Re: How do I uninstall one of two OS installed on separate hard drives

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

You will not be able to reassign the "D" drive letter unless you reinstall the operating system. You can delete everything on the C drive EXCEPT the following files:

boot.ini
NTDETECT.COM
ntldr
ntbootdd.sys (may not be present, not often used on newer hardware)

These files are located in the root folder of the System drive, most likely C:\ in your case.

Before you start deleting files you should make yourself an NT floppy boot disk, that way you will still be able to start the pc even if you delete the wrong files. To create a boot floppy do the following:

1- Format a floppy diskette ( format a: /u ) on your XP computer. DO NOT format it on a Windows 9x computer, if you do the diskette will fail.
2- Copy the files: boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, ntldr and if present, ntbootdd.sys to the floppy disk.

Test the diskette. Shutdown the computer and boot with the diskette. Go in the BIOS and verify/change the boot order so that the computer is set to boot from the diskette first. If you can boot with the diskette then you can do work on the C drive with the assurance that if you make mistakes you will still be able to reboot the computer.

John

RF wrote:

Due to a problem so long ago and time consuming I have mentally blocked it (MS high level techs couldn't solve) I now have two instalations of Win XP Pro SP2 on my machine. The older, EVIL OS is installed on the C: drive and the new, GOOD OS is installed on the D: drive. The system boots to the D: drive and is working very well for several months now since El Disastro.

I would like to wipe clean the C: drive and make it available for more usefull things than a OS prison. So, my question is... How do I uninstall the OS on C: without effecting everything that is working properly now. Also... once I eliminate the OS on C:, can I designate or remap D: as C:

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Boot up files
    ... If yes create a boot floppy and try to boot your computer with it. ... To create the floppy boot diskette do the following: ... If you can boot with the floppy you can then easily change the System partition to the second one providing that it is a primary partition. ...
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  • Re: Boot.Ini and recovery Console
    ... Keep the floppy boot diskette intact and in a safe place, if things go wrong with the boot files you can always use it to boot the computer. ... You should now be able to boot the computer without the floppy diskette and you will get the same boot menu. ... rdiskand give the diskette a try and see if one of the options can boot the Windows installation. ...
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    ... of bad RAM in my desktop, Next time it could be my laptop. ... an Inspiron around our house has a modular floppy drive. ... I needed to boot from a diskette on my Thinkpad and use my USB drive. ... The few first times it did boot adequately but after fiddling a lot with the Bios to attempt to solve a problem, it then refused to read the diskette. ...
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  • Re: Boot.Ini and recovery Console
    ... just change the extension from .txt to .ini to use the file on your diskette. ... If this method fails you will still be able to boot the computer as you do now, so there is little risk of damaging the Windows installation. ...
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  • Re: Boot.Ini and recovery Console
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