be possible to repair an existing copy of Windows though.

If Windows is corrupted or destroyed beyond repair then the only answer AFAIK is to zap the lot and reinstall everything. Obviously, backup your data files beforehand if you can still access them, possibly with a boot CD or USB memory key drive if you can't boot off the hard disk.

John
 
John: - Maybe I haven't explained it properly.

Currently, I only have one copy of XP on my computer.
During the boot-up procedure, the bios (I think it must be the bios) shows a menu with 3 OS choices, and they are all Windows XP. There is no DOS Choice.

2 of the menu choices do not work, as there is no windows XP for them to open, they try but just lead to an empty screen.

Ian
 
John: - I took a quick look on wikipedia via the link you gave me, and i think the answer is there.

However, I'm being dragged away from my computer by my better half - got to go somewhere important, apparently!

So I'll read it properly later and see what I can discover!

Thanks for your help

Ian
 
Ian: Do you have more than one physical Hard drive or a partition that you have not formatted?

If so, then the problem you are having is most likely this:
There is a file on one of the other partitions/hard drives that you have not formatted that lists all of the operating systems installed on your computer. It is called "BOOT.ini" (may not be caps). This is an operating system file, so Windows tries to hide it from you.

To see "BOOT.ini", open up "My Computer" and click on the "Tools" menu. The click on "Folder Options". Then click on the "View" tab at the top of the window. Somewhere in this list is an option marked "Show Hidden Files and Folders" Select this. Then scroll two options down and uncheck the box marked "Hide Protected Operating System Files (Recommended)". This will generate a warning message. Click OK. Then click OK until you are back to my computer. Then go into the first hard drive/partition listed, and look for the "BOOT.ini" file. It will always be in the top level of the partition (not in a folder). If it is not in the first hard drive/partition, then look through the rest until you find it.

When you find the file, right-click on it and choose "Open with", then choose "notepad" from the side menu. You should get a window like in the link below:

http://www.xperts.co.za/reuel/multiboot/images/bootpart_04.gif

This boot.ini has different operating systems listed from yours, but what you should find with yours is that you have tines that are triplicated. Read them very carefully, and if you are sure that the line(s) is(are) triplicated, then delete two sets.

Then save the file, restart, and is should work.
 
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