Re: Moving Vista to another pc-how to remove it

Oh, I didn't catch originally that you had raid. That certainly complicates
things. I assume the drive it saw was hooked to the motherboard and all the
other drives are hooked to PCI controller cards or SATA ports?

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C3B7C6F6-9489-4F18-B087-BAA2C8C36359@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Dana Cline:
Thanks for the suggestion. I just tried it. Put in the MCE2005
install
disk and re-started the computer. Let it run thru til it got to the point
where it asks where to install and what to do with the current content of
the
drive. Ooooooops! All it showed was 1 of my seven hard drives......an
EiDE
120 GB drive. It didn't seem to see the 2 RAID 0 drives or the 4 other
hard
drives. Should I have put in the F6 RAID floppy? I didn't think that
sounded logical since the RAID array is already set up? I'm worried about
trying it with the Vista install disk........I don't remember there being
an
escape option once the disk started? It's starting to look like I may
need
to use the RAID control panel and delete the whole darn array, thus losing
my
MCE2005 operating system. I have no problem re-installing an operating
system but I just hate downloading years worth of security & software
updates
on a 56k modem. On the other hand, I did pay 260.00 for the Vista O.S.
and
should be allowed to use it on a different computer if it's no good on
this
one! If I never boot to Vista again I suppose I'm still violating the
EULA
for one machine? It would be so nice if I could just e-mail Microsoft
with a
description of my problem and have them tell me how to get rid of Vista or
give me a different key and make the current installation unusable
somehow!
It's not my fault that Vista doesn't recognize a US Robotics modem to
access
the internet to update my guide and that it takes forever compared to
MCE2005
to call up & look at a library of 250 movies.....and even then not be able
to
see the information clearly on a SD TV! Is there a 3rd party disk
management software program available that would let me format the Vista
partitition so I don't ruin my whole RAID array?

xiowan.........in tucson



"Dana Cline - MVP" wrote:

You should be able to boot on Vista's install disk (or even XP/MCE) and
have
it departition, partition, and format. That should get rid of the Vista
bits. Then go into BIOS and tell it which disk to boot from.

You might need to run chkdsk with the /MBR parameter once you get to a
DOS
prompt in MCE.

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

"xiowan" <xiowan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:EA1F1DE3-C81F-413A-94B0-796583ED8F7B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi All:
I recently installed the full retail version of Vista Home Premium on
my
main MCE2005 computer in a dual boot configuration. I have found the
MCE2005
interface works better on this computer for my purposes and want to
remove
Vista and install it on a computer where it will work ok for me. My
problem
is that I can't get the procedures specified for removal of Vista to
work.
My system is set up with (2 )250GB hard drives in RAID 0 for the
operating
system(s). The RAID array consists of 1 80 GB primary partition with
MCE2005,
1 193GB primary partition with Vista and another 193 GB partition for
media
storage. When I installed Vista the computer booted up the first time
in
Vista but I get no option to boot to MCE2005 and the only way to access
it
is
to go into the bios and change the boot order. I formatted the
partition
for
Vista in MCE2005 prior to installing Vista but I think I read that I
should
have formatted it DURING the Vista clean install which could be the
reason
I
don't get an option to choose which O.S. to boot to. Anyway, I want
to
remove Vista and the methods specified by Windows support don't work.
I
would leave Vista there and just not use it but it would be a violation
of
the EULA to have it on two computers. I am at a loss to figure out how
to
remove it. I have tried the following:

1. Insert the Windows Vista installation disc.

2. Click the Start button , click All Programs, click Accessories,
right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If
you
are
prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the
password
or
provide confirmation.

3. Type [DVD drive letter]:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force and
then
press ENTER.

For example, if the DVD drive letter is F, type f:\boot\ bootsect.exe
/nt52
ALL /force.

4. Eject the Windows Vista installation disc.

5. Restart your computer.

Your computer will start in the previous version of Windows that you
have
installed.

6. Delete Windows Vista files and folders, such as the Program Files,
Users, and Windows folders, manually.
(Didn't work, message came up saying couldn't find the path"

Note: You can also remove Windows Vista by reformatting the partition
where
it is installed, but do this only if that partition is not the boot
partition. Reformatting the boot partition might make your computer
unable
to
start. For information about boot partitions, see What are system
partitions
and boot partitions?
(Didn't work, in MCE2005 disk management under actions>format
partition
a message comes up saying the partition is in use?)

Any suggestions? Leave it there and install on another pc anyway or
what?

xiowan..........in tucson & over my head LOL







.